I was signalman in the 90s I used to man Netherfield and Rectory amongst all signal boxes on the East of Nottingham all the way to Newark and Grantham. Quite sad to see it gone 😢
As a boy (in the late 1950s) I used to play in the area of the viaduct and also the land that was then an area of sand/mineral extraction, which is now known as Netherfield lagoons. One of the small tunnels, referred to by the author as culverts, was used by a narrow gauge rail system built to transport the extracted material to a plant at the end of Private Road No.3 of the Colwick Industrial Estate. It was abandoned before this time but the track was still there and being boys, me and my mates pulled out a derailed wagon and spent many happy hours taking advantage of a slight gradient to ride through the tunnel ! We also befriended the signalman at Rectory Junction and spent some time with him watching the trains go by. In the 1980s when I had a son of my own the area was brilliant for scrambling bikes - enough said about that. Moving on to the the 1990s I spent many hours supervising the discharge of the oil trains at the Total rail siding and I can tell you that at 6am in the morning there could not have been a colder place in the UK ! The rail siding was connected to the Total Oil Terminal on the Colwick Industrial Estate by an underground pipeline which ran behind Morrisons and then at the side of the Colwick Loop Road. The brick building at the river end of the rough track, by the viaduct, was the fire pump which extracted water from the Trent and pumped it to the fire main at the Total rail siding. I have an aerial colour photograph of the area taken in the 1980s after the first section of the Colwick Loop Road was built but before any industrial or retail development. The only building on the land then were the Railway Social Club and the Total Sidings. Thanks for the video - I have to confess however, of some sadness seeing the decomissioned Total Sidings.
Hi Ant, Im a ex-EWS driver based over at Toton but live close to Carlton station, so I used to relieve the tank trains at Carlton station (the train would leave Lindsey refinary at about 0200) at about 0430 in the mrning, then would take the train through Nottingham station and down to Beeston where I'd run the loco around the train. Would then bring the train back to Rectory junction and back the train into the sidings, usually it would consist of 24 x 100 ton tank wagons (each holding approx 25,000 gallons of either petrol or diesel). The loco would then be detached from the wagons and moved out of the yard and just beyond the security gates, in later years we had to move the loco up to a shunt neck next to Rectory signal box. Once the train had been unloaded it would be reformed, then would work forwards to Grantham station, where it would the loco would be run around the train again. The train would leave Grantham and travel up the East Coast Mainline to Newark where it would turn off right, back towards Lincoln and then on to Immingham docks. I also used to take the empty coalsets up to Oxcroft, Welbeck and Thoresby collierys back in the day and more recently taken Network Rail test trains up to the NR test track up there. Excellent videos by the way and they've brought back so many memories of the above workings... cheers!
Thats some really nice information and memories for you too. I live right by the Test Track, at Edwinstowe. I usually end up missing the workings though.
There's no suspense with this one Ant, straight in with the forgotten rails, superb. Great drone footage plus Railmap giving a good idea of the lay of the line. Liking the added vid section.👍🏻👍🏻
Very interesting Ant - lived on Station rd at Thurgarton and used to love watching the trains go past from my bedroom window ( Nottingham to Newark line) loved seeing the coal trains oil trains etc. Used to catch the old style trains into Notts on a Saturday morning You know the ones that you had to open from the outside. I loved seeing the train in the distance- that little yellow dot getting closer and closer, never failed to excite me and a sort of anxiety all at the same time. Loved the video - got any more on the old style ( 70/80 trains) so nostalgic ☺️
Awesome, My Family are from Netherfield, My Grandfather was a Sub Ganger on the Railways :-) Brilliant Video. He took my Dad early hours of the morning to stand on the footplate of Mallard at Colwick Yard when it was building steam, My Dad was in Awe, it was the Concord of its day and every Boys dream, god rest them both. My Grandfather had served during the war with the Fireman and He gave my Grandad the nod.
@@davidgrice9270 My Grandfather was Herbert Bosworth, Lived on Chandos Street. His Wife was Silvia Mills, family had a Chip Shop in Netherfield, and Her Dad George used to work as an Electrician in the Sugar Refinery in the 50's. Not been to Netherfield since My Mama's Funeral, but fond memories of the place, especially the foot bridge over the railway to the Cricket Field, many a walk with Grandad and His Dog Kelly round the Cricket Field.
In the early 200's there were still abandoned wagons in some parts of the country but all of these seem to have gone in almost all instances. I remember old abandoned wagons in Cambois, Newcastle. More in other areas. Councils seemed to go through a huge remediation process of land after about 2008 - 10 and to have any tracks now is increasingly rare. Even if most land is not but on, they remediated the land and prepared it for future development. Footpaths replaced dereliction of old wagons and anti-social areas of congregation as many were burned out etc. The early 2000's had some really haunting and emotive sights.
I took my four year old son on this trail for an adventure, and he absolutely loved finding the "secret railway" in the trees, the signal box, the longest bridge ever, and the river that smelled like someone had done a poo in it (he wasn't wrong). As he's only four, I don't think a row of bricks that were once a platform edge will quite hold his attention, and was wondering if there is another trail in the Nottingham area that has old sections of rails, tunnels and things that are very obviously railway for him to find? Many thanks.
Have you been to High Peak Junction? Just up the trail from the cafe (past the old carriages) is the Catch - which still has the wreckage of a runaway truck in it. Once covid is over check when the nearby steam pump house is open - I'm sure your lad will be fascinated by it.
You wouldn't have been far from Stoke Bardolph?? I remember in the late 70's when I travelled in to Nottingham daily, that on the opposite side of the Nottingham - Grantham line fairly close to Rectory Junction Signal Box there was a maggot factory for fishing supplies. If you opened the window in good time on a summer day everyone got the benefit of it!
