Whittington railway station

For the stations in Shropshire, see Whittington High Level railway station and Whittington Low Level railway station.

Whittington
General information
Location	Chesterfield England
Grid reference	SK 401 750
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 October 1861	Station opened
9 June 1873	Replaced by new station further north
4 February 1952	Closed to regular services
March 1977	Closed completely [1]

v t e North Midland Railway
Legend
72¾ Leeds (Hunslet Lane) 70¾ Hunslet (1850) 68¾ Woodlesford 66¼ Methley Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway North Eastern Railway Methley Joint Railway 64¼ Calder Viaduct Altofts and Whitwood (1870) York and North Midland Railway 63¼ Normanton Manchester and Leeds Railway 59¾ Barnsley Canal Oakenshaw for Wakefield Sandal and Walton (1870) 58¼ Chevet Tunnel 57 56 ¾ Royston and Notton ( 1st 2nd ) ( 1841–1900 1900–1968 ) 53¾ Cudworth 49¼ Darfield (2nd) (1901–1963) 48¾ Cat Hill Tunnel 48¾ Darfield (1st) (1840–1901) 47¾ Wath North 45¾ Swinton Town 43¾ Kilnhurst West Parkgate and Rawmarsh (1853) 40¾ Rotherham Masborough Sheffield and Rotherham Railway Ickles viaduct 36¾ Treeton 35¼ Woodhouse Mill 34¾ Beighton (1840-1843) 32¼ Killamarsh West 30¼ Eckington and Renishaw 27¾ Barrow Hill Whittington Tapton Junction 25 24 ¾ Chesterfield original current 20¾ Clay Cross Clay Cross Tunnel 17¾ Stretton 14¾ Wingfield 11½ Lodge Hill Tunnel Cromford Canal aqueduct 11 10½ Ambergate current original Toadmoor (Hag Wood) Tunnel Longland Tunnel 7¼ 7 Belper current original Milford Tunnel 5¼ 5 Duffield current original Nottingham Road (1856) 0¾ Derby

Whittington railway station is a former railway station on the southern edge of New Whittington, Derbyshire, England.

History

The original Whittington station was built by the Midland Railway to serve Old Whittington. The station opened on 1 October 1861 ^[2] with two services per day to Derby, and three to Leeds. The impetus to provide the station at Whittington came from the establishment of extensive steel works and the opening of several collieries at Whittington which increased the population in the area. ^[3] The initial station comprised wooden buildings with platforms on both lines, and roads were made from the old and new villages for access.

The station was on the North Midland Railway's "Old Road" between Chesterfield and Rotherham Masborough. The line opened in 1840 and became very busy with coal and steel traffic with a number of new branches. In 1870 the Midland opened the "New Road" through Sheffield from Tapton Junction just north of Chesterfield, diverting passenger expresses away from the Old Road.

The line through Whittington remained busy with local passengers, particularly with the rapidly expanding industry. The original station was replaced with a station 1.5 miles (2 km) further north in 1873. This 1873 station was the final Whittington station in the area.

The buildings were constructed of timber, as was the signal box, with loops to each line. For a period around 1938 there was a wagon works nearby, with a small siding.

The station experienced some trouble on 19 August 1911 during the National Railway strike of 1911. A large mob resorted to throwing stones at every train that passed through Whittington. Railway officials learned that it was the intention of the mob to stone the train due to arrive at 10.11 for Chesterfield. The company sent for a detachment of the West Yorkshire Regiment which were at Barrow Hill. The soldiers were brought to Whittington and detrained about 100 yards (91 m) north of the station and proceeded on foot to clear a safe passage for the people in the train following. The mob returned the next day and stoned the station buildings, breaking around half of the windows. ^[4]

The last regular passenger trains called on 4 February 1952, though it was used for excursions and special trains until 1977. ^[5]

