Appley Bridge Station is a small station located within the Borough of Wigan. Once a busy thriving industrial village local employment included quarries, clay pits, paint and linoleum manufacture. The village contains several convenience shops, two churches, several pubs and a post office.
It is said that the name Appley Bridge came from a large apple tree which was situated next to the bridge which was used to gain access to the village from the South over the River Douglas.
The railway station opened in 1855 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and did have a thriving goods yard in particular stone from local quarries. The village’s moment in the spotlight came on 15th October 1914 when a meteorite fell out of the sky landing in a farmer’s field adjacent to the village. Plugged 18 inches into the ground the meteorite weighed almost 33lbs and was displayed in a local shop window.