Great show. I used to live overlooking the shunting yards as we called them, and from our 3rd floor bedroom window we used to enjoy watching the coal waggons being hauled up the tower and then tipping their loads into Engine tenders. Regarding the oil terminals my grandfather was employed by Regent (later Texaco) in the 1930s to build and develop their oil terminal next to the Marshalling Yards. Other companies at around the same time until the 1970's were Esso, (my dad worked there), Shell and BP, all were served by rail but they also were sometimes served by barges which came up the Trent from the Humber.
Does anyone remember the Hoveringham Gravel Pits in this area. I used to fish in them as a young lad in the late '40's and early '50's as well as in the Trent close by. My dad was a relief signalman in the area and worked boxes from Colwick Yard, Gedling Colliery to those further afield. I rode in the cab of an austerity loco from the colliery to Colwick Yard when my dad was in the box at the colliery, that was awesome. I have gone further afield my self to Vancouver Island in Canada but really enjoyed the video and trying to orientate myself.
During the start of the pandemic, read articles in the paper along the lines of 'this is nothing, if she wanted, Mother Nature could wipe us out *snap fingers* just like that'
That was so fantastic Ant. So much to see just loved it. So many trains 🚂 always good to see. The history you give is great too. You can never learn to much. Thank you so much for taking me along and please stay safe and take care
I enjoyed watching, right on my door step and didn't realise, even been over that viaduct on trains and have never had any sensation of how stunning it is!👍😎😮😊
I am from Grantham used to go over that bridge to Nottingham I can remember all those Sidings being there full of coal wagons I think there was a station netherfield and coalwick ?? this was back in the 70s
I've just discovered your channel, so rather belated thanks for this video! Really like the overlaid satellite image showing what once was, the drone footage is brilliant too plus the choice of music really sets off the whole thing!! It's amazing how nature claims back these sites, despite the fact that the ground is likely to be polluted. I'm going to spend time over Xmas looking at your other videos, that's sure to be better than any offerings on TV......
Thankyou so much for this my dad who’s no longer with us used to drive engines up and down here I remember going on the steam engines with him and making me a bacon sandwich off his shovel in the 60s he also worked the shunting engines and worked for British sugar corporation and I was born in netherfield happy memories 😀
Thank you for your map at 2:53 I often walk my dog on a park just off Colwick Loop Road where I can tell the old rail line used to run along but I have often wondered about the terrain and whether it served another purpose in a previous life. This map confirms my thoughts that it used to be part of a large train yard... I just did not realise how large!!! Edit 3:32 is a better map actually, and the park in question is the one just to the right of Colwick Loop Road, just above where Halfords is written on the map.
Interesting stuff and some nice footage. The old stills helped too, along with your own archive film. Sad to think how many of these class 60s EWS/DBC have left to rot, just rusting away with surprisingly few miles on them. This is the first of your videos I've watched, after seeing you guesting on other channels. I've subscribed and will enjoy rummaging through your videos.👍👌😁 Have a great New Year when it comes, Cheers for now, Dougie.
The test train stored there is for the Midland Mainline electrification testing train. It's a mixed top and tail set with HST power cars either end with one class 91 and various Mk3s in a mix of liverys in the middle. Used for testing the Kettering to Colby route.
I live local and worked down on the industrial estate for many years. Spent many hours wandering around this area on foot and bike. Loved the video. Great work.
Some heritage railways would love those old rails. A new one is opening up locally to where I live and another closed line is potentially being reopened for mainline use. Going to need loads of track going forward. Up to now lines have been lifted from old coal power stations but that source is coming to an end.
if you went to the industrial area down the road (Road is literally called Road No.2 its in cowlick) a lot of the entrances to work yards still have railway embedded into concrete
Great video!!! Used to live in Colwick in a development built in the late 90s, early 2000s that backed onto the railway to Newark that went to Netherfield. Didn't even realize any of this was there!!! I knew Netherfield was a very industrial area, especially as you get out to Gedling, but didn't know there was a railway that went that way over the Trent!!! Really interesting to see this. Thanks for showing us this!!!
Fantastic, hard to believe that massive heavy trains of coal once set off from here behind "O4", "8f" and "9f" classes of steam locos and heading up the Midland line to London.
I lived at Radcliffe when I was a boy. The garden backed on to the railway and Colwick Yard was in full swing. I remember an incident (I forget what year it was, but it was in the days of steam). Trains would sometimes have to wait to enter Cowlick Yard and this meant waiting on the Rectory Viaduct over the Trent. A fireman climbed up on to the tender to work on the coal and fell off his engine and into the river. His body was never found.
Fantastic, always wondered about Colwick and you’ve brought it to life me. A huge yard and very impressive. The electrical lines leading to and from the various apparatus is what I was looking at in a previous lifetime👍🏴
Brought back a lot of great memories ,the Netherfield lagoons used to be fields with much smaller ponds ,I know cos I fished them lol ...can remember the block of old railways houses that used to be at bottom there and even the big old buildings they kept trains in as you walked down past Jackie bells to Trent ...
First time viewer, instant subscriber. Fascinating, information rich, engaging, visually stimulating content. Couldn't ask for more. Thanks for your magnificent efforts. 😎👌
Worked at gedling colliery which was served from colwick yard for the coal trains. Many happy days “bunking” colwick sheds. Sometimes got some interesting visits from Grantham when the Pacific’s needed repair.
That gate controlling the water flow as kids we just called everything like that sluice gates, no matter what type of water gate it was it was always sluice gate, funny how certain things never leave you even though the last time we as kids were out exploring was 65 plus years ago, great post Ant
When I were a lad, if we went on holiday to Norfolk/Suffolk, always looked on the OS map for a nearby disused railway, and follow it as much as possible. Good times :)
Great points of history made this a very entertaining video, loved seeing the old track still down and the entrance to Total depot. Brilliant views from the drone of the junction and viaduct, nice to see some frost too!!!
