Chesterfield and the Lost Great Central Railway
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- In the first part of this series on Chesterfield's Lost Railways we look at the Lost Great Central Railway that once ran through the historic Derbyshire town.
Famed for it's croocked spire, Chesterfield once had 3 railway comanies and 3 railway stations dotted around the town. Today only the former Midland Railway station remains as Chesterfield railway station. The other two were Chesterfield Market Place (LD&ECR) and Chesterfield Central (GCR).
The Midland Railway arrived in Chesterfield in 1840 and the town has had a station ever since this time. The second railway to arrive in the town came in 1892 when the Great Central opened their Chesterfield Loop line from the main GCR mainline at Staveley. Their station opened simply titled Chesterfield but later changed it's name to Chesterfield Central. The station closed in 1963 and the route of the line became the A61 Chesterfield Relief Road.
Just the south of the station was the Chesterfield Tunnel. A 410 yard long tunnel that cut under the east of the town centre. The tunnel still exists under the town, sealed off at one end, but the south portal can still be partially seen.
*****A full video of Chesterfield Tunnel can be found on Patrick Dickinson's youtube channel - • Exploring Chesterfield... *******
The 1892 date stone that sat above the north portal of the tunnel can be seen at Hollingwood Hub on the Chesterfield Canal, which was built into the abutments of the former bridge where the GCR crossed the canal. Link to Chesterfield Canal Trust Website - chesterfield-c...
After leaving the disused railway tunnel, the route is once again consumed by the A61 dual carriageway and the Horns Bridge Island roundabout. Horns Bridge was once a point where the 3 railway companies crossed on three levels. Today only the Midland remains and the viaduct and bridges have been knocked down. - almost all, that is.
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Fantastic upload,I was born in Chesterfield and lived there until I moved way down into the south west to work on a farming estate, this may seem a bit irrelevant to this upload but my Grandad Herbert Ashton was a railway man all his life,he was born in the railway cottages at Heath,his first job was as a pole break man in the shunting yard at Heath sometime in the Early 1920,s he was involved in a serious accident in the shunting yard,he got hit by a train and was very lucky to survive, he continued to work on his beloved Great Central Railway ,he eventually worked at Chesterfield Central Railway station, and was station master there for many years,until its closed, I still have the keys that he locked up the station with for the last time,he then went to work on the Midland main line ,working for a while as I believe assistant station master at Sheffield but was reluctant to move to Sheffield, he retired from the railways in the late sixties, and sadly passed away in 1978,a railway way man all his life
Thanks very much Glenn. Great to hear you share your story of your father. It's tales like that which makes the railways a great story and keeps the history alive 👍🙂
another excellent video👍 so much has been lost in Chesterfield shame all the hard work put in to build the railway now gone forever we should keep our heritage not destroy it we need railways not roads 😠
Quite a railway town was Chesterfield in its heyday. Three different companies but the GC closing after a very short existence. That road layout certainly stripped out a lot of the remains of what was quite an interesting railway. Going back to the late 1970s/early 1980s when I was working on the railway at Buxton as a guard on freight work, we used to have a job to a siding just past Midland station, where we took limestone in wagons from our local quarries. That was destined for part of the earlier new road layout at that time. Great to see that the old tunnel is still there, though. Anyhow a great video from you, and many thanks.
Cheers 👍🙂
Fascinating story about the trains full of the limestone.
Very interesting past that road many time never knew the tunel was
Me neither until a few years ago 😄.
I used to commute past it daily
Hi there. Good old Pat! I remember his video. Top stuff.
Chesterfield hotel was still up last time I was in town. Weird with it gone now.
👍🙂 yeah it did seem to come down quite quickly didn't it.
I miss Pats exploring videos. He's done some interesting ones.
I love the way you integrate Pat's work in this video! Well done for a great piece of work. And, you film at the bottom of the road where we live in part of this piece.
Thanks Melanie. Glad you enjoyed it
Fantastic explanation again. The old GC loop and Market Place station in Chesterfield have always fascinated me. Their sheer eradication is mind blowing and it's very difficult to picture how things once looked and interacted on the ground when you visit the likes of Horns Bridge today. Can't wait to get stuck into Pt 2 now! 🎉🎉
Thanks Ian. You're bang on the money there. I suppose in some ways it was a lot of duplication, but the way its almost wiped apart from a few subtle remains.
