Memories of Victoria station

[firbeck 859]

I've just watched the demolition video on my soundless work computer, what have views of Nottingham Castle and 70013 Oliver Cromwell got to do with it however.

Following the closure and demolition of Vic Station a bar was opened up under the Victoria Hotel called 'The Whistle Stop'. This displayed many of the signs removed from Vic Station as well as a section of a non-corridor carriage within the bar area. I must have left the area when this bar eventually closed and I've always wondered what happened to the items that were displayed in there, surely they were'nt chucked in a skip, though with pub franchises, it wouldn't surprise me.

Bilbraborn, I recall leading up to the closure of Vic that there was the only original GCR cast iron 'Private' sign screwed to a door on the nearside platform, it defied all my efforts to remove it, it probably ended up under the jaws of a bulldozer along with God knows what else. Also can you recall the BGS Railway Society trip with 'Polly' Flinders and Mr Singleton to the control room in the station one evening. The control room was situated somewhere above the booking hall area, we had to go up a load of steps to get to it. It consisted of a large room with illuminated railway charts showing all the signals, points, junctions etc, etc all along the route, I think from Annesley down to Leicester, there were blokes sitting at desks pressing buttons and checking on the progress of trains, which were illuminated on the circuit diagram, it seemed very hi-tech to us at the time and probably was. We were split into two groups and I noticed one lot run out the door, it would appear that a rare March shed 'Britannia', 'Clive of India', was heading South on a Grimsby fish train, the sods nicked off to see it without telling us, by the time we found out and got downstairs, it had gone through, or were you in that other group!!!

[FLY2 10,108]

Some Austerities and B1's. Great, better than the clapped out Midland interlopers.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I was probably with you Pete.

[ChrisB 150]

The latest batch of pictures have just been posted on the RCTS Mystery photos site, including demolition of Victoria, also some around Basford and Bulwell.

Have a look, the locations havn't been added yet.

[barclaycon 569]

It's profoundly depressing to see that superbly built transport system being torn down and then replaced with a vertical slum.

When the government decided to ditch so much of the rail network in the 60's there was a feeding frenzy for land and potential building sites for hastily constructed housing. Industrial estates and scrap depots proliferated.

I never considered Beeching a visionary or a saviour of the railways, I always thought of him as a hatchet man who just took an axe to the railways like the government told him to.

There's no doubt that lines and stations would have closed (it had already started to happen before the Beeching report anyway)

and there had also been much duplication of routes. But I remember reading something that Christian Wolmar wrote about the way it was all done and the lack of vision for a) the value of infrastructure, and b) the future impact of the car i.e. congestion

You could never build something like Victoria now. Apart from the cost, the government simply wouldn't have the vision.

They're talking about HS 2, but I doubt that it will ever happen.

And anyway didn't we have something called the Great Central Railway that did a similar thing?

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Well Victoria Station did replace a slum in the first place. Railways closed for the same reason as other things. Lessening demand. When railways were first built there was little competition. Only from other railways. As they were mostly built for freight, different companies got in on the act. Remember, There was lots more industry and it was more labour intense. There was plenty to go round. Can you imagine there being any good reason for three railways down the Leen Valley Today? Saying that of course there was much Bulls--t published about finances. A lot of branch lines would have been quite viable if the staff were cut down to todays levels. The public weren't really interested in, say, a branch line to a seaside resort in the 60s. Perhaps the locals were, but remember, the car was becoming the chosen means of getting to the great British seaside resort. I consider myself lucky to have seen a lot of the forgotten railways before they closed, even if they were very run down. I am also very grateful for the ones that were saved.

[Smiffy49 590]

Thanks for posting all of this.

It's really interesting stuff, just one of the things this forum is all about.

Smiffy

[barclaycon 569]

It's true that the impact of the car accelerated the closure of the railways.

And has been pointed out there was much duplication due to railway companies competing with each other when the lines were actually built.

But some places went from having 3 railway stations to none.

It was so badly planned.

Once the green light was given for mass closures, they went ahead with such rapidity that people didn't have time to realise what a massive impact they would have.

The railways were just taken for granted and after being so badly run down since the war years, it was assumed that car travel was the new way. Remember when MP's used to clamour to be filmed at the opening of yet another motorway !

My recollection is that when the Beeching cuts began to bite, people started to object to the wholesale dismantling of the network.

The Labour government under Wilson made it a manifesto promise that they would reign back the cuts, but as soon as they got into power they went ahead with them anyway.

The other point is freight. We have so much congestion now on our roads and it is made worse by the fact that a lot of the haulage stuff should be on the railways - as it is on the continent.

It's interesting to see in some of the Victoria dismantled pictures that they actually ran a line around the Vic centre development to keep the freight connection (to Stanton and Stavely ?). So they were obviously keen to keep this going, but that too went eventually.

[FLY2 10,108]

I'm astounded that nobody in power could foresee population growth.

Also, for as long as I can remember, successive Governments have only been interested in The Home Counties, The Thames Valley, the M25 enclave, Essex, the South East. Call it what you will, it doesn't stretch beyond Watford !

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

When Victoria station was built 24 public houses were demolished.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

I read some where that 6,000 people were "displaced" when Victoria station was built.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

There was a condition that replacement houses were built for the displaced inhabitants. But the old saying sticks. You can take the people out of the slum but you can't take the slum out of the people. They wouldn't have settled in posh new dwellings and most of them didn't even try. They just melted into the background. The workhouse on York street was replaced by the one at Bagthorpe which became part of the City Hospital. The church of St. Stephen's which was in that complex was demolished. The ecclesiastical licence was transferred eventually to a church on Bobbers Mill Road - St. Stephen's. It was said that the poor attended St. Stephen's (the old one) and the rich attended Trinity. The archway to the church actually remained on Parliament Street right until Victoria Centre was built.

The Great Central was to be retained until large use of class 9 fright trains (unfitted freight) was run down. This was because unfitted trains were limited to 30MPH. Also the Great Central had no really severe gradients. This did away with the need to pin down brakes when going down steep hills. As it happened, most freight trains were part fitted or fully fitted with a higher train speed so the need to keep a slower railway disappeared almost overnight.

As mentioned, the huge lack of foresight was overwhelming. But as we all know, politicians do very little for the benefit of the people anyway.

[Guest]

Following on from 'our' brief encounter moment yesterday and the York house pictures exposing that blue brick- my memories are " pint sized" hearing the warble of a bug unit - playing on the turntable and frank gee? Snapping me on the last day as the Station Master locked those booking hall doors. However anyone got any sad or happy memories of that lovely old station?

[FLY2 10,108]

When I spotted there from 1955 - 62, the buffet served the best cup of tea on BR. Well worth a bit of my spending money.

[catfan 14,793]

Early '60s the first time my mother let me travel any sort of distance on my own with a mate, was catching a train there to go to Skeggy !

I think she was hoping that I would get lost & never return !!

Would have been about 10 years old.

Would parents do that nowadays ? I don't think so.

[The Pianoman 1,532]

Would it be a good idea for parents to let their kids do that now?

[FLY2 10,108]

Mum used to leave me clinging to the gate at the top of the Parliament St side entrance, and I'd sometimes sit on top of the wall overlooking the turntable. God, I'd shiver at the thought today.

No, I wouldn't let youngsters under 12 be out alone these days. Some right odd balls about.

[Blondie 1,392]

When I was growing up in Hucknall in the fifties I was allowed to go anywhere on my own and was even encouraged too..............I always felt safe and my mother knew I would be...........How things have changed today, supposed to be for the better as well - but then we had discipline and there were deterrants and punishments if you crossed the line, never did anybody any harm..............

I can remember the Victoria Station platform as a child, waiting for the train to Hucknall once or twice, there always seemed to be lots of smoke.........but the Midland Station was nearer to my home, the station was at the bottom of my street, Station Terrace............we mostly caught the trent bus.......

[Guest]

Wonder what happened to that platform clock?

[LizzieM 9,507]

I only remember departing from Victoria Station twice ever. The first occasion was to go on a school trip to Wembley Stadium in March 1962 to see England beat USA in a hockey international, (still have the match programme and a photo that appeared in the Nottngham Guardian of us girls, in school uniform on a Saturday(!). The only other time I remember leaving from Vic Station was April 1963 for another school trip, this time to Newcastle, to board a boat to Oslo for a ski trip. We used Midland Station a lot, living in Netherfield for a few years and my grandparents living in the Meadows.

[Blondie 1,392]

Wonder what happened to that platform clock?

Somebody probably nicked it............

[Guest]

I flippin wonder Blondie?

[Michael Booth 7,364]

I took a girl home after meeting her at a dance and arranged to meet her the following evening. I was supposed to meet her outside the Victoria Station at 1930. However, I was over a hour late and wasn't expecting her to still be there. When I arrived at the Victoria Station she was stood talking to this chap. As I walked up to her she had a big smile on her face and told me that she knew I wouldn't let her down. She told me that the other chap's date hadn't turned up and he was trying to convince her that I wouldn't either and that they should go for a drink together. We went on to get married and have a great life together. Hopefully, if my wife gets through her cancer treatment, we will continue this way. On another thread, I saw a photo of a bus outside the Victoria Station and it reminded me of my first date all those years ago.

[carni 10,094]

That's a nice story Michael. You must have impressed her if she waited an hour for you on a first date.

[Guest]

Now that is a great story!