Very enjoyable video and intresting to see what's happened after years of being closed, like to see one of the former Tinsley rail yard and diesel loco depot as that would be great to do .
Very interesting video. My memory of the extensive marshalling yards is limited to 1969/70 as seen from a Grantham - Nottingham train during a train-spotting trip from Peterborough.
Quite the opposite. It is all taking off. HS2 will free up bandwidth for old lines to be reopened (cannot happen without it). HS3 ditto. Mainline will be moving over to electric and battery electric (been testing that for some time). A very, very bright and optimistic future.
@@mbak7801 If we're all going to be driving electric cars, and we need to get the length/width of the country to go on holiday, will they bring back MotoRail?
Great stuff! So fascinating! I'm local, from Mapperley, but live abroad now. When I come back to visit family I'd like to go and find this - presume the footpath goes from Colwick Industrial Estate? Thanks - love local history!
It certainly does. Around the back of Morrisons supermarket. I need to do the line between this and Mapperley Tunnel now and link up the two videos Thanks so much for watching 🙂
@@TrekkingExploration They "were" going use this disused line to run an eastern leg of the tramways through Netherfield (the old Gedling Colliery line), like they used the old Midland line for a tramway to Clifton.
British Railways ended in 1964, it then became British Rail - so a slightly inaccurate description at 2:32. ... The word you are looking for at 5:25 is sluice gate. ... The UN code 3Y 1202 at 14:20 denotes diesel oil. ... A great vid, thank you
I heard that is where they are going to store the DATS test trains, so at least some rails will remain, but they will need security and fencing, great video..
The remnants of track work by the oil terminal gates (~10:30) once formed a run round loop that ran down to Rectory Jn. The points at the other end still exists I believe.
@@TrekkingExploration You're welcome Ant. If you look on Google maps/earth satellite view (September 2019), you can see what I mean, plus referring to older track plans to work out what it was. Not sure you can get to the other end as its pretty close to the live Nottingham - Grantham lines near to the bridge over the Trent.
@@martynbrailsford3943 ahh I'll give that a miss then. I doubt I missed much else although apparently there is an inspection pit somewhere. I just need to try to do the section from Netherfield to Gedling Colliery now
@@TrekkingExploration I wonder what the inspection pit was associated with - my initial thought was part of the Colwick Loco Shed, but checking on National Library of Scotland’s OS Map archive, and their very useful side by side feature with a modern day satellite image confirm that the shed site has been well and truly built over with the industrial estate. Be interested to see what remains of the Gedling branch.
Great video Ant, Shame the sidings went but that’s progress for you, if you went down colwick loop road you would see the remains of a platform near the racecourse And on the other side of the racecourse island there’s remains of the old railway which runs behind virgin and smyths toys. Really enjoy watching your videos can’t wait till the next one 👍
Interesting video I'm liking the old black and white photo's mixed in showing how it used to look. Finding some of the original track was good it always seems quite sad how nature takes over these places with all the new trees trying to get past the lines and bending round and growing literally around them in years to come when some of these trees are mature you might end up with one with a railway line going straight through a tree. Liking the drone footage that really shows the area off to a treat. Stay safe.
It also seems quite sad how nature was cleared to make way for all this in the first place! Anyway, a very interesting video and it was presented well. I actually quite like the look of the nature with trees coming out from between the sleepers
Great footage. I remember bunking Colwick steam shed in the sixties. Only managed it twice, both times in darkness. The foreman there was a nasty piece of work and did not like train spotters at all. No hope of "Any chance of a quick look round the shed?" Got round once in daylight with a permit not long before it closed. Magic place.
At 05:22 that's what we call a "Clap Valve" up here (Yorkshire) - A one way, self seating valve, designed to keep drainage flowing in one direction only.
Really enjoyed seeing this, thanks for posting. I've got a book on the history of Colwick MPD & Yard (by Book Law Publications, and well worth having a look for), so very interesting to look at the maps and arial views in it while watching. I have a distant memory of going to Colwick about the time it was closing. My Dad had bought one of the platform seats from Radcliffe-on Trent which then sat in his garden at Plungar for the next 40 years or so. On a Sunday afternoon back in the days when Treasure Hunts were popular we would count the number of cars that stopped sharply before backing up and taking a second look into the garden to check it out.
Thanks so much for watching and your kind comment. It's lovely that it has remeinded you of some happy memories, thats what is important :) Thankyou :)
I remember exploring the site of Carrington station on the Great Central in the 80s. Its since been developed but you could see the cutting heading for the tunnel leading to Nottingham Victoria, and fallen semaphore signals in the grass. Always thought the tram system missed by ten years the opportunity to run under the Victoria Centre. At that time the GC bridge over the Trent still stood, and so did Gedling Station (heading up to Mapperley tunnel) buildings, though Gedling colliery had gone, but there was a tunnel ventilator close to Woodborough Rd
Very interesting. On the old sidings at Colne in Lancashire l found an unbroken LMS Hotels beer bottle in dark green glass. That was about 28years ago. The site has since been developed into houses. There were big culverts, turntable and floor tiles where buildings once were. It was all open, unfenced and anyone could access it. Part of British history lost when these places go.
Theres a sign board near Radcliffe rail station that provides information on the viaduct. Its another example of Victorian engineering that we are still living on the back of.
