For years the site was a blending site. Power stations need a particular grade of coal. Some mines produced coal that was too good so trains of good and poor coal were mixed to form a usable blend.
I have literally just come across your channel and I cannot believe that there was anyone else who shared the same enthusiasm as me with discovering old railway lines and all the interesting stuff that goes with it. I take my bike over and past sherwood pines and so intrigued by all the different routes to discover. I’ll be going back to trek the routes you have shared around the notts collieries, absolutely brilliant, thank you and keep it up.
So much to explore near Rufford Colliery! Spent many, many days exploring the area. A lot of deer live in the area too, if you sit down quietly somewhere they appear seemingly out of nowhere, (as long as there's nobody on a quad or motorbike blasting about.) There is a lot less infrastructure than there was 20 years ago. Amazing to think that only 30 odd years ago, as a school lad we were encouraged to consider a job down the pit as a lifelong career and seeing blacked men on their way home or in the pub. Edit: Nice to see a traditional burnt out car on the edge of the old pit.
Mum lived in Mansfield for a while. I remember when they built Rainworth by-pass you could see buffer-stops and track and machinery off to the right when facing Mansfield. Several years later the trees had grown up but you could still make out where the track had previously been. All landscaped and 'People friendly' now.
Thanks again Ant. You’ve definitely done the heritage of my local area proud. Won’t be too much longer before people forget this was a pit area, videos like this help keep those memories.
I worked trains in and out of rufford colliery from 1982 until 1984, when the former midland region lost work to the eastern region. We were still using small vacuum braked wagons, and the eastern region had swapped to larger air-braked vehicles. Happy days.
What an enjoyable and relaxing walk. The first part along the trackbed through the cutting was brilliant, I love the fact that we still have access to this area, great to explore. I wonder how long the Rufford site will be there and not built on, prime land for housing I would have thought. Great to see the lines still in place too.
Thanks Jim. It was nice to re visit and have a good and proper look at ones of the very first routes i walked in mid 2019. That Rufford site was piled high with muck and coal bits last year
Enjoyed that. Amazing what you can find on an otherwise barren site when you look for it. The find at circa 9.00 was a gradient marker with one arm broken off.
I have never been a train buff but after walking old rail tracks in the north east I just love watching things like this . Well done . If you have time try and do a bit of research on old lines from bishop Auckland station County Durham , Very interesting.
It is an area i have nevr been for some reason and i have been to many parts of the UK. Its somewhere ill be sure to look into next year. Thankyou for watching :)
I’ve been watching your trekking antics for a few months now and find this one particularly rememberable as I used to jump on the back of the Bilsthorpe bound train when I got a detention 😟😂😂
After looking on Google earth pro at the site in 1999, all the tracks you saw were covered in coal heaps, the only track that was visible (and therefore the only line that could of served the stocking site) was the main line that went past the site and continued on further to the road
I really enjoyed that. Love hearing the history too. Of course going down train tracks is always excellent. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe
Hello I hope you are okay 🙂 I enjoyed this one because last year I could get nowhere near the coal mine site. It was covered with dirt, rubble and coal remains all being scooped about by digger's and dump trucks. I'm amazed how clear it is now
Have many generations of family who were miners in the Notts coalfield so this was a fascinating find. Somebody in the family must have worked at Rufford Colliery at some point. Worth looking at the Side by Side website that gives some map context to the tracks at the colliery - maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=53.13473&lon=-1.11065&layers=10&right=BingSat
I used to drive a loading shovel on that loading pad. The top was a loco shed the bottom was the weigh rails this was before it was rufford group stacking site
Thanks for a great explore. You clearly have a head for heights, I would have froze on that bridge with no fence. All those lines, must have been quite something in its day.
