Railways

I'm not a train-spotter but I did want to know the basics about the 3 railways that Chesterfield once had. I haven't gone into a lot of details about them, even though there is a lot more information I could have written. I'm sure enthusiasts can find out what they want to know via the net or books. 

Chesterfield began with one railway station, then had three, then one again. It began with the Midland [previously the 'North Midland'] followed by the Great Central Railway, [M. S. & L. aka Manchester, Sheffield, Lincoln line], & the Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway, [L.D. & E.C.R. aka Market Place Station].  


This part of a 1955 map shows where all 3 stations were in Chesterfield in relation to each other. The Midland Station is still in the same place, on the bottom of Brewery Street & Corporation Street - although Corporation Street wasn't made until the 1870's; the Great Central, [M.S.& L.], was on Infirmary Road with the tunnel openings at Infirmary Road & Hollis Lane; the Market Place Station, [L.D. & E.C.R.], was on West Bars, opposite the Sun Inn.  
The  Midland  Railway 

 An Act for a railway line from Leeds to Derby was passed on the 4th July 1836; & it was to be called the North Midland Railway'. The line was to be quicker & less expensive way of transporting & travelling. 


It was Frederick Swanwick, a pupil, assistant, & resident engineer under George Stephenson, who appeared before the House of Lord's Committee, to be questioned about the project: The estimated cost of the railway was £20,000 per mile. 
The 'Derbyshire Courier' dated 23rd June 1838, states the railway is “advancing in the neighbourhood of Chesterfield with all possible expedition”..... “bridges are in the course of erection, strong & magnificent - & the tunnel at Clay Cross is in speedy course of excavation”..... “Although some parts of this railway”.....”are not yet contracted for; the contracts hitherto entered into, bind the parties to complete their proportions in the Spring of 1840. Three miles of the line from Chesterfield to Clay Cross are expected to be completed by August next year.”..... “The oblique arch over the London road, in the immediate neighbourhood of Chesterfield, is fast advancing to completion, and the embankment is in close proximity to it.”

The Derbyshire Courier, Saturday 2nd March 1839           The Contracts.  


 I've only given the details for the Chesterfield & Whittington contracts:   


The Building Contracts for the Railway from Derby to Woodlesford: 1-27 


[1] Derby,                 [2] Duffield,                  [3] Milford,  

[4] Belper (south) & Belper (north),              [5] Bull Bridge,  

[6] Lodge Hill,          [7] South Wingfield,      [8] Clay Cross,  

[9] North Wingfield,  


  


                                                                  No's [10] & [11]  >


  


  


[12] Staveley,        [13] Eckington,  [14] Beighton,  

[15] Treeton,         [16] Ickles,         [17] Greaseborough,  

[18] Kilnhurst,       [19] Swinton,      [20] Darfield,  

[21] Houghton,      [22] Roystone,   [23] Notton,  

[24] Oakenshaw,   [25] Altofts,        [26] Mathley,  

[27] Woodlesford. 




The different contractors were liable to heavy penalties if they didn't complete their portions by 1st January 1840. 
Tenders for the stations, offices & other buildings & works connected to the railway were asked for, via newspapers, on & around 31st July 1839. 


To the right.

Francis Thompson designed the first station in Tudor style - with the matching tank house in the background.
Unfortunately the station became inadequate for the business it acquired & a new one was built. 



The station c1860


The line from Derby to Masborough was opened on the 11th May 1840  and  the line  opened  fully from Masborough through to Leeds30th June 1840.
The 'North Midland' Railway was amalgamated with the 'Midland Counties' Railway & the 'Birmingham & Derby Junction' Railway under the 'Midland Railway Consolidation Act of 1844', & the 3 railways became the 'Midland Railway Company'.    

According to 'Heap & Riemsdijk', “The Midland Railway Company was formed on 10 May 1844”..... “the Birmingham & Derby Junction, opened in 1839” & “the Midland Counties opened in 1840.” All 3 railways were struggling financially. The above 2 railways began a cut-price war with each other which was ruinous to them both. The North Midland was in financial trouble re overheads & expansion. 

