Edwinstowe railway station

Edwinstowe railway station is a former railway station in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, England.

Edwinstowe
Site of the station in 1995
General information
LocationEdwinstowe, Newark and Sherwood
England
Coordinates53°11′20.7″N 1°3′55.4″W / 53.189083°N 1.065389°W / 53.189083; -1.065389
Grid referenceSK 625 661
Platforms4[1]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
British Railways
Key dates
15 December 1896Opened
19 September 1955Shirebrook North to Lincoln service withdrawn
2 January 1956Closed to passengers
5 September 1964Excursion traffic ended
After August 1976Closed completely[2]
LD&ECR and Sheffield District Railway
1950 Excursion Advert

History

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The station was opened by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway in 1896 and closed by British Railways on 2 January 1956, though the last train ran on 31 December 1955.

The station was envisaged as the centre of the line's passenger traffic and was one of only three to have a Refreshment room, the others being Chesterfield Market Place and Shirebrook North. The station buildings and signalbox[3] followed the company's standard modular architecture pattern.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Context

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From Warsop the line entered the valley of the River Maun with Sherwood Forest visible to the north. This was, and is, an area known as The Dukeries, heavily promoted in the railway's literature in the hope of attracting tourist trade.[11] This never materialised in LD&ECR days, but the success of the modern-day Center Parcs near to Edwinstowe suggests the company had the right idea at the wrong time.[speculation?]

Former services

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There never was a Sunday service at Edwinstowe.

Two services called at Edwinstowe in 1922:

Three trains per day plied between Chesterfield Market Place and Lincoln with a market day extra on Fridays between Langwith Junction and Lincoln. All these trains called at all stations.[12] The truncated remains of this service ended in September 1955.[13]

Three trains per day terminated at Ollerton from Nottingham Victoria via Mansfield Central then went back again half an hour or so later, calling at Edwinstowe in both directions. A fourth train from Nottingham didn't go through to Ollerton, but turned round at Edwinstowe.[14] The service through to Ollerton was later cut back to Edwinstowe.[15] A fifth train ran to Nottingham Victoria Monday to Friday, but on Saturdays it started from Lincoln and ran through to Leicester Central.[16] This service did not survive the Second World War.

The Edwinstowe-Mansfield Central-Nottingham Victoria service outlived the LD&ECR "Main Line" service to Lincoln by three and a half months, closing on 2 January 1956, though the last train ran on Saturday 31 December 1955.[15] This meant that Edwinstowe was the last LD&ECR station to have a regular, timetabled passenger service.

Excursions and Summer Weekend holiday traffic continued until September 1964.[17][18][19][20]

Coal

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When the line was built Edwinstowe was still in open countryside.[21] Subsequently, deep mining techniques were perfected to penetrate the limestone cap, enabling new collieries to be opened. A branch was built a little way to the east to serve Thoresby Colliery, one of the most productive mines at the time.[13][22]

Modern times

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The line through the station site gives access from Shirebrook to UK Coal's Thoresby Colliery and to the High Marnham Test Track.

The future

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There have been hypothetical suggestions of reopening the line as a branch off the Robin Hood Line and reopening Warsop, Edwinstowe and Ollerton stations, providing an hourly service to Mansfield and Nottingham.[23][24]

Former Services
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Warsop
Line and station closed
  Great Central Railway
LD&ECR
  Ollerton
Line and station closed
Mansfield Central
Line and station closed
  Great Central Railway
Mansfield Railway
 


References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Little 2002, p. 34.
  2. ^ Butt 1995, p. 89.
  3. ^ Anderson 2013, p. 338.
  4. ^ Kaye 1988, p. 72.
  5. ^ Cupit & Taylor 1984, between pp. 22&23.
  6. ^ Dow 1965, p. 165.
  7. ^ Ludlam 2013, p. 136.
  8. ^ Lund 1999, p. 21.
  9. ^ DVD2 2005, film, 34 to 35 mins from start.
  10. ^ Booth 2013, p. 26.
  11. ^ Cupit & Taylor 1984, pp. 9&10.
  12. ^ Bradshaw 1985, p. 718.
  13. ^ a b Anderson & Cupit 2000, p. 53.
  14. ^ Bradshaw 1985, p. 701.
  15. ^ a b Cupit 1956, p. 61.
  16. ^ Bradshaw 1985, p. 696.
  17. ^ Walker 1991, inside front cover.
  18. ^ Edwinstowe station: via PicturethePast
  19. ^ 1964 Working Timetable (Up): via flickr
  20. ^ 1964 Working Timetable (Down): via flickr
  21. ^ Anderson & Cupit 2000, pp. 51&52.
  22. ^ NoAuthor 2011, p. 16.
  23. ^ Lambourne, Helen (22 July 2009). "New bid to extend rail link to Ollerton". Worksop Today. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  24. ^ "Town's history of rail". Chad, 26 February, 2014, pp.18-19. Accessed 11 March, 2023

Sources

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