As always, hugely enjoyable Ant, will spend another hour or so on google maps!! Pleased to see a photo of 58 022 working away doing its thing now waiting to be transformed into LMS 10000 ( the frame at least ) hope they succeed 👍
Fantastic video/editing and commentary, gives me more information on an area I'm very interested in. Coming from Norfolk and discovering the former Mansfield C.S and finding lots of former railway infrastructure, its great to watch your videos and put it all together...keep up the great work, John (Norfolk railway Heritage group)
When you get yourself back over this way evventually let me know. I'll do the same when i'm back over Norwich / Norfolk way. Thanks for the kind words also :)
@@TrekkingExploration no problems, I wish I lived closer and had time to wander the Clipstone branch and associated lines like you, please keep making the vids in the area, they are superb....
Would it be possible at some point to do an up to date video going South from Mansfield C.S towards Rufford Junc and the clipstone branch? Or have you already done that? Sorry if you have, but after finding so much remaining infrastructure and not having more time, I wish to know a bit more South of the former concentrationsidings, it also maybe worth you visiting the triangle at Clipstone Junc as I walked right up to the signal box there, I know you obvs know the area well, but seeing intact semophore signals is a rare thing nowadays, and I'm sure your subscribers would like to see them filmed in your professional style...regards as always, John
@@HaroldRoad it's one of the first I did and frankly I could do it better now 🤣 I visited the Rufford Branch on the same video briefly. I got some great drone footage of Clipstone triangle and box during lockdown I could use
Another engrossing video Ant. Thank you. You may be aware that what you've found at 08:50 is the remains of a cast iron Midland Railway gradient post with one of the arms broken off. On the remaining arm you can see the pins where the digits were attached. It would have looked something like www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/great-central/catalogue-id-great-10000/lot-69a10c2b-da8e-4c39-9452-a603010c2d2e. At 10:43 you've found a second gradient post that has had the arms removed.
Thats one of my weak points, i see things occasionally, i know what they are but become unsure of the name so say nothing out of fear of getting it wrong ha ha ha
What a cracking vlog, really enjoyed that but what on earth was that burnt out vehicle at 18:50 ? I thought at first, it was a car or small van but those wheels look odd.
Well any I’ve been following you since you did the mapperley tunnel till present day videos and last week I watched all the pre mapperley tunnel videos and I’ve found every one very informative and very well done and can see how you’ve got better at it .i love my history and nostalgia so I’d like to thank you for your great videos as I think they keep the history alive 👍 Ps When you first started off was it going to be a family affair or was they just there to give your confidence a boost as it was your first video Cheers Keith
Hi Keith thankyou for the kind word. I think the novelty wears off & they don't want to come anymore ha ha. I'm actually out with Jake again this coming Wednesday, first time he's been along since February
jeez i walked that line & where it was suppse to cross a bridleway into the old colliery a trench got dug right across the bed also the 3 remaining buildings of the pit were being torn down when i went oh btw that steep embankment you climbed up i did that going the other way wheeling a bike too btw both beds have ballast down on them i just changed from one to the other cos it got difficult to walk the bike over & avoid obstructions such as fallen trees & trails from 4x4's
Another engrossing track walk with added railwayana extras👍🏻👍🏻 That concrete screeding looked a tad on the thin side considering the weight it must have had to bear. Does anyone know whats going to happen on this site???
@@laurafield7845 Great news, common sense prevails at last👍🏻 Thank goodness it's not another rat warren of ugly bricks cobbled together for so called housing or another monstrous Amazon warehouse, the site is just about big enough!!!🤔
Still amazes me you don't see anyone ?? And who now owns this land ? As a Londoner I was used to dereliction when Docks closed and much industry move out of London but it is either now a park or new business park or new warehouse area and in much of Docklands the area has been redeveloped with posh waterside apartments...
My dad use to work at rufford many many years ago and he watched this with me and sad the mini gague was for the tube's that brought the coal to the loading pads...
It’s amazing how much effort has gone into virtually destroying any evidence that collieries existed in the area. Many have been grassed over and so hard to believe they existed… keep up the railway archeology…
Great Video but you never anyone joggers cyclists or dog walkers ? Is the land private or a country park or nature reserve I cant think of anywhere in London where I would not bump into walkers joggers and dog walkers..
