Shottle railway station - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Shottle Railway Station is the second intermediate station on the former Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

branch line to the small town of Wirksworth

Wirksworth

Wirksworth is a small market town in Derbyshire, England, with a population of over 9,000.The population of the Wirksworth area including Cromford, Bolehill and Middleton-by-Wirksworth is about 12,000. Wirksworth is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086. Within it is the source of the River...

in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. The line is off the Midland Main Line at Duffield railway station

Duffield railway station

Duffield railway station is a railway station serving the village of Duffield in Derbyshire, England. The station is located on the Midland Main Line from Derby to Leeds...

, the first being Hazelwood

Hazelwood, Derbyshire

Hazelwood is a village in Derbyshire at the lower end of the Pennines around five miles north of Derby, England. Ordnance Survey maps in the nineteenth century spelt it Hazzlewood....

. The line is being reopened in stages as the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is a long heritage railway in Derbyshire, the headquarters of the railway centre around Wirksworth station and services operate between Wirksworth and Duffield and Wirksworth and Ravenstor...

Location

The station is located just off the A517 road, which is the main route from Belper to Ashbourne. The station approach road is on the north side of this road, very close to the traffic signal controlled junction of the A517 with the Wirksworth Road, which runs alongside the railway for much of the way from Wirksworth to Duffield.

The nearest settlement to the Station is the group of dwellings and Public House at the road junction, known as Cowers Lane

Cowers Lane

Cowers Lane is a settlement in Derbyshire bordering Shottle near Belper, Derbyshire England along the A517 road.In Norman times, Shottle Park was one of the seven parks within Duffield Frith....

. However the station is more or less equidistant from the two slightly larger settlements of Turnditch

Turnditch

Turnditch is a village in Derbyshire around ten miles north of Derby, England on the A517 road from Belper to Ashbourne.It is built on both sides of the road halfway up the steep climb out of the Ecclesbourne Valley. Nearer to the brow of the hill is a place known as Cross o' th' Hands.In Norman...

to the West, and Shottlegate to the East.

History

Opened with other stations on the branch line to Wirksworth on 1 October 1867, Shottle remained open until 16 June 1947 when the Wirksworth branch passenger service was withdrawn on a temporary basis in response to postwar fuel shortages. This was made permanent with effect from May 1949 when the line was removed from the summer timetable. Freight facilities remained rail-served at Shottle until 2 March 1964, while the branch continued to be used for mineral traffic until December 1989.

The station buildings, platform and former railway cottages remain, the former and part of the station yard being owned by a local oil distribution company who use the building as their headquarters and have repaired its structure in a sympathetic manner. Public access to the site is limited.

The Branch is owned by WyvernRail plc and forms part of the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

. The section of the line through Shottle is now in use by passenger services but the station remains closed. Principal traffic on this section comprises road/rail plant that uses the line as part of a formal acceptance procedure for the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB)

Rail Safety and Standards Board

The Rail Safety and Standards Board is an independent not-for-profit company, which was established in 2003, upon the recommendation of the public inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove rail crash...

. To support these operations, siding space has been reinstated at the site.

According to a map on the official website of the EVR, the station is likely to reopen in 2012.

Route

External links

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