Shirebrook South railway station

Shirebrook South is a former railway station in Shirebrook, north eastern Derbyshire, England.

Shirebrook South
LocationShirebrook, Bolsover
England
Coordinates53.2008°N 1.2210°W / 53.2008; -1.2210
Grid referenceSK 521 673
Platforms2[1]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyGreat Northern Railway
Post-groupingLNER
Key dates
1 Nov 1901Opened as "Shirebrook"[2]
2 June 1924Renamed "Shirebrook South"
14 Sep 1931Closed to timetabled passenger traffic
4 Feb 1957Closed to goods
7 October 1963Closed completely[3]
27 May 1968Line closed completely

See also

There have been four separate stations with "Shirebrook" in their names:

  • Shirebrook South which is the subject of this article
  • Shirebrook North which was actually in Langwith Junction,
  • Shirebrook Colliery (later renamed Shirebrook Colliery Sidings) for colliery workmen's trains only, and
  • Shirebrook station which is on the Robin Hood Line.

Shirebrook South, Shirebrook Colliery Sidings and Shirebrook North have been closed for many years. Shirebrook West closed in 1964 but reopened in 1998 as plain "Shirebrook". Shirebrook West was actually on the eastern edge of the village.

Context

The station was built by the GNR as part of their Leen Valley Extension which enabled trains to run from Nottingham Victoria to Shirebrook North via Sutton-in-Ashfield, Skegby, Pleasley and Shirebrook South.

History

The Leen Valley Extension started at Kirkby South Junction where it left the Great Central Main Line. It was opened northwards in stages, with passenger services as far as Skegby commencing with some fanfare on 4 April 1898. The line through Pleasley (later renamed "Pleasley East") station opened for mineral traffic as far as Shirebrook Colliery on 26 November 1900. Passenger services were extended north of Skegby to Pleasley and Shirebrook (later renamed "Shirebrook South") on 1 November 1901. The high embankment through the village of Shirebrook which completed the Leen Valley Extension by connecting the GNR's Shirebrook (later "Shirebrook South") and the LD&ECR's Langwith Junction (later "Shirebrook North") was opened on 29 May 1901.[2]

The passenger service then settled down to five trains per day plying between Shirebrook (later Shirebrook South) and Nottingham Victoria, with two extra on Wednesdays and Saturdays. There was no Sunday service. The GCR took the LD&ECR over in 1907, so after that date The Leen Valley extension joined the Great Central at both ends. Nevertheless, until 1925 local passenger trains ran North from Nottingham Victoria and terminated at Shirebrook (later Shirebrook South),[4] despite Shirebrook North being only a mile further on. To modern eyes this appears like running trains along the East Coast Main line from Edinburgh and terminating at Finsbury Park instead of Kings Cross. From 1925 trains started running the last mile to Shirebrook North,[5] but the writing was already on the wall.

The railways in these parts were built primarily to carry coal. Local passenger services were typically loss-making and got in the way of freight traffic. The Shirebrook North - Shirebrook South - Nottingham Victoria service was withdrawn on 14 September 1931.[6]

The line remained open for six purposes:

  • coal
  • through freight services
  • local freight services[7]
  • diversions if the GCML was overloaded or under repair,[8][9]
  • special trains, notably for football matches and enthusiasts, and
  • Summer excursions.[2]

Shirebrook South closed for local goods on 4 February 1957.[10]

Summer weekend excursions to places such as Skegness continued to call at Shirebrook South up to September 1964, at which point the station became redundant and closed completely.

The GCML closed North of Nottingham in September 1966, so diversions also ended, but a last hurrah was a sleeping car service from Marylebone to Glasgow which passed through Shirebrook South in the wee small hours from 1962 to 1964.[11]

Collieries closed or rationalised production, for example Pleasley Colliery joined underground with Shirebrook Colliery and sent its coal to the surface that way. At one time coal from Shirebrook Colliery could be sent out via the Leen Valley Extension or via what is now the Robin Hood Line, that, too, was rationalised so it only went the latter way.

Through freight dwindled or went by other routes, so fewer trains passed through the Shirebrook South site.

A Stephenson Locomotive Society "Farewell" railtour traversed the line on 4 May 1968.[12][13]

The line was closed on 27 May 1968 and has since been lifted. Shirebrook South station has been razed to the ground and the massive embankment between Shirebrook South and North[14] has been removed, with striking visual impact.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Pleasley East
Line and station closed		   LNER
GNR		   Shirebrook North
Line and station closed

References
  1. Taylor 2017, pp. 56-59.
  2. Anderson & Cupit 2000, p. 59.
  3. Butt 1995, p. 211.
  4. Bradshaw 1985, p. 371.
  5. Little 1995, p. 81.
  6. Anderson & Cupit 2000, p. 60.
  7. Booth 2013, p. 34.
  8. Little 1995, pp. 17-18.
  9. Little 2002, pp. 7-12.
  10. Anderson & Cupit 2000, p. 61.
  11. Howard Anderson 1973, p. 166.
  12. Felix & McKeown 2004, stills, 22 to 26 mins from start of DVD.
  13. The Railtour Files: via sixbellsjunction
  14. Shirebrook GNR Embankment on flickr

Sources
  • Anderson, Paul; Cupit, Jack (2000). An Illustrated History of Mansfield's Railways. Clophill: Irwell Press. ISBN 978-1-903266-15-1.
  • Booth, Chris (2013). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway A pictorial view of the "Dukeries Route" and branches. Blurb. 06715029.
  • Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Felix, Richard; McKeown, Ron (2004) [1968]. Farewell to the GNR lines in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire (from a mix of cine and stills). Derby: Local Videos 2004 Ltd. DVD, 39mins.
  • Howard Anderson, P. (1973). Forgotten Railways: The East Midlands. Newton Abbott: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-6094-1.
  • Little, Lawson (1995). Langwith Junction, the Life and Times of a Railway Village. Newark-on-Trent: Vesper Publications. ISBN 978-0-9526171-0-5.
  • Little, Lawson (Autumn 2002). Bell, Brian (ed.). "L.D.E.C Part II A lineside look at Langwith Junction: (1) the 1940s". Forward. Holton le Clay: Brian Bell for the Great Central Railway Society. 133. ISSN 0141-4488.
  • Taylor, Bill (2017). Great Northern Railway The Leen Valley Extension Kirkby-in-Ashfield-Shirebrook. Nottingham: Book Law Publications. ISBN 978-1-909625-67-9.

Other Reading
  • Midland Railway System Maps (The Distance Diagrams), volume 2 - Leeds to Leicester and branches; Derby to Manchester and branches; Cheshire Lines (1909-1923 ed.). Teignmouth: Peter Kay. 1998. ISBN 978-1-899890-17-0.
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