I would suggest at 21:14 it used to be a typical fan of sidings. Uses changed, some rails were cut & covered. What you suggest for the final use sounds very plausible, to me.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Roc Steady (feat. Flo Milli) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HozPPyqW0dY/mqdefault.jpg)
For years the site was a blending site. Power stations need a particular grade of coal. Some mines produced coal that was too good so trains of good and poor coal were mixed to form a usable blend.
I have literally just come across your channel and I cannot believe that there was anyone else who shared the same enthusiasm as me with discovering old railway lines and all the interesting stuff that goes with it. I take my bike over and past sherwood pines and so intrigued by all the different routes to discover. I’ll be going back to trek the routes you have shared around the notts collieries, absolutely brilliant, thank you and keep it up.
Went to school in rainworth well shall I say me and my mates never went and this is where we'd go waggin it brings back some memories.
So much to explore near Rufford Colliery! Spent many, many days exploring the area. A lot of deer live in the area too, if you sit down quietly somewhere they appear seemingly out of nowhere, (as long as there's nobody on a quad or motorbike blasting about.) There is a lot less infrastructure than there was 20 years ago.
Amazing to think that only 30 odd years ago, as a school lad we were encouraged to consider a job down the pit as a lifelong career and seeing blacked men on their way home or in the pub.
Edit: Nice to see a traditional burnt out car on the edge of the old pit.
Wow another great walk and its all good waffling and very interesting too take care xx
Mum lived in Mansfield for a while. I remember when they built Rainworth by-pass you could see buffer-stops and track and machinery off to the right when facing Mansfield. Several years later the trees had grown up but you could still make out where the track had previously been. All landscaped and 'People friendly' now.
Thanks again Ant. You’ve definitely done the heritage of my local area proud. Won’t be too much longer before people forget this was a pit area, videos like this help keep those memories.
Fantastic! You are right, most of the young won't have a clue about what once dominted the region
I worked trains in and out of rufford colliery from 1982 until 1984, when the former midland region lost work to the eastern region. We were still using small vacuum braked wagons, and the eastern region had swapped to larger air-braked vehicles. Happy days.
excellent video again👍 nice to see some old railway sleepers still intact after all these years
Thanks Barry. It's a nice little area in the forest ☺️
What an enjoyable and relaxing walk. The first part along the trackbed through the cutting was brilliant, I love the fact that we still have access to this area, great to explore. I wonder how long the Rufford site will be there and not built on, prime land for housing I would have thought. Great to see the lines still in place too.
Thanks Jim. It was nice to re visit and have a good and proper look at ones of the very first routes i walked in mid 2019. That Rufford site was piled high with muck and coal bits last year
Enjoyed that. Amazing what you can find on an otherwise barren site when you look for it. The find at circa 9.00 was a gradient marker with one arm broken off.
I have never been a train buff but after walking old rail tracks in the north east I just love watching things like this .
Well done .
If you have time try and do a bit of research on old lines from bishop Auckland station County Durham ,
Very interesting.
It is an area i have nevr been for some reason and i have been to many parts of the UK. Its somewhere ill be sure to look into next year. Thankyou for watching :)
I’ve been watching your trekking antics for a few months now and find this one particularly rememberable as I used to jump on the back of the Bilsthorpe bound train when I got a detention 😟😂😂
Another great video on the railway and coal industries. Nice to see the narrow gauge lines and points and ordinary size points. 😎🚂🚂🇬🇧
Glad you enjoyed it. Its a nice little route and a nice way to finish off this area.... for now :)
Another educational, informative and entertaining video. Thanks for your efforts.
After looking on Google earth pro at the site in 1999, all the tracks you saw were covered in coal heaps, the only track that was visible (and therefore the only line that could of served the stocking site) was the main line that went past the site and continued on further to the road
Another fantastic video, love the music, more escapism.
Many thanks! The music is so important, sometimes my favourite part :)
absolutely enjoyed it. thank you very much
Thank you for watching
Pleased you enjoyed it 😀
I really enjoyed that. Love hearing the history too. Of course going down train tracks is always excellent. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe
Hello I hope you are okay 🙂
I enjoyed this one because last year I could get nowhere near the coal mine site. It was covered with dirt, rubble and coal remains all being scooped about by digger's and dump trucks. I'm amazed how clear it is now
I am really good thanks. Seeing it looking clear like that tho has a sadness to it too.
