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The ironstone railways in the Vale This map from www.railmaponline.com gives some idea of how complex the standard gauge railway system in the Vale of Belvoir was between the 1870s and 1970s. Many of the road bridges survive as do sections of embankment. Railways in the Vale before ironstone quarrying Plans for a mainline from Manchester to Boston failed to materialise except for the section between Colwick and Grantham which opened in 1850. Known as the Ambergate Railway, the Vale benefited greatly from regular trains to and from Nottingham and Grantham. Tourism came to the Vale too as on Tuesdays and Thursdays excursion trains left Nottingham for Bottesford when an 'omnibus' took visitors to Belvoir Castle. It took just twenty-three minutes to get from Bottesford to Nottingham so Bottesford became one of the first 'commuter towns'. The waiting room on the Nottingham-bound side of Aslockton station. Just two years later the Great Northern Railway through Grantham was completed making travel from the Vale to London convenient. This had many benefits for goods as well as people. Furthermore the Ambergate Railway was used to bring substantial amounts of coal from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to the GNR, much of it presumably taken to London and other cities. It was the need to shunt these coal wagons that led to the creation of the vast Colwick marshalling yard. At the risk of getting ahead of the story, when iron ore started to be transported from the eastern Vale to the Stanton Ironworks south of Ilkeston then the wagons of iron ore travelled along the Ambergate Railway too. The earliest ironstone railways in the Vale The first quarries at Holwell were close enough to the Midland Railway route between Melton Mowbray and Nottingham for that line to be used to transport the ore – initially mostly to the Holwell Works at Asfordby Hill at the side of the line to the west of Melton. As ironstone began to be sent to Scunthorpe then sidings were constructed at Old Dalby. When quarries were being proposed at Eastwell there was a problem with the distance to get to the Midland Railway sidings at Old Dalby. Moving even further eastwards along that ridge we get to Eaton. And the Duke of Rutland, who owned most of the land around Eastwell and Eaton, would not allow the Midland Railway to operate and would only grant permission to the Great Northern Railway. In the event in the 1870s a GNR-LNWR Joint Line was constructed through the Vale from Saxondale Junction to the west of Bingham to Melton Mowbray. This was a useful line for all sorts of reasons as well as accessing the ironstone quarries at Eastwell. Just to complicate things, in 1887 the Midland Railway went ahead and constructed an extension from Holwell to the Joint Line while the Great Northern created a branch from the Joint Line which passed south of Stathern and Wycomb to access quarries near Eaton. Yep, it all got decidedly interwoven. The coloured spot marks where one line tunnels under another. One inch to one mile OS map surveyed 1950. Click on the map to access a high-resolution version. To get railway wagons across a small stream – the upper reaches of the River Devon – a rather American-looking trestle viaduct was built to the south-west of Eaton village. By 1955 it was beginning to fail so slag from Holwell Works was used to create an embankment over a culvert. (From Tonks 1992.) Lots more information and maps about the ironstone quarries of Leicestershire in this YouTube video. Main source Eric Tonks, 1992, The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands: History, operation and railways Part IX Leicestershire, Runpast Publishing. Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2025 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/chronicle

Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland