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Long gone...see link within #80, previous page...

Cheers

Robt P.

Thanks Robert, from reading your posts on all sorts of subjects I think you must have been a near contemporary of mine both at High Pavement and the NCB.

I was at HP 1953-1959 then at NCB No6. Area Laboratory on Cinderhill Road 1959-1969. before further work at NCB Eastwood Hall and national HQ i London.

Brian Wakelin.

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A junior boy’s memory. In the late 40s, one Saturday morning, this young lad and his brother would be squeezed into a taxi along with baby brother’s pram and all the luggage plus mam and dad and

A P.Bucket test? or a rail photo with a difference. It was so difficult to do I didn't have the heart to break it up so I framed it!

Rather sense that we were "so near, but so far"!

Reckon I must have been the year ahead of yourself at Pavement.

My first full year there was the final year at Stanley Road...assume your's was the first Gainsford Crescent year?

My seven year NCB career was spent entirely at Bestwood No 6 Area HQ , in a variety of roles, before changing my career in the mid 60's.

Was obviously aware of Springhead Scientific, through my Bestwood work... indeed I also cycled/scooted past twice daily!

Cheers

Robt P.

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Not Quite Rob I must have been in front of you. I had two years at Stanley Road. I was the first boy sent out for talking in the first asembley at the new school!

The lab was not at Spring head that was the Medical place. The lab was almost oposite Bagnall Road (?lane) behind the old office block. It was on the Babbington Colliery telephone exchange.

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If the Great Central route had been retained St Pancras would have been a gonner by now. Also Derby would be very much a backwater on the mainline to the north. I've often wondered if it wasn't lingering loyalty to the LMS rather than an eye on the future that sealed the GC's fate.

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Can see your point re the Nottingham Midland-St Pancras route, as it has progressively wound down its overall quality, despite no GC 'competition, to today's quite abysmal service...but suggest Derby is a different question.

As Derby has always been a pivotal point in the SW-Bristol-Birmingham-Leeds-NE axis, reckons its traffic would have been preserved, GC or not.

Had the GC not closed 50 years ago, it certainly would have some 20 years later when the coal industry destruction would have removed its prime freight revenue, at a stroke.

Cheers

Robt P.

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You start getting into those alternative future scenarios. But when you see the engineering of the GC you do have to wonder why you would want to retain the old Midland Line route as it "skulks" into Nottingham.

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My opinion is that it was the engineering of the GC and GNR that made them prime targets for closure? all those tunnels, viaducts, embankments etc needed maintaining etc, I know other routes remain with such, but were there the alternative lines in their cases? I don't think there is a tunnel or "proper embankment" on the midland route around Notts today?

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I had tried to copy a photo or rather drawing on that link and post it here of "Lenton Station LINCOLNSHIRE" hence my "has it been moved"! Looking at that picture that has come up and I see a "Trent Navigation" Warehouse, I know not a railway subject and have mentioned before but in late 1960's saw a terrific fire from white hart car park lenton when one of these went up, remember a load of us going down the old meadows to watch it, like something from the blitz and could feel the heat from a good way off, several other fires spread from it I recall, pretty sure not the one in the photo but to be honest no idea where (a night in the hart drinking "Duckhams" and 40 odd years ago!)

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During the early 1940s in the war time, I on occasion used the train from the station by the Northern Bridge, i think was called Bulwell and Basford, to Victoria Station. The train left the station in an easterly direction, left the line going towards Daybrook, and went down an incline and into a tunnel (is this your Rathole?) which veered right and came up beyond the mainline, which it joined and continued via Carrington Station to Victoria. I have a memory of a small one coach train with built in steam loco, on this line i don't know what it was called.

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Looking at a map of the area in those days, that is almost certainly the rathole you went down. Coming off the GN line and onto the GC. If you use the search function on this forum and put in the word "Rathole", you'll get thousands of results which will include quite a few photos of the hole.

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Yes it would be The Rathole, after the climb you'd have joined the former GCR mainline just north of Valley Td bridge, then gone under Perry Rd. over Haydn Rd, through New Basford station and into Sherwood Rise tunnel, then a brief moment of daylight passing the ruins of the closed Carrington station before entering Mansfield Rd tunnel to come out into Victoria Station. The strange coach/steam engine you saw would I think have been an LNER "steamcar", looked like a carriage but had built in steam engine http://d240vprofozpi...el_commerce.png

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Not sure how this will view? or how much of the railway will feature? but was surprised at how well eguipped Daybrook Station was, theres also a ????? re the map, dated 1915 yet part of Bestwood Estate shown on it? surely if that date the houses weren't planned then? (say that as houses are just outlined unlike older shaded ones)

or could it be that it was a "county" or Arnold Council etc map and houses etc not in their control "unmarked"? either way is map later than 1915?

daybrookstation2.jpg

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I recckon the Bestwood part is shown as "Coming Soon to this area".

Looking at the Old Maps site, Longmead Drive isn't shown on the map dated 1919-21, but it does appear on the one dated 1938-44, so I guess it was built somewhere between the two.

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Can anyone tell what the "bridge" with centre section missing (above letter "e" in Bedale Road) on the map in post 115, (also seen on earlier map with section in place in Cliff Ton's latest post in Day Brook at Daybrook) is all about? On both maps it does not seem to go anywhere in either direction? The supports to such were still there about 12 years ago, not sure if still there

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Thanks for confirming that what I was using all those years ago was the rathole. A thought, where did the trains from this line go before the advent of the Great Central?. Did they go via Daybrook and Gedling etc to the Low Level station? I'm not a railway buff but i find all the comments fascinating, great photographs. Keep up the good work!

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where did the trains from this line go before the advent of the Great Central?. Did they go via Daybrook and Gedling etc to the Low Level station?

Correct, before the GC was built the trains went via Daybrook and Gedling.......although for a time (1890s to WW1) it would also have been possible to travel via the Suburban Line through Sherwood, Thorneywood, and St Anns.

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goods trains also used the suburban post 1916 but few and far between till it's line over the midland near trent lane was hit by bombing in the 2nd world war, even after that local pick up/drop off goods trains, about one a week, went back and forth as far as thorneywood station along with brick works trains that crossed under Carlton Road, prior to that for a while in 1925 all trains intended for the vic via the Great Northern took the short cut via the the suburban after part of mapperley tunnel roof on the GNR Mainline caved in

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Was there in later days an arch off Manvers Street here? part of the gnr line to weekday cross, if so I had the pressed steel sign off the wall outside, can't recall the exact wording on it something like "Manvers Street Goods Depot"? guess it was BR Midland era as maroon in colour, way after in use days so rescued rather than stolen, lol. got it one dark foggy guy fawkes night whilst taking the kids out looking for bonfires

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