Old railway line in Warrington

[Cheshire Lines Committee]

Old railway line in Warrington
Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm wondering if anyone could help me with information about old railway infrastructure.

I want to ask about an old spur of the CLC line through Warrington to Manchester. When i was a child we used to play on a number of old disused railway embankments through Bewsey and Orford, Warrington. There were no bridges or rail still in place by this time (mid-eighties) and i'd forgotten about them until I recently found an old rail map showing this "spur". (The yellow line. It by-passed Warrington Central, was accessed from "Sankey junction" and rejoined todays existing line at "Padgate junction". It crossed the WCML near to the old Dallam sheds.)



I also found these pictures of the old bridges in, first Bewsey (then and now) and Orford.





I was wondering what the line was for, when/why it closed etc, as much info as you're able to give. There are lot's of interesting old lines in Warrington but I'm especially interested in because of my childhood memories.

Cheers.