Absolutely brilliant ant great old photos of the class 58 and the mgr coal wagons 👍
Glad you enjoyed it, i love it when i'm able to get an image or 2 :)
Another excellent video.
Have many generations of family who were miners in the Notts coalfield so this was a fascinating find. Somebody in the family must have worked at Rufford Colliery at some point. Worth looking at the Side by Side website that gives some map context to the tracks at the colliery -
maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=53.13473&lon=-1.11065&layers=10&right=BingSat
I used to drive a loading shovel on that loading pad.
The top was a loco shed the bottom was the weigh rails this was before it was rufford group stacking site
Excellent vlog. Only just found your channel, now subscribed. Got loads to watch thank you.
Welcome aboard! Thanks so much for watching & commenting :)
You are brilliant mate . Very professional filming
Thank you so much for your kind comment and also for watching 🙂
The narrow guage lines carried minecars full of materials from the stock compound to the shaft sides for lowering in to the mine
I would imagine that the narrow gauge trackwork would have been the colliery stock yard area where all the tackle to go underground was loaded
At 7:04, when you have dropped back onto the Midland, it looks like the site of an earlier derailment with those grooves in the old sleepers.
Thanks for a great explore. You clearly have a head for heights, I would have froze on that bridge with no fence. All those lines, must have been quite something in its day.
Glad you enjoyed it. It's a nice way to close off this area for now at least :)
As always, hugely enjoyable Ant, will spend another hour or so on google maps!! Pleased to see a photo of 58 022 working away doing its thing now waiting to be transformed into LMS 10000 ( the frame at least ) hope they succeed 👍
Glad you enjoyed it. Its a huge area and one you could wonder around for houurs :)
Fantastic video/editing and commentary, gives me more information on an area I'm very interested in. Coming from Norfolk and discovering the former Mansfield C.S and finding lots of former railway infrastructure, its great to watch your videos and put it all together...keep up the great work, John (Norfolk railway Heritage group)
When you get yourself back over this way evventually let me know. I'll do the same when i'm back over Norwich / Norfolk way. Thanks for the kind words also :)
@@TrekkingExploration no problems, I wish I lived closer and had time to wander the Clipstone branch and associated lines like you, please keep making the vids in the area, they are superb....
@@HaroldRoad thank you and if you have any suggestions throw them over 🙂
Would it be possible at some point to do an up to date video going South from Mansfield C.S towards Rufford Junc and the clipstone branch? Or have you already done that? Sorry if you have, but after finding so much remaining infrastructure and not having more time, I wish to know a bit more South of the former concentrationsidings, it also maybe worth you visiting the triangle at Clipstone Junc as I walked right up to the signal box there, I know you obvs know the area well, but seeing intact semophore signals is a rare thing nowadays, and I'm sure your subscribers would like to see them filmed in your professional style...regards as always, John
@@HaroldRoad it's one of the first I did and frankly I could do it better now 🤣
I visited the Rufford Branch on the same video briefly. I got some great drone footage of Clipstone triangle and box during lockdown I could use
At 9:35. That's an old skirted fish-plate, which you called a bracket, that's been hammered in to prevent the piece of rail from wobbling about.
Another engrossing video Ant. Thank you. You may be aware that what you've found at 08:50 is the remains of a cast iron Midland Railway gradient post with one of the arms broken off. On the remaining arm you can see the pins where the digits were attached. It would have looked something like www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/great-central/catalogue-id-great-10000/lot-69a10c2b-da8e-4c39-9452-a603010c2d2e. At 10:43 you've found a second gradient post that has had the arms removed.
Thats one of my weak points, i see things occasionally, i know what they are but become unsure of the name so say nothing out of fear of getting it wrong ha ha ha
Highly entertaining and informative as always, Ant. Nice one.
Glad you enjoyed it. I think it's the last one from this little area too.
Great vlog, all about keeping that black stuff coming out the ground and what a vast site👍🏴
Really good and very interesting thank you 👍...if you are ever in or around Sussex it's possible you may enjoy ' The South Downs Link'....