Stationmasters

• J. Hey 1861 - 1862 ^[6]
• S. Jervis 1862 - 1864 ^[6]
• H.T. Brown 1864 - 1865 ^[6]
• Charles Fox 1865 ^[6] - 1870 ^[7]
• Joseph Cowland 1870 ^[8] - 1880
• George Pooley 1880 ^[9] - 1886 ^[10]
• John Ross 1886 - 1889 ^[10]
• Aaron Walker 1889 - 1895 ^[10] (afterwards station master at Sandal and Walton)
• J. Shaw 1895 - 1898 ^[10]
• William Little 1898 ^[10] - 1909 (formerly station master at Heaton Mersey)
• C.H. Baker ca. 1911
• W. Thompson until 1939 ^[11]
• W. M. Powis from 1939

Passenger services

In 1922 passenger services calling at Whittington were at their most intensive, with trains serving four destinations via five overlapping routes:

• On Sundays only
  • stopping trains plied directly between Rotherham Masborough and Chesterfield (MR) via the Old Road.
• On Mondays to Saturdays three stopping services plied between Sheffield (MR) and Chesterfield
  • most ran direct down the "New Road" through Dronfield and went nowhere near Whittington.
• the other two services went the "long way round" via the "Old Road". They set off north eastwards from Sheffield (MR) towards Rotherham then swung east to go south along the Old Road
  • one of these continued north past Holmes, a short distance before Masboro' then swung hard right, next stop Treeton, then all stations, including Whittington, to Chesterfield,
  • the other continued past Attercliffe Road then swung right onto the Sheffield District Railway passing through or calling at West Tinsley and Catcliffe before Treeton, after which they called at all stations to Chesterfield.
• Also on Mondays to Saturdays two stopping services plied between Mansfield (MR) and Chesterfield via Barrow Hill
  • some ran via the circuitous Clowne Branch through Elmton and Creswell, Clown (MR) and Staveley Town
  • others ran via the equally circuitous Doe Lea Branch through Glapwell and Staveley Town. Some of these terminated at Barrow Hill, but others continued to Chesterfield, calling at Whittington. ^[12]

Modern traffic

The line is now part of the current Midland Main Line. It is used predominantly for freight, with a handful of passenger trains going the "long way round" from Chesterfield to Sheffield via the Old Road and Darnall largely to retain staff route knowledge in case of diversions. ^[13]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Barrow Hill Line open, station closed		Midland Railway North Midland Railway "Old Road"		Chesterfield Line and station open

References

Notes

1. Butt 1995, p. 247.
2. "Midland Railway. Opening of Whittington Station" . Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. England. 28 September 1861. Retrieved 8 April 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Whittington. New Railway Station" . Sheffield Independent. England. 7 October 1861. Retrieved 8 April 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Throwing at the Trains. New Whittington Mob's Return" . Derbyshire Courier. England. 26 August 1911. Retrieved 8 April 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Pixton 2001, p. 13.
6. "1859-1866". Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts: 166. 1914. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
7. "Presentation at North Whittington" . Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. England. 12 November 1870. Retrieved 6 April 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 174. 1871. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
9. "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 642. 1871. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
10. "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 203. 1881. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
11. "New Stationmasters" . Sheffield Evening Telegraph. England. 15 December 1939. Retrieved 6 April 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. Bradshaw 1985, p. 660.
13. Old Road passenger traffic in 2013: via psul4all

Sources

• Bradshaw, George (1985) [1922]. July 1922 Railway Guide. Newton Abbott: David & Charles.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199. OL   11956311M.
• Pixton, Bob (2001). North Midland: Portrait of a Famous Route: Part 2 Chesterfield-Sheffield-Rotherham. Nottingham: Runpast Publishing, (now Book Law). ISBN   1-870754-51-4.

External links

• Whittington, Barrow Hill, Staveley Works, Staveley Central and Staveley Town on old OS map: via npemaps

   

Coordinates: 53°16′14″N1°23′58″W / 53.2705°N 1.3994°W / 53.2705; -1.3994