150th anniversary commemorated with Blue Plaque and exhibition

A Blue Plaque commemorating the 150^th Anniversary of the opening of the Macclesfield, Bollington & Marple Railway, that took place on 2^nd August 1869,  has been unveiled at Macclesfield railway station by The Mayor of Macclesfield, Councillor Janet Jackson.

Plaques have also been placed at Rose Hill, Marple, Macclesfield and station sites at High Lane, Middlewood, and Bollington.

The MB&M was opened on 2^nd August 1869 and was promoted and owned by the North Staffordshire Railway and by the Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway. It closed, with hundreds of other local lines, following the Beeching Report on Railways in 1970.

A small exhibition of photographs, on display in the waiting room of Platform 2 of Macclesfield Central Station, were taken between 1870 and 1960, when the original station was demolished.

As part of the MB&M 150 commemorations, Macclesfield Mayor, Councillor Janet Jackson also opened an exhibition of railway photographs, (curated by Molly Spink of the Bollington Discovery Centre), at Macclesfield Library. The exhibition will run from 1^st to 16^th August 2019.

The Discovery Centre has also published a book on the MB&M written by local historian, Basil Jeuda – available from the Discovery Centre and from Macclesfield Visitor Centre.