After watching a few of these videos I found myself searching online for maps of Nottinghamshire collieries.I was very surprised to find that radford and wolloton use to have pits. my dad is a retired train driver and he started in 1965 and retired in 1999 so I think around 35years as a driver, thats where my interest for trains,disused lines,old stations come from and of the disused lines i natural find myself interested in old collieries. I would love to see a video of the old colliery near Eastwood which now has an industrial estate close to it ,I also think a video based on the old nottingham victoria Station which now houses intu Victoria Centre with underground station platform level parking , that would be a good video. from the multi story car park you can still make out parts of what the station would have looked like with the old brickwork and over where what is now the nottingham contemporary use to be a tunnel that passed under the lacemarket and hockley and came out by intu Victoria Centre though I think the tunnel opening has since been closed at both ends which is a great shame
Oil trains still do run across the viaduct and cut through notts! I’m going to have a trip down here soon honestly amazing, I just want to sit by the side of the Trent near the viaduct !
I can remember the giant coal loading hopper that appeared at the beginning of your film, Railway Terrace in Netherfield & the Railways mans social club. But I didn't know that tracks were still in place, I shall check it out next time I go for a walk the area.
a train of oil tankers used to come to Grantham most days about 1pm into the yard that the train would run around itself re cupple up then it would head north on the East coast main line
@@TrekkingExploration Ant, Im based there and I would strongly suggest you dont trespass, Network Rail and DB have installed lots of security. A lot of the buildings mentioned are within the fence line so you cannot gain access to them (or any that are still standing, I know the Wagon Shops were flattened a while ago - probably prep work for HS2 coming through)... only good viewing point is from the hill on the East side of the yard (access is from Bessell Lane)... your drone could probably get some good aerial shots too... Stay safe!
@@johnm9652 Just a quick note on this, i've been walking past that area for the past few months now daily for my work, and on my way back, without fail i'll see at least 10-14 school children walking through the fenced off area. If there's increased security there, it's not working as even this evening I saw them where the old sheds were at right close to the railway bridge. But other than that if he does go there, it's best to stay safe and adhear to the law like you said!
I used to spend time out by the side of the single track near Bottesford West Junction watching the empty tankers heading back to Immingham, ex-Rectory Jn. O T. (The gypsum works at Staunton was still in operation,1980/1 and an ex BR diesel shutter was parked o.o.u...I believe it was D2866 ) on one occasion a loaded tank train passed heading towards Bottesford W.J., then about 10 minutes later, another tank train ( with 37 252 at the helm passed heading in the same direction!
I was signalman in the 90s I used to man Netherfield and Rectory amongst all signal boxes on the East of Nottingham all the way to Newark and Grantham. Quite sad to see it gone 😢
Back in 1996 I clocked Rectory Jn with its original BR nameplate from a train window.
You would have known my cousin Steve Shipman then?
@@frankknight3525 knew him? He was a work colleague Frank. I used to take him off duty one hour earlier to have him do likewise down the line
@@frankknight3525 how is Steve anyways? I’m hoping all is well. It’s been a long long time since I worked the boxes with him now
@@thejudge9812 Sorry to have to tell you Terry, but our Steve passed away suddenly several years ago unfortunately
As a boy (in the late 1950s) I used to play in the area of the viaduct and also the land that was then an area of sand/mineral extraction, which is now known as Netherfield lagoons. One of the small tunnels, referred to by the author as culverts, was used by a narrow gauge rail system built to transport the extracted material to a plant at the end of Private Road No.3 of the Colwick Industrial Estate. It was abandoned before this time but the track was still there and being boys, me and my mates pulled out a derailed wagon and spent many happy hours taking advantage of a slight gradient to ride through the tunnel ! We also befriended the signalman at Rectory Junction and spent some time with him watching the trains go by.
In the 1980s when I had a son of my own the area was brilliant for scrambling bikes - enough said about that.
Moving on to the the 1990s I spent many hours supervising the discharge of the oil trains at the Total rail siding and I can tell you that at 6am in the morning there could not have been a colder place in the UK ! The rail siding was connected to the Total Oil Terminal on the Colwick Industrial Estate by an underground pipeline which ran behind Morrisons and then at the side of the Colwick Loop Road.
The brick building at the river end of the rough track, by the viaduct, was the fire pump which extracted water from the Trent and pumped it to the fire main at the Total rail siding.
I have an aerial colour photograph of the area taken in the 1980s after the first section of the Colwick Loop Road was built but before any industrial or retail development. The only building on the land then were the Railway Social Club and the Total Sidings.
Thanks for the video - I have to confess however, of some sadness seeing the decomissioned Total Sidings.
Hi Ant, Im a ex-EWS driver based over at Toton but live close to Carlton station, so I used to relieve the tank trains at Carlton station (the train would leave Lindsey refinary at about 0200) at about 0430 in the mrning, then would take the train through Nottingham station and down to Beeston where I'd run the loco around the train. Would then bring the train back to Rectory junction and back the train into the sidings, usually it would consist of 24 x 100 ton tank wagons (each holding approx 25,000 gallons of either petrol or diesel).
The loco would then be detached from the wagons and moved out of the yard and just beyond the security gates, in later years we had to move the loco up to a shunt neck next to Rectory signal box.
Once the train had been unloaded it would be reformed, then would work forwards to Grantham station, where it would the loco would be run around the train again. The train would leave Grantham and travel up the East Coast Mainline to Newark where it would turn off right, back towards Lincoln and then on to Immingham docks.
I also used to take the empty coalsets up to Oxcroft, Welbeck and Thoresby collierys back in the day and more recently taken Network Rail test trains up to the NR test track up there.
Excellent videos by the way and they've brought back so many memories of the above workings... cheers!
Thats some really nice information and memories for you too. I live right by the Test Track, at Edwinstowe. I usually end up missing the workings though.