In 1846 the Midland absorbed the Leicester & Swannington, Birmingham & Gloucester & Bristol & Gloucester Railways.

On Tuesday 1st February 1870 a new line from Chesterfield to Sheffield opened; it had taken so long because of the landscaping & cost involved.

 The Midland was the first to use the Pullman cars, imported from the United States, in 1874. 


  


  

            Right, the interior of a Pullman Drawing Room car. 



Travelling without a ticket was common, & if they got caught people were fined or worse.
These pictures / postcards are taken from the same view-point but at different times. Followed by a close up of a train in the same area.
“Midland Railway no. 2634 was one of the first five Midland Compounds built by S.W. Johnson to the ideas of Walter Smith, of the North Eastern Railway. These first appeared in 1901.” 'Heap & Riemsdijk'

The station has been rebuilt over time, from the 1840's to the 1990's. 
Below 1840's from the front & 1860's from the back.
         The photo below shows the old with the new:                                        
         original photo c/o Barry R. Dyke, with thanks.                               & below a close-up of above the door.


The new station with the George Stephenson statue outside.
An overhead view of the station - 1950's ? & 2019 - c/o google
The Midland was the sole station until 1891 – when 2 came along at once! 

 
Derbyshire Times, Saturday 7th February 1891                                 summarized  

“GREAT RAILWAY MEETING AT CHESTERFIELD.  
IMPORTANT SPEECHES. 

On Tuesday evening a meeting was called by the Mayor of Chesterfield was held in the Assembly Room of the Chesterfield Market Hall, to consider the proposed new railway schemes now before Parliament. The room was crowded to overflowing. The Mayor presided.....” 

The Mayor, John Morton Clayton, was first to speak: He said he'd called the meeting, “at the request of a number of very influential gentlemen of that town to consider the new railway schemes now before Parliament, which affected the interests of that town and to pass resolutions thereon.” 

One of the schemes would give them a new route to London & the other opened out a new route to the important towns on the East & West coasts.  

The Mayor believed that a large influential meeting would have a great weight with the Parliamentary Committee re the two schemes; as, he thought, had a meeting held previously to further the carrying out of the lines - now in process of construction - between Chesterfield and Sheffield. 

The East to West coast would help in particular, because they were situated in the middle of a very large & under-developed coal field. “It would give a great impetus to their trade, and there was no doubt but that Chesterfield's position, as a manufacturing and trading town, would be improved ten-fold.” 

Up until then there was only one line, from the North to the South, & they were hampered by not having one East to West. “If they got that line.....Chesterfield would be made. There was no reason why they should remain a little town any longer. It was full time they expanded and became an important place.....” 

Alderman Thomas Philpott Wood then proposed the resolution [summary] that the inhabitants of Chesterfield & area resoundingly approve of the Bill of the L.D. & E.C. Railway Company which is now before Parliament. 

He said that for 11 years he'd been advocating for a railway extension committee; & for the Midland Railway Co. to turn their Clowne & Doe Lea Branch into a passenger line; in that they had been successful – but it had taken them 10 years to do it. 

They had been asking the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Co. to come to Chesterfield for years. The first Bill was unsuccessful but the second try in getting a line to Chesterfield only was sanctioned. They then asked for a further extension to Annesley & a branch line to their main line at Heath; in that they were successful too. Now they wanted to carry that line on to London, which would make a main trunk line running North & South, as a competitor against the Midland. 

In the East to West scheme that had been put before them it would connect them with the large industries & populations of Lancashire & Cheshire; & also Manufactories with their coal-fields. The shipping ports on the East & West coasts would be open to them with Chesterfield being in the centre. 

