Grimston railway station

Grimston
The site of the station in 1981
General information
LocationGrimston, Melton
England
Coordinates52°46′56″N 0°57′56″W / 52.782159°N 0.965675°W / 52.782159; -0.965675
Platforms2[1]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyMidland Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
2 February 1880[2]Station opens
4 February 1957[3]Closes to passengers and goods

Grimston was a railway station serving both the villages of Saxelbye and Grimston in Leicestershire, England. It was opened on the Nottingham direct line of the Midland Railway between London and Nottingham via Corby.The station was formerly named Saxelbye, the name was changed after only 3 months to avoid confusion with Saxby, a few miles east of Melton Mowbray, on the Midland's other line between Leicester and Peterborough. The village of Grimston lies about one mile to the north west of the former Grimston station. The line still exists today as the Old Dalby Test Track.

History

The station was opened for goods (1 November 1879) [1] & passengers (2 February 1880) [1] by the Midland Railway. The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.[4]

It was on its cut-off line from Melton Mowbray to Nottingham. The line was built to allow the railway company's expresses between London and the North to avoid reversal at Nottingham. It also improved access to and from the iron-ore fields in Leicestershire and Rutland. Local traffic was minimal and Grimston closed to passengers in 1957.[5]

According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were handled by this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H, C and there was a 1-ton 10 cwt crane.[6]

Stationmasters

From 1930 the role of stationmaster was merged with that at Old Dalby.

  • George Hull 1879 - 1881
  • Charles Radcliffe Cooper 1881 - 1888 (formerly station master at Croxall)
  • Thomas England 1888 - 1899
  • Alfred Ballard 1899[7] - 1906 (afterwards station master at Old Dalby)
  • Herbert Henry Gilbert 1906 - 1922
  • William Henry Lambert 1922 - 1924 (Died when hit by a train)[8]
  • Percy Harry Hyde 1925 - 1939[9] (also station master at Old Dalby from 1930, afterwards station master at Tewkesbury)


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Old Dalby   Midland Railway
Nottingham direct line of the Midland Railway 		  Melton Mowbray

Present day

Following the closure of the line as a through-route in 1968, the track between Melton Mowbray and Edwalton was converted for use as the Old Dalby Test Track, used initially for the Advanced Passenger Train project and, more recently, Class 390 Pendolino units.[5] The original station building was timber and did not survive, nor did the brick-built goods shed but the Up platform is still in existence and the former station master's house is now a private residence.

References

  1. ^ a b c Aldworth, Colin (2012). The Nottingham and Melton Railway 1872 - 2012.
  2. ^ 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. p. 110.
  3. ^ Clinker, C.R., (1978) Clinker’s Register of Closed Station, Avon Anglia ISBN 0-905466-19-5
  4. ^ "Notes by the Way". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ a b Shannon, Paul (2007). Nottinghamshire (British Railways Past and Present). Kettering, Northants: Past & Present Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-85895-253-6.
  6. ^ Official Handbook of Stations,British Transport Commission, 1956.
  7. ^ "Midland Railway Stationmasters". Derby Daily Telegraph. England. 11 March 1899. Retrieved 6 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Station-Master Killed Near Melton". Grantham Journal. England. 13 December 1924. Retrieved 6 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Tewkesbury's New Stationmaster". Evesham Standard & West Midland Observer. England. 28 January 1939. Retrieved 6 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.