That brings back memories....that tunnel i went into, one evening in the late 90s and unlike that chap, at the Northern end, we were able to push up the grill on top of the access shaft and hang down and jump off, rather than walk back. I dont remember the shaft being such a climb as that !
Hi Mr L.
Wow you got up to some stuff. Almost as mad as that time you squeezed me into that Crich tunnel.
Yeah really good video. I live in Hasland and have been very interested in the history of Chesterfield's railways since I moved here. Hornsbridge would have been amazing when all the lines were running. Cheers.
Hi Matthew.
Hornsbridge would have been great wouldn't it. I bet the entrance into the Market Place station was a great experience.
Great video Paul .thankyou.and brilliant to see Pat,whose videos I watch .👍
Thanks Tereza. Pat's great isn't he 🙂👍
Great Video. I was in Chesterfield myself recently
A brilliant and interesting video.
Thanks Simon
Thx. Enjoying yr vids. Now for part 2 👍🏿
Glad you're enjoying them 👍🙂
A great little scout around in search of the GCR, however, it seems as if it was totally butchered in Chesterfield, only the tunnel left really. I would recommend the Pat Dickinson video, especially watching him access the tunnel at the start, classic Pat!!!!
Pats a legend 😄.
But you're right, it's been butchered. But I suppose it's the opposite to what we were talking about with Leicester the other day.
Very interesting video many tanks for sharing.
Cheers John 👍
Home town boy happy now.
Good for the memory bank this chapter remembering stuff i forgotten.
Already looking forward to next episodes CHEERS LADS😊
😄 Nice one Phil.
Great video, look forward to further episodes. Big shout out for Pat, what a guy! Recommend everyone checks out his stuff he's a legend!
👍🙂
Agreed. Hope he does some more videos soon.
That's me ... fitting the date stone at Hollingwood. 🙂
Nice work David 👍
Thanks Paul. I'm fascinated with the GCR. Wonderful vid mate. Cheers.
Cheers Marc. It's a fascinating story.
Great video.Patrick what a brilliant fella,
👍 I do hope Pat does more videos soon
I know Chesterfield very well I know that church very well it's St Mary's all saints church god bless the church I go to amen
excellent video thank you
Thank you very much 👍
Such an interesting video, on of my favourites yet, keep them coming!
Cheers Ben 👍🙂
Fantastic video, I can remember the LD&ECR viaduct being demolished, it’s hard to remember what it used to be like down there, totally changed.
Cheers Dave.
You're right. I bet anyone under 30 (or even 40) wouldn't even realise there was anything there.
A nice video today, Paul. An great tour. See you on the next! 😊
Cheers Martin. All the best for the weekend 👍🙂
Nice one. Always sad seeing rails to road.
Great work.
Cheers Pete 👍🙂
Fab video and very informative. Thank You.
Thank you 👍😀
Another cracking vid, thank you.
Cheers John 👍🙂
ive often looked into moving to chesterfield but its never happened as i have been to most of the locations where a railway line once ran & before i went north i had plans to revisit to follow up the exploration of chesterfields railway heritage
I swear whenever Pat Dickinson speaks I can hear him 12 miles away. That tunnel is an ochrey mess, not for the faint of of heart.
😄 Good old pat. 👍
Stumbled across this on Facebook, 2 really good videos on this series so far, thanks for sharing. I live near Staveley and took some photos of the old disused tracks (lines still in place) that ran between barrow hill and Markham colliery. Can still see some old bridges and alignments down that way. Looking forward to the third video, keep it up mate!
Excellent 👍🙂
Got a few videos around Seymour and Staveley. I live up the other end of the Clowne Branch, so love taking a walk around some of Staveley's sights.
@@WobblyRunner look forward to it mate! Along with the canal restoration updates
I'll have to ask my dad where, but I believe somewhere around what is now b&q in the 90s as a kid I used to go around an old train yard, complete with some bridge walkways.
👍 there was a few works and sidings around there I believe
This is great keep up the great work.
Cheers Chris
You could walk through Chesterfield Tunnel all the way through to Hollins Lane back in the early 80's and parts of Central Station were still visable as was parts of tbe turntable which was roughly adjacent to the former Arnold Laver site , although Central station has long gone Staveley works Station ( Oftern known as Hollingwood ) is still there amongst some rather fierce looking brambles with the remains of the subway still visable . Brimington and Sheepbridge Station yard is still there along with the Station master's house but the station which was still stood in the 80's has now disappeared
Hi Dave.
