Diggle railway station

Diggle is a village in the civil parish of the Saddleworth in Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. The village is situated on the moorlands of the Pennine hills. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is located at one end of the restored Standedge Canal Tunnel, Britain's longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel. In the village there is a listed building, the Gate pub and a post office/off-licence. Diggle is home to Diggle F.C., an FA registered amateur football club which plays its home games at Churchill Playing Fields, Uppermill. It competes in the Huddersfield and District Association Football League. Saddleworth Clarion Cycling Club host the annual Beard Cup Hill Climb out of Diggle each September.

Castleshaw is a hamlet in the Saddleworth parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines, 2.4 miles (3.9 km) north of Uppermill, 3 miles (4.8 km) west-southwest of Marsden, and 5.3 miles (8.5 km) east-northeast of Oldham. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Castleshaw is most notable for the Castleshaw Roman fort, the remains of an ancient castrum. There are two reservoirs, Castleshaw upper reservoir and Castleshaw lower reservoir. In 2016, United Utilities reinforced the walls on the lower reservoir but had to drop water levels by 1m.

Castleshaw Roman fort was a castellum in the Roman province of Britannia. Although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, it has been suggested that Castleshaw Roman fort is the site of Rigodunum, a Brigantian settlement. The remains of the fort are located on Castle Hill on the eastern side of Castleshaw Valley at the foot of Standedge but overlooking the valley. The hill is on the edge of Castleshaw in Greater Manchester. The fort was constructed in c. AD 79, but fell out of use at some time during the 90s. It was replaced by a smaller fortlet, built in c. 105, around which a civilian settlement grew. It may have served as a logistical and administrative centre, although it was abandoned in the 120s. The site has been the subject of antiquarian and archaeological investigation since the 18th century, but the civilian settlement lay undiscovered until the 1990s. The fort, fortlet, and civilian settlement are all protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, recognising its importance as a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building, and protecting it against unauthorised change.

Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the west side of the Pennine hills. Areas include Austerlands, Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Dobcross, Friezland, Grasscroft, Greenfield, Grotton, Lydgate, Scouthead, Springhead and Uppermill.Saddleworth lies east of Oldham and 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Manchester. It is broadly rural and had a population of 25,460 at the 2011 Census, making it one of the larger civil parishes in the United Kingdom. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire and following the Industrial Revolution, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Saddleworth became a centre for cotton spinning and weaving. By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, mechanised textile production had become a vital part of the local economy. The Royal George Mill, owned by the Whitehead family, manufactured felt used for pianofortes, billiard tables and flags. Following the Great Depression Saddleworth's textile sector declined. Much of Saddleworth's architecture and infrastructure dates from its textile processing days however, notably the Saddleworth Viaduct and several cottages and terraces, many built by the local mill owners. For centuries Saddleworth was linked, ecclesiastically, with the parish of Rochdale and was long talked of as the part of Yorkshire where Lancastrians lived. The former Saddleworth Urban District was the only part of the West Riding to have been amalgamated into Greater Manchester in 1974. However, strong cultural links with Yorkshire remain amongst its communities. There are several brass bands in the parish.

Saddleworth railway station, on the Huddersfield Line in Dobcross to the north of Uppermill, opened in August 1849 and closed to passengers in October 1968 as a consequence of a report by Richard Beeching on the restructuring of railway networks. The former station building can still be seen, having been sold after closure and converted into a private residence. It was the home of television director Ken Stephinson between 1978 and 2012.

Uppermill is a village in the civil parish of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies on the River Tame in a valley amongst the South Pennines with the Peak District National Park directly to the east, 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Oldham and 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Manchester. Uppermill and the neighbouring village of Dobcross have a combined population of 7,500.

Uppermill Railway Station served the village of Uppermill in Oldham. It was built by the London and North Western Railway on their Micklehurst Line from Stalybridge to Diggle and Huddersfield. It opened in 1886 and closed to passengers in 1917. Regular passenger trains continued to pass through the station until 1964 and the line was closed completely in 1966.