Mr. R. T. Gratton seconded the resolution placed by Alderman Wood. He went on to talk about the future, when passengers would be able to travel to places in half the time it took now: At that time it took 3-4 hours to get to the sea, & in the future it would take half that time; & also people would be able to travel to Baslow in 20 minutes & Buxton in 35 minutes. He believed the scheme was one of the largest that had been taken before Parliament; other lines had been built up in pieces but this one was over 160 miles. As with the Mayor & Ald. Wood he asked for people to support the schemes with enthusiasm. 

Next it was Mr. A. W. Byron's turn to address the public. He gave a description of the actual line: The proposed line would begin at Warrington near the Docks & connected with the Manchester Ship Canal, then Knutsford Junction where it would connect with the Cheshire Lines, & which are the joint property of the Midland, M.S.& L. & the Great Northern.Then it would go to Macclesfield, on to Buxton, Monsal Dale, Baslow, Chesterfield & Ollerton, Ntts. There is an important junction with the Great Northern at Newark which links to the South of England. From Ollerton it would go to Lincoln then Sutton & access to the docks – which had been sanctioned last year but one. 

He said his main point lay with the Derbyshire coal field: Coal was the property on which every other industry depended; & Chesterfield lay in the centre of a vast, & to a great extent under-developed, coal field. The railway meant more outlets for coal & more jobs for miners.  

Mr. Councillor T. Wardle seconded the resolution. 
With the railways came the Unions. 

Derbyshire Times, Wednesday 9th November 1892 

On Sunday a large meeting of Railway Servants was held in the Lecture Room of the Stephenson Memorial Hall for the purpose of forming a branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants: Mr. T. Bayley M.P. presided, & was supported by James Haslam of Clay Cross; Mr. J. Dobson, organising sec.; & Mr. R. Hornagold. An accident at Yorkshire was referred to as a example of where safety was needed concerning the amount of hours worked at one time.

The  Great  Central aka M. S. & L. aka Manchester,  Sheffield,  Lincoln  Railway Co. 




The 1918 map of Chesterfield, on the right, shows the Great Central & Midland stations;  & also the route of the tunnel from entrances on Infirmary Road & Hollis Lane [red]. 


  

  


    


The Beginning: [pre. M.S.&L.] 


A railway between Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne 

& Manchester was incorporated by Act of 

Parliament in 1837. 
Unfortunately working on the railways wasn't safe ,& nearing the end of it being built disaster happened, on Sunday 20th April 1845, at approximately 3 p.m.
The inquest into the disaster, 8th May 1845. 

Twelve months before the disaster, 9 arches had been built to form the viaduct over the river Tame, it having been finished about 3 weeks previously. 
It was thought that the 3rd arch over the river was the first to fall; & workmen on other arches reported seeing a crack in it, where they hadn't noticed one before, just before the accident. 
There was also supposition that coal mining in the vicinity had made the ground unsafe. There was talk of an 'eye' of a coal mine near to the  arches which had sunk the earth 10-12 weeks previously. 
However, the experts who had investigated the disaster & had examined evidence found it had nothing to do with any coal mine. 
They found bad workmanship in the construction of the arches & the materials used, mortar, bricks etc, not of good quality either. 
Neither could make a solid construction.  
                                                                                              The verdict: 
“That the accident occurred from the defective construction of the piers supporting the arches of the viaduct, & the jury would specify the absence of a sufficient number of bands, or 'through stones', & the inferior quality of materials used. The jury feel compelled to add that in their opinion there has been negligence on the part of those engaged in the construction & in the superintendence of the work.” 
The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester line opened throughout finally on Tuesday 23rd December 1845.
The start of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Company. 

  
Manchester Times, Saturday 12th September 1846                       Summary  

At the half-yearly meeting of proprietors of the Sheffield Ashford–under–Tyne & Manchester a few things were discussed including the name of the new company. 

The first thing was the raising of funds, from creating new shares, for works to be carried out; they were hoping to raise £445,000. John Parker Esq. MP was to retire from chairmanship & the Deputy, John Chapman, would fill that vacancy. 

