Rowthorn and Hardwick railway station

Rowthorn and Hardwick
General information
LocationRowthorn, Bolsover
England
Coordinates53°10′37.12″N 1°17′18.87″W / 53.1769778°N 1.2885750°W / 53.1769778; -1.2885750
Grid referenceSK 475 646
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyMidland Railway
Post-groupingLMSR
Key dates
1 September 1890Opened
28 July 1930[1]Closed completely

Rowthorn and Hardwick is a former railway station in Rowthorn (often written "Rowthorne"), near Glapwell, Derbyshire, England.

Context

The station was built by the Midland Railway on the circuitous Barrow Hill to Pleasley West line[2] known as the Doe Lea Branch, because it ran for much of its length along the valley of the River Doe Lea.

History

The line was opened without ceremony on 1 September 1890. It initially provided a service of three trains each way between Mansfield and Chesterfield, taking about an hour from end to end.[3][4]

The line was single track between Seymour Junction[5][6] and Pleasley West. Accordingly, the station had a single platform.

Normal passenger traffic along the Doe Lea Branch dwindled over the years and finally ceased on 28 July 1930.[7] Glapwell Colliery and others in the Doe Lea Valley were still going strong at this time, but all their coal went out northwards, so very little traffic passed through the station and the steep line through Rowthorn Tunnel. The opportunity was therefore taken to abandon the line from just south of Glapwell station to Pleasley Colliery West Junction a short distance South of Pleasley West. That meant the abandonment of Glapwell station itself, Rowthorn Tunnel and Rowthorn and Hardwick station.

Rowthorn Tunnel was used for growing mushrooms then for storing ammunition during the Second World War. It is now filled in.

Modern times

Parts of the trackbed and those of neighbouring lines have been turned into public footpaths and bridleways.[8][9]

Fragments of the long-demolished station can still be found.[10]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Glapwell
Line and station closed 		  Midland Railway
Doe Lea Branch 		  Pleasley West
Line and station closed

References

  1. ^ Butt 1995, p. 200.
  2. ^ Kay 1998, Sheet 12.
  3. ^ The service in 1890 Old Miner
  4. ^ Hurst 1987, p. 76.
  5. ^ Anderson & Cupit 2000, p. 42.
  6. ^ Kaye 1988, p. 27.
  7. ^ Hurst 1987, p. 77.
  8. ^ Rowthorne Trail: via Derbyshire County Council
  9. ^ Rowthorne and Pleasley Trails: via cycletrails
  10. ^ Rowthorn and Hardwick Station: via oldminer

Sources

  • Anderson, Paul; Cupit, Jack (2000). An Illustrated History of Mansfield's Railways. Clophill: Irwell Press. ISBN 978-1-903266-15-1.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
  • Hurst, Geoffrey (1987). The Midland Railway Around Nottinghamshire, Volume 1. Worksop: Milepost Publications. ISBN 978-0-947796-05-1.
  • 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.
  • Kaye, A.R. (1988). North Midland and Peak District Railways in the Steam Age, Volume 2. Chesterfield: Lowlander Publications. ISBN 978-0-946930-09-8.
  • DVD (2004). East Midlands Steam. Bradford: Marsden Rail. Marsden Rail 26.
  • Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.

Further reading