@@TrekkingExploration Cheers Ant.... if I get booked on the High Marnhams, Ill send you a message... ;-) Have a good Xmas and Stay Safe! John
@@johnm9652 excellent 😀
There's no suspense with this one Ant, straight in with the forgotten rails, superb. Great drone footage plus Railmap giving a good idea of the lay of the line. Liking the added vid section.👍🏻👍🏻
I couldnt believe i still ahd that footage, its a bit shakey and knobbly but i was so pleased i salvaged it :)
Very interesting Ant - lived on Station rd at Thurgarton and used to love watching the trains go past from my bedroom window ( Nottingham to Newark line) loved seeing the coal trains oil trains etc. Used to catch the old style trains into Notts on a Saturday morning You know the ones that you had to open from the outside. I loved seeing the train in the distance- that little yellow dot getting closer and closer, never failed to excite me and a sort of anxiety all at the same time. Loved the video - got any more on the old style ( 70/80 trains) so nostalgic ☺️
Awesome, My Family are from Netherfield, My Grandfather was a Sub Ganger on the Railways :-) Brilliant Video. He took my Dad early hours of the morning to stand on the footplate of Mallard at Colwick Yard when it was building steam, My Dad was in Awe, it was the Concord of its day and every Boys dream, god rest them both. My Grandfather had served during the war with the Fireman and He gave my Grandad the nod.
My dad's next door neighbor used to fire up the 'Jazzers' locomotives at Cowlick , his name's Fred living in Carlton
@@davidgrice9270 My Grandfather was Herbert Bosworth, Lived on Chandos Street. His Wife was Silvia Mills, family had a Chip Shop in Netherfield, and Her Dad George used to work as an Electrician in the Sugar Refinery in the 50's. Not been to Netherfield since My Mama's Funeral, but fond memories of the place, especially the foot bridge over the railway to the Cricket Field, many a walk with Grandad and His Dog Kelly round the Cricket Field.
@@KHGrinderboy my family live on fraser square up carlton, I did a stint on walton crescent
Just superb stuff 👍🏻 The drone shots along with your old film and some tracks still down……what more could we want! 😃
In the early 200's there were still abandoned wagons in some parts of the country but all of these seem to have gone in almost all instances. I remember old abandoned wagons in Cambois, Newcastle. More in other areas. Councils seemed to go through a huge remediation process of land after about 2008 - 10 and to have any tracks now is increasingly rare. Even if most land is not but on, they remediated the land and prepared it for future development. Footpaths replaced dereliction of old wagons and anti-social areas of congregation as many were burned out etc. The early 2000's had some really haunting and emotive sights.
I took my four year old son on this trail for an adventure, and he absolutely loved finding the "secret railway" in the trees, the signal box, the longest bridge ever, and the river that smelled like someone had done a poo in it (he wasn't wrong).
As he's only four, I don't think a row of bricks that were once a platform edge will quite hold his attention, and was wondering if there is another trail in the Nottingham area that has old sections of rails, tunnels and things that are very obviously railway for him to find?
Many thanks.
Have you been to High Peak Junction? Just up the trail from the cafe (past the old carriages) is the Catch - which still has the wreckage of a runaway truck in it. Once covid is over check when the nearby steam pump house is open - I'm sure your lad will be fascinated by it.
He will remember that walk when he is a Father himself.
You wouldn't have been far from Stoke Bardolph??
I remember in the late 70's when I travelled in to Nottingham daily, that on the opposite side of the Nottingham - Grantham line fairly close to Rectory Junction Signal Box there was a maggot factory for fishing supplies. If you opened the window in good time on a summer day everyone got the benefit of it!
Another great vlog Ant with real atmosphere which gives us the true feeling of the area again amplified with fantastic drone footage.
Great show. I used to live overlooking the shunting yards as we called them, and from our 3rd floor bedroom window we used to enjoy watching the coal waggons being hauled up the tower and then tipping their loads into Engine tenders. Regarding the oil terminals my grandfather was employed by Regent (later Texaco) in the 1930s to build and develop their oil terminal next to the Marshalling Yards. Other companies at around the same time until the 1970's were Esso, (my dad worked there), Shell and BP, all were served by rail but they also were sometimes served by barges which came up the Trent from the Humber.
I live up the road and had no idea this was there. Learn something new every day. Thank you
Does anyone remember the Hoveringham Gravel Pits in this area. I used to fish in them as a young lad in the late '40's and early '50's as well as in the Trent close by. My dad was a relief signalman in the area and worked boxes from Colwick Yard, Gedling Colliery to those further afield. I rode in the cab of an austerity loco from the colliery to Colwick Yard when my dad was in the box at the colliery, that was awesome. I have gone further afield my self to Vancouver Island in Canada but really enjoyed the video and trying to orientate myself.
Love the photos and the drone footage, Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it Christine and thank you :)
Mother Nature always shows us just how unimportant we are.
Was thinking the same thing. And in a relatively short time to.
During the start of the pandemic, read articles in the paper along the lines of 'this is nothing, if she wanted, Mother Nature could wipe us out *snap fingers* just like that'
Thank you for the video and chat this day. Cheers Ant! 🏴🙂👍🇺🇸
That was so fantastic Ant. So much to see just loved it. So many trains 🚂 always good to see. The history you give is great too. You can never learn to much. Thank you so much for taking me along and please stay safe and take care
I enjoyed watching, right on my door step and didn't realise, even been over that viaduct on trains and have never had any sensation of how stunning it is!👍😎😮😊
Glad you enjoyed it. I bet there is a fair bit i didn't uncover too
I am from Grantham used to go over that bridge to Nottingham I can remember all those Sidings being there full of coal wagons I think there was a station netherfield and coalwick ?? this was back in the 70s
I've just discovered your channel, so rather belated thanks for this video! Really like the overlaid satellite image showing what once was, the drone footage is brilliant too plus the choice of music really sets off the whole thing!! It's amazing how nature claims back these sites, despite the fact that the ground is likely to be polluted. I'm going to spend time over Xmas looking at your other videos, that's sure to be better than any offerings on TV......
