Rowthorn and Hardwick railway station

Rowthorn and Hardwick is a former railway station in Rowthorn (often written "Rowthorne"), near Glapwell, Derbyshire, England.

Rowthorn and Hardwick
General information
Location	Rowthorn, Bolsover England
Coordinates	53°10′37.12″N 1°17′18.87″W
Grid reference	SK 475 646
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	LMSR
Key dates
1 September 1890	Opened
28 July 1930	Closed completely

Context

The station was built by the Midland Railway on the circuitous Barrow Hill to Pleasley West line known as the Doe Lea Branch, because it ran for much of its length along the valley of the River Doe Lea.

Midland Railway
Clowne and Doe Lea branches
Key open ex-Midland Railway Lines Clowne Branch Doe Lea Branch other closed Midland Railway Lines ex-London and North Eastern Railway Lines
Context
Great Central Main Line to Sheffield Victoria Midland Rly "Old Road" to Rotherham Masborough Robin Hood Line to Worksop Staveley Town Whitwell Staveley Central Seymour Junction Barrow Hill Clowne and Barlborough Whittington Creswell Junction Midland Main Line to Sheffield Creswell Chesterfield Midland Main Line to Derby Langwith Whaley Thorns Bolsover Castle Doe Lea Viaduct Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway Palterton and Sutton Glapwell Langwith Rowthorn Tunnel Rowthorn and Hardwick Shirebrook Pleasley West to Teversall Manor Mansfield Woodhouse Mansfield Robin Hood Line to Nottingham (MR)
Detail
Lanc's, Derbyshire & East Coast Rly to Spinkhill Robin Hood Line to Worksop Barlborough Colliery Southgate Colliery Clowne and Barlborough Whitwell Clowne South Creswell Junction Great Central Main Line to Sheffield Victoria Elmton & Creswell Hartington Colliery Creswell and Welbeck to Barrow Hill Lanc's, Derbyshire & East Coast Rly to Shirebrook North Bell House Sidings Staveley Central Oxcroft Colliery Staveley Town Seymour Colliery Ireland Colliery Seymour Junction Markham Colliery/Vale Coalite Chemical Bolsover Colliery Bolsover Castle Doe Lea Viaduct (Lanc's, Derbyshire & East Coast Rly) Bolsover South (LD&ECR) to Shirebrook North Byron Bricks Palterton and Sutton Ramcroft Colliery Glapwell Colliery Great Northern Railway to Shirebrook North Glapwell Pleasley West Pleasley East Rowthorn Tunnel Pleasley Colliery Rowthorn and Hardwick Mansfield Woodhouse to Teversall Manor Mansfield Great Northern Railway to Nottingham Victoria Robin Hood Line to Nottingham (MR)

History

The line was opened without ceremony on 1 September 1890. It initially provided a service of three trains each way between Mansfield and Chesterfield, taking about an hour from end to end.

The line was single track between Seymour Junction and Pleasley West. Accordingly, the station had a single platform.

Normal passenger traffic along the Doe Lea Branch dwindled over the years and finally ceased on 28 July 1930. Glapwell Colliery and others in the Doe Lea Valley were still going strong at this time, but all their coal went out northwards, so very little traffic passed through the station and the steep line through Rowthorn Tunnel. The opportunity was therefore taken to abandon the line from just south of Glapwell station to Pleasley Colliery West Junction a short distance South of Pleasley West. That meant the abandonment of Glapwell station itself, Rowthorn Tunnel and Rowthorn and Hardwick station.

Rowthorn Tunnel was used for growing mushrooms then for storing ammunition during the Second World War. It is now filled in.

Modern times

Parts of the trackbed and those of neighbouring lines have been turned into public footpaths and bridleways.

Fragments of the long-demolished station can still be found.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Glapwell Line and station closed		Midland Railway Doe Lea Branch		Pleasley West Line and station closed

References

Sources

• Anderson, Paul; Cupit, Jack (2000). An Illustrated History of Mansfield's Railways. Clophill: Irwell Press. ISBN 978-1-903266-15-1.
• 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.
• Hurst, Geoffrey (1987). The Midland Railway Around Nottinghamshire, Volume 1. Worksop: Milepost Publications. ISBN 978-0-947796-05-1.
• Midland Railway System Maps (The Distance Diagrams), volume 2 - Leeds to Leicester and branches; Derby to Manchester and branches; Cheshire Lines (1909-1923 ed.). Teignmouth: Peter Kay. 1998. ISBN 978-1-899890-17-0.
• Kaye, A.R. (1988). North Midland and Peak District Railways in the Steam Age, Volume 2. Chesterfield: Lowlander Publications. ISBN 978-0-946930-09-8.
• DVD (2004). East Midlands Steam. Bradford: Marsden Rail. Marsden Rail 26.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.

Further reading

• Howard Anderson, P. (1973). Forgotten Railways: The East Midlands. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-6094-1.
• Kingscott, Geoffrey (2007). Lost Railways of Derbyshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-042-8.

External links

• Rowthorn and Hardwick station: old O.S. map npe Maps
• The station on overlain OS maps National Library of Scotland
• The station and line on overlain OS maps Rail Map Online
• The station, line and mileages Railway Codes