Parliament had sanctioned an amalgamation of the Sheffield, Ashford-under-Lyne & Manchester with the Lincolnshire Junction and Great Grimsby & Sheffield Junction railways; with respective extensions and the Grimsby Docks. 

On the 1st January 1847 the amalgamation would come into operation & the joint undertaking would assume the title of the 'Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Company'. 
Derbyshire Courier 5th December 1891        Beighton to Chesterfield open, excerpt 

  "MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINCOLNSHIRE RAILWAY. 
OPENING OF THE DERBYSHIRE EXTENSION FOR GOODS TRAFFIC. 

That portion of the Derbyshire extension in connection with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company between the Beighton and Chesterfield was practically opened last Tuesday for goods traffic. 

The first train proper to run over the new line was one containing iron ore from the iron ore mines at Froddington, in Lincolnshire, to the works of the Staveley Coal and Iron Company, Limited, arriving about 10 a.m.   

Hitherto the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire have not been able to convey this traffic the whole distance by their own line, but have had to hand it over to the Midland Railway Company at Eckington, several miles from its destination. 

A supply of empty wagons was also sent by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire into the works in question on Tuesday for outward traffic, and these were loaded with mineral and despatched the same day by the new route. 

Some of the branch lines into the various works and collieries between the two points above mentioned – Beighton and Chesterfield – have already been made, and others are being vigorously pushed forward..... " 




  The Station being built.
Name change to the Great Central Railway.
Both the Midland & the Great Central were interested in amalgamation with the L.D. & E.C.R. [Market Place Station], but the Great Central was chosen. 

 
Derbyshire Times, Saturday 10th February 1906       The merger with the L.D. & E.C.R. 

"The acquisition of the Lancashire, Derbyshire, and East Coast Railway was approved at the half-yearly meeting of the Great Central Railway Company on Wednesday. 

Sir Alexander Henderson, Chairman of the Great Central, in warmly endorsing the action of the directors in connection with the proposed purchase, remarked that in the hands of the Great Central it was believed further developments of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway were possible. 

The purchase price was £2,969,368, payable as to £1,854,368 in 3½ per cent. Debenture stock, as to £557,000 in preferred ordinary stock, and as to the remaining £557,000 in deferred ordinary stock. The fixed charge in respect of the debenture stock would be £69,500, which was approximately the present amount of the Derbyshire Line's earnings. 

While the line remained as at present, it must rely chiefly on mineral traffic, and in the event of a great depression in the coal trade, or a great strike, its earnings would undoubtedly fall off. Hence he did not think that the vendors had made a bad bargain in getting the present revenue secured to them. On the other hand, the Great Central Railway Company would be able to put other traffic on the line and to utilise it in a way that was not possible at present." 


Pictures of the station.




This was taken c1970. The station is awaiting demolition - the tunnel opening can be seen underneath the building.








                          c/o Alan Jones collection.

                 On the right is the station from above c1950.


                c/o  https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/

Above & on the right, 2 photos  

c/o H. B. Priestly; July 1959 & 

May 1956 respectively. 
The Great Central closed on 3rd March 1963. 

















The photo to the left was taken the final day.


The photos above & below were taken the final week of operations.



The photo to the right was taken 1964.
The remains of the tunnel.
Below are 2 photos from 1984 of the same tunnel opening.
Market Place Station aka L.D. & E.C.R. aka Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway
The Market Place Station opened Whitt. Tuesday 7th June 1892. 
Horns Bridge
The line opened on Monday 8th March 1897.

Lincolnshire Echo, Tuesday 9th March 1897          excerpts 


                        EAST  TO  WEST  RAILWAY. 

       OPENING  OF THE CHESTERFIELD SECTION. 


The whole of the Chesterfield to Lincoln section of the East to West Railway was yesterday opened for passenger traffic.  

Passenger trains have been running since December from Edwinstowe to Lincoln,  but the very heavy section from Chesterfield to Edwinstowe, including the famous Bolsover Tunnel, was not ready until yesterday, when a special train conveyed a large party of gentlemen, including the directors and officials of the railway, from Chesterfield to Edwinstowe...... 