Thankyou so much for your kind comment. I'm pleased you enjoyed it and decided to follow me to :)
That's a back-flow preventer to keep water from flowing upstream if the downstream ditch floods from below.
Thankyou, thats cleared that up :)
Learn something new every day :)
I've just come across your videos, it just popped up on RUclips so had to watch it. So interesting so Thank You for making them
So pleased you found it and enjoyed it. Thank you 😀
Thankyou so much for this my dad who’s no longer with us used to drive engines up and down here I remember going on the steam engines with him and making me a bacon sandwich off his shovel in the 60s he also worked the shunting engines and worked for British sugar corporation and I was born in netherfield happy memories 😀
Thank you for your map at 2:53 I often walk my dog on a park just off Colwick Loop Road where I can tell the old rail line used to run along but I have often wondered about the terrain and whether it served another purpose in a previous life. This map confirms my thoughts that it used to be part of a large train yard... I just did not realise how large!!!
Edit 3:32 is a better map actually, and the park in question is the one just to the right of Colwick Loop Road, just above where Halfords is written on the map.
Interesting stuff and some nice footage. The old stills helped too, along with your own archive film. Sad to think how many of these class 60s EWS/DBC have left to rot, just rusting away with surprisingly few miles on them.
This is the first of your videos I've watched, after seeing you guesting on other channels. I've subscribed and will enjoy rummaging through your videos.👍👌😁
Have a great New Year when it comes,
Cheers for now,
Dougie.
The test train stored there is for the Midland Mainline electrification testing train.
It's a mixed top and tail set with HST power cars either end with one class 91 and various Mk3s in a mix of liverys in the middle.
Used for testing the Kettering to Colby route.
I think ive seen pictures of it. Thanks for watching and the info :)
That was a good one Ant, plenty to see if you look for it.
Thanks Hazel really pleased you enjoyed it 😀
I live local and worked down on the industrial estate for many years. Spent many hours wandering around this area on foot and bike. Loved the video. Great work.
Hi Neil, thanks for watching im glad you enjoyed it :)
Some heritage railways would love those old rails. A new one is opening up locally to where I live and another closed line is potentially being reopened for mainline use. Going to need loads of track going forward. Up to now lines have been lifted from old coal power stations but that source is coming to an end.
Fascinating video great. If you find any old track look on the Railway chairs it usually has the date stamped on it.
Thanks Lee 😃
Glad you enjoyed it too 😀
if you went to the industrial area down the road (Road is literally called Road No.2 its in cowlick) a lot of the entrances to work yards still have railway embedded into concrete
Very intesting, a massive place at one time,,,,thanks for the video,,
Great video!!! Used to live in Colwick in a development built in the late 90s, early 2000s that backed onto the railway to Newark that went to Netherfield. Didn't even realize any of this was there!!! I knew Netherfield was a very industrial area, especially as you get out to Gedling, but didn't know there was a railway that went that way over the Trent!!! Really interesting to see this. Thanks for showing us this!!!
Thankyou so much for watching im very pleased you enjoyed it too :)
Fantastic, hard to believe that massive heavy trains of coal once set off from here behind "O4", "8f" and "9f" classes of steam locos and heading up the Midland line to London.
Just watched this vid back to back with the Gedling Branch vid , both first class. Thanks Ant as always
Glad you enjoyed it. Thankyou so much :)
I lived at Radcliffe when I was a boy. The garden backed on to the railway and Colwick Yard was in full swing. I remember an incident (I forget what year it was, but it was in the days of steam). Trains would sometimes have to wait to enter Cowlick Yard and this meant waiting on the Rectory Viaduct over the Trent. A fireman climbed up on to the tender to work on the coal and fell off his engine and into the river. His body was never found.
Fantastic, always wondered about Colwick and you’ve brought it to life me. A huge yard and very impressive. The electrical lines leading to and from the various apparatus is what I was looking at in a previous lifetime👍🏴
Glad you enjoyed it. To have seen it 50 years ago must have been amazing, unbelieveble.
Really interesting video. Rectory Junction box closed in 2013 along with Netherfield Junction as the Derby EMCC extended its control area.
Thanks for the information and in glad you enjoyed it :)
Brought back a lot of great memories ,the Netherfield lagoons used to be fields with much smaller ponds ,I know cos I fished them lol ...can remember the block of old railways houses that used to be at bottom there and even the big old buildings they kept trains in as you walked down past Jackie bells to Trent ...
Hi Andy thanks so much for watching, glad it reminded you of good times :)
My dad used to talk about all the suburban lines that ran from Victoria station. If they was still here it would solve the traffic problem
I absolutely agree they would be extremely useful now. Thank you for watching 🙂
First time viewer, instant subscriber. Fascinating, information rich, engaging, visually stimulating content. Couldn't ask for more. Thanks for your magnificent efforts. 😎👌
Awesome, thank you! Really pleased you enjoyed it :)
Worked at gedling colliery which was served from colwick yard for the coal trains.
Many happy days “bunking” colwick sheds.
Sometimes got some interesting visits from Grantham when the Pacific’s needed repair.
That gate controlling the water flow as kids we just called everything like that sluice gates, no matter what type of water gate it was it was always sluice gate, funny how certain things never leave you even though the last time we as kids were out exploring was 65 plus years ago, great post Ant
Love the Ariel shots thanks for sharing, oh and I now subscribed.
Thanks for the sub! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Thought that was great. Keep doing what you do. Brilliant.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much :)
great coverage of remains of the old yard so sad to see it all go
Thankyou so much for watching and commenting :)
Netherfield had me thinking of Pride and Prejudice. Enjoyed the video very much.
I'll see what I can do next time 😉🤣
Thanks for watching
Thanks for the video beautiful viaduct and learning a bit more about the area!!😎🚃🚃🇬🇧
When I were a lad, if we went on holiday to Norfolk/Suffolk, always looked on the OS map for a nearby disused railway, and follow it as much as possible. Good times :)
i use to live on colwick road just after the corner shop. talking over ten years since ive been back, use to love the netherfield station.
