Watnall railway station was a station serving the village of Watnall

Watnall

Watnall is an area of settlement in Nottinghamshire, England. It is part of Greasley civil parish, and is located one mile north of Kimberley. The village is barely separated from Nuthall. Generally both areas are considered to be more affluent and middle-class than the neighbouring town of...

 in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The station, which closed in 1917, was at the eastern end of the railway cutting used to provide the 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....

 with a route through to Kimberley

Kimberley, Nottinghamshire

Kimberley is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, lying 6 miles northwest of Nottingham along the A610. The town grew as a centre for coal mining, brewing and hosiery manufacturing...

.

The cutting still exists although it is heavily overgrown. Remnants of the platform can be found beneath the undergrowth but the buildings are no longer in existence. A bunker was built on this site for RAF Watnall

RAF Watnall

RAF Watnall was the Operational Headquarters of No. 12 Group, Fighter Command.-History:It opened in 1940 and closed in 1961.The station is now the Nottingham Weather Centre.-RAF units and aircraft:-See also:* Battle of Britain...

 during the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and used as an operations centre for No. 12 Group RAF

No. 12 Group RAF

No. 12 Group of the Royal Air Force was a command organization that exisited over two separate periods, namely the end of World War I when it had a training function and from just prior to World War II until the early 1960s when it was tasked with an air defence role.No. 12 Group was first formed...

. The headquarters moved to RAF Newton

RAF Newton

RAF Newton was a Royal Air Force station, 7 miles east of Nottingham, England. It was used briefly as a bomber base and then as a flying training school during World War II....

 in 1946 but the bunker remained in use for the duration of the ROTOR

ROTOR

ROTOR was a huge and elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers...

 program and was mothballed in 1961. The bunker was used as a rifle range by the Awsworth - Kimberley and District Rifle Club.

In May 2010 local police discovered a large cannabis factory inside the bunker.
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