Standedge () is a moorland escarpment in the Pennine Hills of northern England between Marsden, West Yorkshire and Diggle, Greater Manchester. Standedge has been a major moorland crossing point since Roman times and possibly earlier. From east to west, Standedge is crossed by five generations of road crossing, the earliest a Roman road from York to Chester and the latest the A62 road. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the railway line from Leeds to Manchester pass underground in the Standedge Tunnels. The Pennine Way long-distance footpath passes through Standedge in a north–south direction along the Pennines. Much of Standedge is in the National Trust's Marsden Moor Estate. Administratively, Standedge is split between Kirklees and Oldham.

Dobcross is a village in the civil parish of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It is in a valley in the South Pennines, along the course of the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) east-northeast of Oldham and 13 miles (21 km) west-southwest of Huddersfield. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Dobcross was once a chapelry in the Quickmere division of Saddleworth. For centuries, Dobcross was a hamlet sustained by domestic flannel and woollen cloth production. Many of the original 17th and 18th century barns and weavers' cottages survive today as listed buildings.Together with neighbouring Delph, Dobcross is, geographically, "considered the centre of Saddleworth", although it is not its largest village centre by some margin. Industrial tycoon Henry Platt was born in Dobcross in 1770. John Schlesinger's 1979 film Yanks was filmed on location in Dobcross, and an annual Yanks festival, coupled with a brass band contest on Whit Friday, each contribute to the village's cultural calendar.

Saddleworth Museum is an independent museum in Uppermill village, Saddleworth, Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is a registered charity and was accredited by the MLA. The museum opened in 1962 and is housed in the outbuildings of the Victoria Mill, a 19th-century mill building which stood beside the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Its collections show the history of Saddleworth, which until 1974 local government reorganisation was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. In September 2015 the museum closed for repair and remedial work to be undertaken and there was a temporary cabin in place while work on the building continued. the museum re-opened a year later in September 2016 after a £1.25 million refurbishment.

Moorgate Halt railway station was opened on 1 January 1912 on the London and North Western Railway route from Stalybridge to Huddersfield. The station was only ever served by trains from Oldham to Delph via Greenfield. The station closed on 2 May 1955 when this service, known locally as the Delph Donkey, was withdrawn. The location of Moorgate Halt is now marked by a foot crossing over the railway at Uppermill, although no trace of the station remains. Nearby can be seen the foundations of Delph Junction signal box, where trains used to receive the token giving them authorisation to enter the single line section to Delph.

The Standedge Tunnels () are four parallel tunnels through the Pennine hills at the Standedge crossing between Marsden in Kirklees, West Yorkshire and Diggle in Oldham, Greater Manchester in northern England. Three are railway tunnels (containing the Huddersfield line) and the other is a canal tunnel. Before boundary changes in 1974, both ends of the tunnels were in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The canal tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament on 4 April 1794. Construction of a 5,451-yard (4,984 m) tunnel began months later. Within two years, cost-saving measures pushed back its completion date and progress was slowed by water levels much greater than had been expected. It proved difficult to secure skilled help, some tenders went unanswered and Benjamin Outram withdrew from the venture. In 1807, Thomas Telford drew up a new plan for its completion. In 1811, the tunnel opened. It is the longest and oldest of the four Standedge tunnels and is the longest, highest, and deepest canal tunnel in the United Kingdom. Having been closed to all traffic in 1943, the canal tunnel was re-opened in May 2001. The first, single-track railway tunnel, built for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) on its line between Huddersfield and Manchester, was completed in 1848. It proved to have insufficient capacity and a second, parallel, single-track tunnel was opened in 1871. The LNWR opened a third, double-track tunnel in 1894. Only the double-track tunnel is currently used for rail traffic; the other two are intact but disused. All four tunnels are linked by cross-tunnels or adits at strategic intervals which allowed the railway tunnels to be built without construction shafts and allowed waste material to be removed by boat. The Standedge Tunnel Visitor Centre, at the Marsden end, is a base for boat trips into the tunnel and has an exhibition depicting the different crossings.