Stalybridge Station's Original Buffet Bar is located on Platform 1 of Stalybridge Railway Station. Stalybridge is about eight miles east of Manchester in Cheshire, England. The station lies on the main line between Manchester and Huddersfield, nestling in the Pennine foothills on the edge of the Peak District National Park.
It was Christmas 1845 when the Sheffield, Ashton and Manchester Railway opened a branch line from Guide Bridge to Stalybridge. This was the first railway to come to the area. The line was extended to Huddersfield via the Standedge Tunnel and a further two railway companies shared the station in Stalybridge.
Complaints of poor facilities and overcrowding led to a large new station operated by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and the London North Western Railway opening on 2nd May 1885. The Buffet Bar, with its original conservatory date from this time.
The Station as it stands today is but a shadow of its former self - there was even a separate Lancashire and Yorkshire Station where the modern fire station is located.
The reopening of The Buffet Bar in 1996 followed a few weeks of building and electrical work, which in turn followed weeks of nail biting waiting to find out who British Rail, or rather Railtrack, were going to select as the lucky applicants. The amount of regulations and bureaucracy to be satisfied proved to be amazing!
The management hope both past regulars and newcomers will be pleased with their efforts. They have endeavoured to keep faith with the original character of the place and hope that a new set of traditions will establish themselves.
While researching the history of Stalybridge Station, it has been revealed that originally The Buffet Bar only consisted of Conservatory, Bar and Kitchen. The part the previous tenant used as living accommodation were the Station Staff Room and General Waiting Room, while our large room was the Ladies Waiting Room 1st Class.
The rest of the building, moving down the platform, comprised: Ladies Waiting Room 3rd Class, Station Master's Office, Telegraph Office, Inspector's Office and Porter's Room. There was a detached Refreshment Room on the Up platform, facing this one, across the track.
The cost of the 1885 station, tracks and all ancillary work was £23,156!
