The Battle of Clifton Junction
In 1849, railway workers from rival companies fought a pitched battle on the train tracks in Salford
Look carefully when you pass through Clifton station on the train to Bolton and you might see a cobbled lane stretching from the bridge down towards the track.
In the trees near the bottom of this lane used to stand another platform that marked the start of a separate line to Bury that no longer exists.
It was on this spot that open warfare once raged between armed gangs of workers from the rival railway companies operating the two lines.
It became known as the Battle of Clifton Junction.
In 1849, trouble was brewing among the bosses of two railway firms.
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway carried passengers between Bolton and Manchester via Clifton, in Salford.
The East Lancashire Railway had built a separate line carrying passengers from Bury to the same junction.
Its train drivers wanted to use the Lancashire and Yorkshire rails so their passengers could go all the way to Manchester too.

But the Lancs and Yorks railway demanded that its officials board its rival’s trains and count the passengers to make sure the firm was paying the proper toll for using the line.
The East Lancs bosses refused and ordered their drivers not to stop at the junction and just steam through to Manchester.
What happened next was recoded by newspapers as far away as Sussex under headlines shouting about the “extraordinary scenes” that followed.
“From 10 o’clock to 12 o’clock in the morning, servants of both companies arrived at Clifton,” the Manchester Courier wrote, adding that it was the Lancs and Yorks workers who struck the first blow.
“Their first step was to lay down across the line to Manchester an immense balk of timber.
“Behind this balk, at either end, were driven into the bed of the railway two heavy, long, iron crowbars, to hold it to its position.”
The Lancs and Yorks men then brought up a train with six empty carriages behind the barricade.
“The East Lancashire train was due in Manchester at 10.40 but it was nearly that time before it came up to Clifton,” the newspaper said.
“And when it came in sight it was signalled to stop, of course, rather than allow the engineer to break his own and the passengers’ necks by running upon the obstacle.”
The Lancs and Yorks workers then tried to forcibly board the stopped East Lancs train from Bury.
The East Lancs men then ran to try to remove the balk and force their way onto the train blocking the track.
They brought up their own cargo train carrying tons of stone and blocked the other Lancs and Yorks line.
By midday, eight trains were stuck at the junction stretching for more than half a mile in both directions.
Police officers who had been called to the scene watched on from the windows of the station house which stood in a gap between the two railways.
Passengers from the Bury train then began getting out of the carriages and pouring onto the track.
By late afternoon, up to 60 navvies from the East Lancs Railway armed with pickaxes, crowbars and shovels had seized control of a cargo hoist.
When the Lancs and York’s own navvies tried to take back the hoist, “great excitement followed and there was every appearance of a row”, one journalist wrote.
“It was under these circumstances that the servants of the companies were collected in something like a hostile array, and the police were called in.”
A police superintendent was injured after being hit by a man wielding his crowbar around his head like a club.
Mr Neal, the chief constable of Salford, declared the next man to strike a blow would be taken into custody. Four of the East Lancs men were arrested.
“These men were locked up, and here, so far, ended the contest, the rival parties withdrawing their forces and promising the warfare should cease,” the Courier said.
Thankfully by then, the passengers were all on their way.
While some set off on foot to Manchester, a group of them headed to the nearby village of Pendleton to find a post-chaise — a fast carriage designed for delivering the mail.
It appears to have been the first ever use of a bus replacement service.
The Lancs and Yorks Railway eventually won the Battle of Clifton Junction.
Just past the station, you can see the old viaduct of the East Lancs line — known locally as the Thirteen Arches — as it crosses the River Irwell.
Upon the high parapet that once carried steam trains from Bury stands a forest of birch trees.
The Manchester History Mooch
Here’s your weekly round up of history-related things to do around Greater Manchester.…
🌏 A new art exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North starts this coming week offering a personal perspective on the heritage of conflict and stories of Indian migration to Britain after the Second World War. Chilla Welcomes You runs until August.
🏫 Manchester Jewish Museum is hosting an open day on Sunday to from 12pm to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, which is on Monday. There'll be food, artworks and creative activities including a workshop for making fabric bookmarks.
🐝 To celebrate the UN International Year of Co-operatives in 2025, the Co-operative Heritage Trust is offering free use of its learning space at the Rochdale Pioneers Museum during open hours from Wednesday to Saturday from February to April for groups that work with people from international backgrounds.
🦁 Master Tang’s Lion Dance will be performing at The Portico Library on 6 February to mark the Lunar New Year of the Snake. There’ll also be some traditional Chinese song and dance. Adults £3.
🎭 There are only a few days left to visit the Manchester Theatres Exhibition on Manchester Central Library’s lower ground floor. The exhibition documents the vibrant history of theatre in Manchester with playbills, posters and programmes. It will end on 31 January.
And this week I’ve been listening to…
🎧 Manchester Libraries have launched a new podcast called Full Volume. In the first episode, I learned that Manchester Central Library is the busiest public library in the UK. It’s worth a listen if you’re a fan of books and archives.
Thank you!
I hope you found this week’s story about the Battle of Clifton Junction interesting.
It’s one of those historic incidents that most people know little about and I only heard about it myself recently.
You can imagine how annoyed the passengers must have been having to find a horse-drawn carriage to take them to Manchester.
I’ve had a busy few weeks myself. At our Burnage Local History Group this week I did a talk about the Salford Sioux and next week I’ll be leading a family history course for a brilliant charity in Irlam, the Hamilton Davies Trust.
If you’re researching your own family history and want to find out about the professional research services I offer, take a look at my website and book a free call here.
Take care and have a great weekend.
Love the language from the old newspaper! “…to hold it to its place…” etc. Brain music!
Fascinating. I’ve used the line many times travelling in from Lancaster or Preston, but I‘ll look with new eyes next time.