18:46 I got a love image of a tanker going across that bridge
Great video to find out about my local area. Will be watching the rest you've done. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for watching. Funnily enough I've been back here today 👍👍
Great points of history made this a very entertaining video, loved seeing the old track still down and the entrance to Total depot. Brilliant views from the drone of the junction and viaduct, nice to see some frost too!!!
Glad you enjoyed it. It took a lot of time to put this one together and its turned out ok :)
love this video! I lived in carlton for 14 years and was always intrigued by the disused railways and the past they hold about where i lived
Brilliant thankyou so much for watching glad you enjoyed it :)
Very enjoyable video and intresting to see what's happened after years of being closed, like to see one of the former Tinsley rail yard and diesel loco depot as that would be great to do .
Very interesting video. My memory of the extensive marshalling yards is limited to 1969/70 as seen from a Grantham - Nottingham train during a train-spotting trip from Peterborough.
Very nicely produced piece. Well done.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it 😀
Disused and abandoned railways; the perfect metaphor for England's next 40 years.
Quite the opposite. It is all taking off. HS2 will free up bandwidth for old lines to be reopened (cannot happen without it). HS3 ditto. Mainline will be moving over to electric and battery electric (been testing that for some time). A very, very bright and optimistic future.
@@mbak7801 and I'll bet english is your first language, hahaha!
@@mbak7801 If we're all going to be driving electric cars, and we need to get the length/width of the country to go on holiday, will they bring back MotoRail?
HS2 ! Oh dear ☹️
i wish i had time to go for a explore in that area. it really does look interesting.
Get yourself down there, easy to get to :)
Great stuff! So fascinating! I'm local, from Mapperley, but live abroad now. When I come back to visit family I'd like to go and find this - presume the footpath goes from Colwick Industrial Estate? Thanks - love local history!
It certainly does. Around the back of Morrisons supermarket. I need to do the line between this and Mapperley Tunnel now and link up the two videos
Thanks so much for watching 🙂
@@TrekkingExploration I have subscribed and looking forward to more videos!😁
@@TrekkingExploration They "were" going use this disused line to run an eastern leg of the tramways through Netherfield (the old Gedling Colliery line), like they used the old Midland line for a tramway to Clifton.
British Railways ended in 1964, it then became British Rail - so a slightly inaccurate description at 2:32. ... The word you are looking for at 5:25 is sluice gate. ... The UN code 3Y 1202 at 14:20 denotes diesel oil. ... A great vid, thank you
I heard that is where they are going to store the DATS test trains, so at least some rails will remain, but they will need security and fencing, great video..
I think thats what it is. Its still wide open i believe not well fenced. Thanks for watching
Really interesting and well presented thank you 👍Excellent choice of music
Thanks so much as always 😀
Very Good video Trekking & Towpaths!
The remnants of track work by the oil terminal gates (~10:30) once formed a run round loop that ran down to Rectory Jn. The points at the other end still exists I believe.
OOOh interesting.... might be worth a revisit and a further rummage around. Thankyou :)
@@TrekkingExploration You're welcome Ant. If you look on Google maps/earth satellite view (September 2019), you can see what I mean, plus referring to older track plans to work out what it was. Not sure you can get to the other end as its pretty close to the live Nottingham - Grantham lines near to the bridge over the Trent.
@@martynbrailsford3943 ahh I'll give that a miss then. I doubt I missed much else although apparently there is an inspection pit somewhere. I just need to try to do the section from Netherfield to Gedling Colliery now
@@TrekkingExploration I wonder what the inspection pit was associated with - my initial thought was part of the Colwick Loco Shed, but checking on National Library of Scotland’s OS Map archive, and their very useful side by side feature with a modern day satellite image confirm that the shed site has been well and truly built over with the industrial estate.
Be interested to see what remains of the Gedling branch.
Great video Ant, Shame the sidings went but that’s progress for you, if you went down colwick loop road you would see the remains of a platform near the racecourse And on the other side of the racecourse island there’s remains of the old railway which runs behind virgin and smyths toys. Really enjoy watching your videos can’t wait till the next one 👍
I really should look into the Racecourse and Sneinton area. Have a good rummage. Thankyou for your kind comment as always :)
6:00 don't tell me... They've stopped running because of leafs on the track🤣
Exactly that ha ha thanks for watching :)
The first of your videos I've watched, very impressive and informative.
Glad you like it. Thankyou so much :)
Used to play that area as a kid...loved your video thanks....
Glad you enjoyed it and thankyou so much for watching :)
Good! Sometimes we need go back to see what left behind that’s history!
Thankyou so much for watching :)
Nice video Ant, a few mates of mine used to work at Total Lindsey refinery.
Interesting video I'm liking the old black and white photo's mixed in showing how it used to look. Finding some of the original track was good it always seems quite sad how nature takes over these places with all the new trees trying to get past the lines and bending round and growing literally around them in years to come when some of these trees are mature you might end up with one with a railway line going straight through a tree. Liking the drone footage that really shows the area off to a treat. Stay safe.
It also seems quite sad how nature was cleared to make way for all this in the first place!
Anyway, a very interesting video and it was presented well. I actually quite like the look of the nature with trees coming out from between the sleepers
Great footage. I remember bunking Colwick steam shed in the sixties. Only managed it twice, both times in darkness. The foreman there was a nasty piece of work and did not like train spotters at all. No hope of "Any chance of a quick look round the shed?" Got round once in daylight with a permit not long before it closed. Magic place.
At 05:22 that's what we call a "Clap Valve" up here (Yorkshire) - A one way, self seating valve, designed to keep drainage flowing in one direction only.