What a cracking vlog, really enjoyed that but what on earth was that burnt out vehicle at 18:50 ?
I thought at first, it was a car or small van but those wheels look odd.
Fantastic video as always. Did u find the capped shafts?
Well any I’ve been following you since you did the mapperley tunnel till present day videos and last week I watched all the pre mapperley tunnel videos and I’ve found every one very informative and very well done and can see how you’ve got better at it .i love my history and nostalgia so I’d like to thank you for your great videos as I think they keep the history alive 👍
Ps
When you first started off was it going to be a family affair or was they just there to give your confidence a boost as it was your first video
Cheers Keith
I meant to say Ant not any at the beginning sorry
Hi Keith thankyou for the kind word. I think the novelty wears off & they don't want to come anymore ha ha. I'm actually out with Jake again this coming Wednesday, first time he's been along since February
History gone Black Diamonds great video thanks PS tile of the music please some good sounds thanks
😀😀😀😀😀😀really good thanks
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching
jeez i walked that line & where it was suppse to cross a bridleway into the old colliery a trench got dug right across the bed also the 3 remaining buildings of the pit were being torn down when i went oh btw that steep embankment you climbed up i did that going the other way wheeling a bike too btw both beds have ballast down on them i just changed from one to the other cos it got difficult to walk the bike over & avoid obstructions such as fallen trees & trails from 4x4's
googlemaps still show the 3 buildings thats where you walked across
I remember seeing those buildings on most recent images they must have been pulled down when the work was finished last year
Great video, could you give each one a cycling star rating ? One for difficult and five for easy . Thanks.
Another engrossing track walk with added railwayana extras👍🏻👍🏻 That concrete screeding looked a tad on the thin side considering the weight it must have had to bear. Does anyone know whats going to happen on this site???
I have no idea whats to be done with this site. Plus the way that area has crumbled who would want to build on it?
I have just read that it will be Nottinghamshire's largest heathland and native tree replanting area, so we'll have the green beauty forever!
@@laurafield7845 Great news, common sense prevails at last👍🏻 Thank goodness it's not another rat warren of ugly bricks cobbled together for so called housing or another monstrous Amazon warehouse, the site is just about big enough!!!🤔
@@bobingram6912 One tiny ray of hope amongst the gloom...
Still amazes me you don't see anyone ?? And who now owns this land ?
As a Londoner I was used to dereliction when Docks closed and much industry move out of London but it is either now a park or new business park or new warehouse area and in much of Docklands the area has been redeveloped with posh waterside apartments...
Superb look great for old git like me to ride E Bike !!
So quiete no one about, is it a country park ?
Yes, it is part of Sherwood Pines. A lot of routes winding there way through the forest
Ant - it would be good if you could find time to do a follow up in the coming months to see how things have changed over two years.
Nice Video But for me no music Just Nature sounds Cheers
My dad use to work at rufford many many years ago and he watched this with me and sad the mini gague was for the tube's that brought the coal to the loading pads...
amazing that the scrap dealers have not taken all the old iron that is there
They'll probably find it eventually
Cant young tree be pruned to keep yhis glade/cutting open to trek on..
It’s amazing how much effort has gone into virtually destroying any evidence that collieries existed in the area. Many have been grassed over and so hard to believe they existed… keep up the railway archeology…
😞😞😞😞😞🤝🎖🎖🎖🥇🥇🥇🕊🕊🕊🏅🏅🥈🥈🥈🥈😭😭😭👉🚂🚃🚃
Great Video but you never anyone joggers cyclists or dog walkers ?
Is the land private or a country park or nature reserve I cant think of anywhere in London where I would not bump into walkers joggers and dog walkers..
I never video when anyone is around, also I often go early in the morning. Thanks for watching 🙂
big loss ant
I would suggest at 21:14 it used to be a typical fan of sidings. Uses changed, some rails were cut & covered. What you suggest for the final use sounds very plausible, to me.
23:16 may have been remains of a rail weigh-house for outgoing wagon tonnage.