Under the sea of nettles and deep in the undergrowth

is a railway track that is still connected to the WCML and technically open. This is all that remains of the western outpost of the North Staffordshire line that ended at Market Drayton. I am actually standing on the remains of the long-closed Madeley Road station that was closed by the LMS in 1931. The track deep in the undergrowth last carried coal trains to and from Silverdale colliery that shut in 1998. The section of track acting as a giant headshunt permitting access to the WCML a short distance away.