Nottingham London Road railway station

Nottingham London Road railway station was opened by the Great Northern Railway on London Road Nottingham in 1857.^[3]

Nottingham London Road
The station in 2008
General information
Location	Nottingham, Nottingham England
Grid reference	SK580394
Platforms	6
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
3 October 1857	Opened as Nottingham London Road[1]
15 March 1899	Original station renamed Nottingham London Road Low Level.
24 May 1900	High level station opened.
22 May 1944	Low level closed to passengers.
3 July 1967	High level closed to passengers.[1]
4 December 1972	Goods services withdrawn[2]

History

The station was opened in 1857 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) at the terminus of its line from Grantham, originally built by the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway.^[4] The station was designed by the local architect Thomas Chambers Hine. GNR trains originally used the Midland station in Nottingham, but there were frequent disputes, especially when the GNR began running through trains from London King's Cross via Grantham in a shorter time than the Midland Railway could manage. To solve the problem, the GNR opened its own station served by a new line from near Netherfield, adjacent to the Midland line whose tracks it had previously used.

When Nottingham Victoria railway station was opened in 1900, the Great Northern had to construct a new chord line, carried mainly on brick arches and steel girders, by means of a junction at Trent Lane, east of London Road, to Weekday Cross where it joined the Great Central main line. The new chord line included a station on an island platform, reached by means of a staircase from the booking office on the same approach road to the earlier London Road terminus. To avoid confusion the new station was designated 'High Level' and the old station renamed 'Low Level'. The transfer to Victoria Station gave the Great Northern a prestigious location and avoided their need to reverse trains to and from Grantham, Derbyshire, and north of Nottingham. Passenger services at the low level station were substantially reduced with the opening of the Victoria station and the last passenger service ran on 22 May 1944. The station however remained open as a mail depot for troops during the Second World War before becoming a parcels depot until the 1970s.^[5]

From 7 January 1963 passenger steam trains between Grantham, Bottesford, Elton and Orston, Aslockton, Bingham, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Netherfield and Colwick, Nottingham London-road (High Level) and Nottingham (Victoria) were replaced with diesel-multiple unit trains.^[6]

Passengers services to the High Level station were withdrawn on 3 July 1967 when the service to Grantham was diverted to Nottingham Midland station. This left the only service using Victoria Station as that to Leicester Central and Rugby Central on the former Great Central route.

High Level platform in 1992

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		London Midland Region of British Railways (Derby) Friargate Line		Gedling & Carlton
Terminus		London Midland Region of British Railways Nottingham to Grantham Line		Nottingham Racecourse
Nottingham Victoria		Great Northern Railway Nottingham to Grantham Nottingham to Newark Nottingham to Shirebrook Nottingham to Basford & Bulwell		Netherfield
Nottingham Victoria		Great Northern Railway Nottingham Suburban		Thorneywood

Present day

Although severely damaged by fire in 1996, the station building has been restored and was converted to a Holmes Place health and fitness club.^[7] It is now used as a Virgin Active Health Club. The High Level station was demolished in 2006.^[8]

See also

• Listed buildings in Nottingham (Bridge ward)

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 175.
2. Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 103. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
3. British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer.
4. Kingscott, G., (2004) Lost Railways of Nottinghamshire, Newbury: Countryside Books
5. LNWR GNR Joint Railway, "London Road".
6. "Train Service Alterations from Monday". Grantham Journal. England. 4 January 1963. Retrieved 18 December 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. Shannon, Paul (2007). Nottinghamshire (British Railways Past and Present). Kettering, Northants: Past & Present Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-85895-253-6.
8. Reed, Hayden (March 2007). The Rise & Fall of Nottingham's Railway Network, Volume 1 – Lines in the City. Nottingham: Book Law Publications. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-901945-70-6.

• A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 9 The East Midlands, Robin Leleux.

52°56′53″N 1°08′21″W