Station Street Crossing

rogerdrew60

2 years ago

Merged image of location of Station Street crossing using 2023 photograph and a 1955 image from the Kirkby Heritage Centre book “*Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Annesley and Kirkby Woodhouse Then and Now Volume 2*“ (pp14-15)

B&M

B&M now stands where the Station Street Level Crossing was located. For more detail of the history of this store, please see the post on 2 Station Street as the B&M store occupies land that was once occupied by 2 Station Street.

Station Street Level Crossing.

The Station Street Level Crossing was a major landmark in Kirkby. When the gates closed to let a train past, cars queued on both sides of the gates. In a comment on Facebook, Stuart Scothern recalled the fire engine being made to stop at the gates.

Station Street crossing in the early seventies. Image from the Steaming back to Kirkby website where it is credited to the Notts Free Press collection

This photograph shows cars queuing in Station Street as a train passes. Image from Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group, It also appears on Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group and the Steaming back to Kirkby website

Another later photograph showing cars queuing as a train passed. This photo is from Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group

View towards Station Street rail crossing. This photo is from Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group. In a comment on that photo, Barry Walker noted, “as a child I used to love running and going over the bridge instead of waiting for the gates across Station Street to open and standing on and getting engulfed in the smoke as the train went underneath – I can still remember that distinctive smell of steam and coal smoke from the trains – and of course the station was to the side of the bridge.” The set of slides and video on the Steaming Back to Kirkby website gives a good idea of what this was like

Station Street level crossing in June 1950 from the Notts Free Press. Cutting posted on Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group . Peter Herbert noted that the photo was taken from the footbridge and that “*as kids we used to stand on the bridge and wait for a train going through and get covered by the train smoke. Can smell it now.*” The set of slides and video on the Steaming Back to Kirkby website gives a good idea of what this was like. Dave Sankey commented that his mother used to get mad and say “*get them bloody clothes off & get in that bath. I can hear her now*.”

This image was posted by Steve Bonall on Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group. I am not completely sure of the orientation of this photo

This image was posted by Dab Abbott on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group. It is said to be looking south, i.e. Urban Road to the right

This image from the Notts Free Press collection was posted by David Amos on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group. It shows the shops at 4-8 Station Street on the left

This image was posted by Geoff Brown on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group. A somewhat similar photo appears in “*Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Old Picture Postcards*” by W Clay-Dove (#65)

This image was also posted by Geoff Brown on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group

Another image of Station Street Level Crossing posted by Geoff Brown on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group

This image was posted by Chris Kidger on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group

Memories of Station Street Crossing

A number of contributors on Facebook recalled the crossing. For example. Sue Broughton noted, “When we were at School St. we used to sometimes run down to the bridge over the crossing at lunchtime and wait for the steam engines. No one ever seemed to check where we were! My grandad was an engine driver so I used to always look for him. Counting the coal wagons. I remember on Fridays he used to bring home, if he was on days, an enamel bucket full of mussels for Grandma to cook in milk. Always eaten with bread! He also used to take me to the “sheds” and the turn table for the engines! I can still remember the smell as if it were yesterday. His name was Sidney Rook.“

Ann McGarry noted that she walked over that bridge many times on the way to Vernon Road school and back. Paul Brown commented, “I spent many hours at the top of the bridge waiting for steam engines to pass below.” He also remembered catching the passenger train to Nottingham with his grandmother. Ian Walker noted that, “as a small boy with my mum I remember the excitement of being on the bridge as a train came though enveloping us in a steam cloud.” Joy Hillsdon commented that “only cissies” ran away from the steam. However, some, including Marion Youngs, did not like walking over the bridge.

Susan Carter noted that she had lived near the crossing when younger. Her uncle had been the level crossing guard.

Ken Higham

In his article on memories of Kirkby, Ken Higham commented on the impressive sight created when dozens of vehicles were held up at the crossing and there were also dozens of workers from Walker’s factory. He noted “the passing of a passenger train was not too bad, but at times there came the slow coal train which had laboured up the Erewash Valley with 50 or 60 coal wagons from Bentinck Pit and should the rails be wet, then progress could be very slow indeed.” He thought that the man in the brakevan often gave a “cheeky wave” to any women at the crossing!

Doctor Delayed

In June 1936, Dr Durance was delayed for fifteen minutes at the level crossing when he was attending an accident that had occurred at the corner of Hodgkinson Road and Station Street,

Cutting from the Nottingham Journal of 22 June 1936 obtained through paid subscription to Find My Past

Accident at the Crossing

On 3 October 1914, 64 year-old miner, Thomas Arnold, was killed on the Station Street level crossing. He was walking with his dog and a friend, Jonas Clarke. When they came to the crossing, the gate closed against them. They decided to cross through “the little gate at the side” rather than using the footbridge. Jonas got across but Thomas turned back for his dog which was lagging behind. A train came round the corner striking Thomas. He sustained head injuries and was attended by Dr Waller. He was taken by train to Mansfield Hospital but later died. The dog, Tiny, was also killed.

Part of an article which appeared in the Mansfield Reporter and Sutton Times of 9 October 1914 concerning a fatal accident at the level crossing. This was obtained through paid subscription to Find My Past

Removal of the Track and Crossing

According to an article in CHAD in October 1975, work to remove the track and crossing started in August 1971 and was completed in April 1972. The Council, at the time, explained that there was an opportunity to bring the town together as the crossing had divided it for a long time.

Signal Box

There was a signal box close to the level crossing. This was only demolished some years after the railway closed. More details of East Kirkby Railway Station are available in another post.

This photo was shared by Alwyn Bowskill on Facebook. It appears to show the Whit Walk in the early seventies at the lower end of Station Street. It shows the signal box in the background. .

Other Photographs

There are photographs of the Station Street level crossing in the book “Kirkby-in-Ashfield: An Interesting Township” by Bill Clay-Dove (p39) and in the Kirkby and District Conservation Society booklet “A Brief History of Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Portland Park” (p43). There are contrasting photos of what the transition from Urban Road to Station Street was like when the level crossing was in place and now in the Kirkby Heritage Centre book “Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Annesley and Kirkby Woodhouse Then and Now Volume 2“ (pp14-15). The level crossing is identified as a favourite place for trainspotters in Jonathan Evans’ book “The Mystery of Ernie Taylor’s Abdomen” (p79).

B&M