I was at Staveley Works only a few weeks ago chopping through the prickles with my crutches 😄
Read your mind….amazing to see how things have changed in Chesterfield railway wise
🙂👍
I'm always amazed at the amount of stuff I learn when I'm researching and putting these videos together.
Look forward to perhaps seeing you on the 77 maybe. Love Pat Dickinsons videos also
👍🙂 can't get enough of the 77. 😄
They have added extra bits of fence to the tunnel now so you can't get in the way Pat did! The shooting club I'm a member of once looked at using the tunnel as a rifle range but they were told that the gunpowder fumes could damage the brickwork.....yeh right. There is one in Nottingham being used today as a range. You'll often find me hanging around the end of platform 2 watching trains :-)
Hi Paul. Totally didn't notice the extra fencing. They probably saw b Pats video 😄.
Was that Sneinton tunnel in Nottingham? I went in that last year on a tour of the gun club.
@@WobblyRunner Hi, yes thats the one. I've not been there though, i don't really get on with the guy that runs it! There has been some work done recently on Chesterfield tunnel to improve the drainage so that nuclear waste chemical sludge has supposedly all gone :-)
Don't want to be the internet pooper but..... multiple places in Chesterfield and you missed out one.
Just one man.
Ground zero.
George Stephenson.
He's buried in Holy Trinity Church, just half a mile from the station, with a meagre monument to him in the grounds.
A statue of him stands in the railway car park. For what he did, for what he gave the world, its a bit understated.
😉 the series hasn't finished yet.
I do have plans to have a trip to the church. I wasn't sure how accessible the grave was.
@@WobblyRunner I understand he is inside the church, whilst I know Mrs S. is in the yard outside. Im sure the vicar would be accommodating if you got in touch.
About blinkin' time 😂 but apart from the tunnel not much else to see. I believe I read somewhere, i could be wrong, that the old Midland station building was moved to it's current location.
The GCR loop also cut through Corbriggs on the way to Heath, they did a good job of removing all trace of it, that's for sure.
Cheers Lee.
That would explain why the location of that Midland building is so far from the line.
Excellent video Paul, I've done that walk with Colin a few years back. At the start you showed an old OS map and a shaft was marked east of Chesterfield central any idea what it was?
I did some research a few years ago - there are records of over 800 shafts in the Chesterfield area alone. Its been very heavily mined over the years.
Hi Russ. Good spot
No idea. Looks like its been filled over now though next to the "new" Chesterfield Canal Basin thing that didnt happen.
Good video , only about a mile from where I live. Have you been to the site of Hasland siddings ? Its really overgrown but you can still see signs of a platform and some of the old buildings , and also an old air raid tunnel.
Cheers Tony.
No, I've not been to Hasland. Not too familiar with that spot. Might be one for winter when it's a little less overgrown 👍🙂
@@WobblyRunner yeah winter probably would be better. Hasland is about a mile from Chesterfield, I can show you the site if you decide to visit.
@tonyspike5928 that sounds good Tony 👍
with rail gaining popularity again due to environmental reasons amongst others one could question the wisdom behind closing the GCR
12:20 if you turned right you still see the only remaining abutment of the 3rd line that crossed over the other 2 via a viaduct it sits behind frankies & bennys restraunt
😉 I didn't miss it. That's episode 2.
@@WobblyRunner glad to see that your keeping the series going & i know i had to point that out as its very well hidden unless you know here to look
Nice to see a bit of Patric in city instead of his beer shed 😂
😄 he does love a pint. I'm suprised he didn't take a whisky into the tunnel
@@WobblyRunner used to enjoy his camp 🏕️ videos testing another new 🥃
Very interesting. Easy to detest roads and graffiti isn't it.
Think you should go in that tunnel if pat can do it sure you can he was like a jack rabbit up and over that wall
Haha I don't think I was that nimble even when I was a teenager 😄
Is it still possible to get in and out without any risk of getting stopped?
I reckon so. I see a few recently on social media that have been in. There are cameras near the entrance, but I suppose it depends on how closely they're being monitored.