Excellant thankyou. I hand one of those brain freeze moments i'll blame the frost :)
Really enjoyed seeing this, thanks for posting.
I've got a book on the history of Colwick MPD & Yard (by Book Law Publications, and well worth having a look for), so very interesting to look at the maps and arial views in it while watching.
I have a distant memory of going to Colwick about the time it was closing. My Dad had bought one of the platform seats from Radcliffe-on Trent which then sat in his garden at Plungar for the next 40 years or so. On a Sunday afternoon back in the days when Treasure Hunts were popular we would count the number of cars that stopped sharply before backing up and taking a second look into the garden to check it out.
Thanks so much for watching and your kind comment.
It's lovely that it has remeinded you of some happy memories, thats what is important :)
Thankyou :)
I remember exploring the site of Carrington station on the Great Central in the 80s. Its since been developed but you could see the cutting heading for the tunnel leading to Nottingham Victoria, and fallen semaphore signals in the grass. Always thought the tram system missed by ten years the opportunity to run under the Victoria Centre. At that time the GC bridge over the Trent still stood, and so did Gedling Station (heading up to Mapperley tunnel) buildings, though Gedling colliery had gone, but there was a tunnel ventilator close to Woodborough Rd
Very interesting. On the old sidings at Colne in Lancashire l found an unbroken LMS Hotels beer bottle in dark green glass. That was about 28years ago. The site has since been developed into houses. There were big culverts, turntable and floor tiles where buildings once were. It was all open, unfenced and anyone could access it. Part of British history lost when these places go.
I think even if there was a private sign, it probably wouldn't have stopped me 😂😂👍
Wow used to work on private rd 4, we would cross the tracks to go to Morrison’s for lunch
I spent a few years working at Morrisons :)
That split viaduct looks pretty interesting, both in design and the old brick structure expanded/reinforced with a concrete one.
Theres a sign board near Radcliffe rail station that provides information on the viaduct. Its another example of Victorian engineering that we are still living on the back of.
Netherfield lagoons is now an excellent nature reserve with footpaths around the fenced off ponds.
After watching a few of these videos I found myself searching online for maps of Nottinghamshire collieries.I was very surprised to find that radford and wolloton use to have pits.
my dad is a retired train driver and he started in 1965 and retired in 1999 so I think around 35years as a driver, thats where my interest for trains,disused lines,old stations come from and of the disused lines i natural find myself interested in old collieries. I would love to see a video of the old colliery near Eastwood which now has an industrial estate close to it ,I also think a video based on the old nottingham victoria Station which now houses intu Victoria Centre with underground station platform level parking , that would be a good video. from the multi story car park you can still make out parts of what the station would have looked like with the old brickwork and over where what is now the nottingham contemporary use to be a tunnel that passed under the lacemarket and hockley and came out by intu Victoria Centre though I think the tunnel opening has since been closed at both ends which is a great shame
Another great video Ant thumbs up love the class 60 on the tanks my favourite class of locomotive.
Many thanks! I was so pleased i managed to salvage that footage :)
Oil trains still do run across the viaduct and cut through notts! I’m going to have a trip down here soon honestly amazing, I just want to sit by the side of the Trent near the viaduct !
Hi Ant great video again take care x
Cheers Helen you too 😀 x
Some good footage here, well done
Superb pal......
Thank you! Cheers!
I can remember the giant coal loading hopper that appeared at the beginning of your film, Railway Terrace in Netherfield & the Railways mans social club. But I didn't know that tracks were still in place, I shall check it out next time I go for a walk the area.
a train of oil tankers used to come to Grantham most days about 1pm into the yard that the train would run around itself re cupple up then it would head north on the East coast main line
Ah yes that'll be this working from Rectory then. Thanks for watching :)
Very interesting. Good work.
Total colwick Oil terminal closed May 30th 2019 but still isn’t fully demolished
Collick? You've saved my shame. Always pronounced it Col-wick! :-)
Hello, i enjoyed watching that. Not much of the old railways left now. They should never of let Dr Beaching get his hands on them in the late 1960s.
I used to go down here just over sixty years ago, it's some times difficult to work out were things were.
Whilst you're in Nottinghamshire, you should check out Toton Sidings, there's many abandoned tracks around it and lots of overgrown tracks and sheds
I do agree its worth a little sniff around there :)
@@TrekkingExploration Ant, Im based there and I would strongly suggest you dont trespass, Network Rail and DB have installed lots of security. A lot of the buildings mentioned are within the fence line so you cannot gain access to them (or any that are still standing, I know the Wagon Shops were flattened a while ago - probably prep work for HS2 coming through)... only good viewing point is from the hill on the East side of the yard (access is from Bessell Lane)... your drone could probably get some good aerial shots too... Stay safe!
@@johnm9652 Just a quick note on this, i've been walking past that area for the past few months now daily for my work, and on my way back, without fail i'll see at least 10-14 school children walking through the fenced off area. If there's increased security there, it's not working as even this evening I saw them where the old sheds were at right close to the railway bridge. But other than that if he does go there, it's best to stay safe and adhear to the law like you said!
Well done, enjoyed and I really appreciate the Google map vies with the red lines added. 5*
Thanks so much really glad you enjoyed it 😀
Another great video
I used to spend time out by the side of the single track near Bottesford West Junction watching the empty tankers heading back to Immingham, ex-Rectory Jn. O T. (The gypsum works at Staunton was still in operation,1980/1 and an ex BR diesel shutter was parked o.o.u...I believe it was D2866 ) on one occasion a loaded tank train passed heading towards Bottesford W.J., then about 10 minutes later, another tank train ( with 37 252 at the helm passed heading in the same direction!
The oil sidings are were Total off loaded trains to supply the Total depot at Colwick which used to be next door to the old Texaco depot...
Thank you