 …... The new station at West Bars, Chesterfield, is convenient and central, and already houses are springing up around it. Engine works covering a large area have been commenced on one side, and goods sheds have been erected upon an extensive scale. The contractors for the section of the line opened yesterday, were Pearson and Son. The works have included some rather heavy pieces of engineering. Besides two tunnels a short one at Duckmanton, and one over  two miles in length, piercing the hill upon which Bolsover Castle, there are numerous large viaducts. The chief of these is at Chesterfield. It crosses the Derby and Hasland Roads, the Midland Railway, the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, and the River Rother, the largest span being 115 feet over the Midland line. The Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway is crossed in three spans of 50 feet each...... 
The Portland Hotel was built by William Stones brewery of Sheffield, on the site of the White Horse & Bird in Hand, to take advantage of the trade the new railway would create. It was named after the Duke of Portland on whose land the railway ran. It opened in 1899. 
                               The photo below left is dated c1914; & below right, inside the Portland c1910.
Both the Midland & the Great Central were interested in amalgamation with the L.D. & E.C.R. but it was merged with the Great Central on the 1st January 1907. 

  
Derbyshire Times, Saturday 10th February 1906 

The acquisition of the Lancashire, Derbyshire, and East Coast Railway was approved at the half-yearly meeting of the Great Central Railway Company on Wednesday. 

Sir Alexander Henderson, Chairman of the Great Central, in warmly endorsing the action of the directors in connection with the proposed purchase, remarked that in the hands of the Great Central it was believed further developments of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway were possible. 

The purchase price was £2,969,368, payable as to £1,854,368 in 3½ per cent. Debenture stock, as to £557,000 in preferred ordinary stock, and as to the remaining £557,000 in deferred ordinary stock. The fixed charge in respect of the debenture stock would be £69,500, which was approximately the present amount of the Derbyshire Line's earnings. 

While the line remained as at present, it must rely chiefly on mineral traffic, and in the event of a great depression in the coal trade, or a great strike, its earnings would undoubtedly fall off. Hence he did not think that the vendors had made a bad bargain in getting the present revenue secured to them. On the other hand, the Great Central Railway Company would be able to put other traffic on the line and to utilise it in a way that was not possible at present.

The end was in sight for the railway.


The railway was closed to passengers on the 3rd December 1951; & closed for goods on 3rd December 1957. 



Below, taken in April of 1951.
To the right, is a photo that was taken on one of the last goods 'runs' in 1957.






Below: The building was used for retail before finally being pulled down.
....& just in case you want travel insurance.... keep your timetable handy !

  

Derbyshire Courier, Tuesday 25th June 1907 
THE CHESTERFIELD 
A.B.C. TIME TABLE AND DIARY. 

The Chesterfield A.B.C. Time Table and Diary has for many years been distinguished by a RED COVER. 

The success of this old established Time Table - now in its twenty-fifth year of publication – has led to a number of imitations. This is now being carried even to the colour of the cover. 

The A.B.C. arrangements are printed in clear type on GREEN PAPER.   

Each copy of the Chesterfield A.B.C. Contains Insurance Coupons.  

A sum of £100 will be paid to the next of kin of any person having in his or her possession a copy of the Time Table, who may be killed while travelling on any railway in the United Kingdom. 

A sum of £10 will be similarly paid to the next of kin of any person killed by an accident to a Tram-car, Omnibus, Cab, or 
Steamboat. 

A sum of £5 will in like manner be paid to a person who sustains a fracture of an arm or leg while playing FOOTBALL or 
CRICKET, or while CYCLING. 

The Chesterfield A.B.C. Time-Table contains a Lighting-up Table, Postal Information, Football Fixtures, List of Local Carriers, Chesterfield Corporation Tram Table, and other useful Information. 

A distinctive feature is that for convenience of reference the local Tables of the various Railway Companies running into 
Chesterfield are printed on paper of DIFFERENT COLOURS. 
End
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