Previous episodes have detailed the route along Parlington Lane to the Gamekeeper’s Cottage, beyond, the lane continues westward down the hill to Throstlenest Farm, over the Cock Beck and on to Long Lane. The route of the former railway, known locally as the ”flyline” passes through Hollins and is a right of way, so we will trace its route towards Garforth.
There is a small gate on the left of Parlington Lane, immediately adjacent to the cottage perimeter wall, this gives access to the fish pond but is also the point at which the railway diverged from the lane. Taking this single file track will after a few hundred paces, and avoiding the small watercourse beside the track, the beginnings of the River Crow, bring you to a short incline and a cutting. The location features on the left a stone outlet for a spring, known by the name of the bathing well, reputedly a spot where the hall residents enjoyed taking the fresh local water, I suspect long before the railway was introduced for the purpose of moving the coal from the Gascoigne mines in Garforth to Aberford.
The “flyline” runs in a shallow cutting but is clearly defined by the shape of the landscape and it is easy to imagine the small train trundling down from Garforth with its wagons of coal and the one passenger carriage. A point to note is that the railway dated from the early years of the nineteenth century, and was initially a gravity powered system, whereby the wagons would accelerate from Garforth due to the long slope downhill to Aberford, helped at the start to overcome the inertia by a horse, who would be required to step on to a “dolly cart“ at the rear of the train as the whole lot moved off. The railway was enhanced in August 1870 by the first steam engine, purchased from local Leeds Engineers Manning Wardle, MW Mulciber.
The line through the Hollins headed off to the mines, passing first Lilly Pit Cottage on the left, (still in existence) and a few hundred yards later Hawkes Nest Cottage (demolished), here the engine shed used to stand. After this the first of the mines loomed into view, Isabella Pit, then on to Sisters Pit, nowadays the site of Tesco’s! To walk the length of the old railway from its source in Garforth is difficult due to the changed landscape and many industrial buildings which obliterate the route, so best to start from Ash Lane, which terminates at the “flyline”.