Bolsover Castle railway station

The station was opened without ceremony on 1 September 1890 as Bolsover.^[2][3] It initially provided a service of three trains each way between Mansfield and Chesterfield, taking about an hour from end to end.^[4][5]

The line was single tracked between Seymour Junction and Pleasley West^[6][7]. Accordingly, the station had a single platform and typical Midland Railway country building that was very similar to those at Clowne and Barlborough and Glapwell.^[8][9]

In 1897, the Doe Lea Viaduct was opened, straddling the Doe Lea Branch for a short distance to the south of the station.

Normal passenger traffic along the Doe Lea Branch dwindled over the years and finally ceased on 28 July 1930.^[2][3][10] An unadvertised service continued to call at the station until 14 August 1931 and pre-war excursions continued until at least 27 July 1939.^[2][3] Records show that a half-day excursion service called at Bolsover on 26 July 1949, on its way to Bridlington and Scarborough.^[3] The last steam train to use the line was an enthusiasts' special on 16 October 1965.^[8][11] This train also traversed the Clowne Branch.

British Railways renamed the station Bolsover Castle on 25 September 1950, to help distinguish it from the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway's station, which became Bolsover South.^[2][3][12] Goods facilities were withdrawn from the station on 1 November 1962.^[13]

Although regular passenger traffic ceased in 1930 and the line was severed as a through route shortly thereafter by the closure of Rowthorn Tunnel, occasional specials continued to call at the station. A special was run to Chesterfield in connection with the Silver Jubilee celebrations in Queen's Park on 28 July 1977.^[2][3][14] This had been on the initiative of the headmaster of Bolsover Church of England Junior School, as there were insufficient buses to take all the children to the event.^[15] Thereafter, there were annual August excursions from 1978 until 1981, organised by Bolsover Miners' Welfare, when trains of at least nine coaches ran to Scarborough.^[3][8] Another source claims that the last charter from Bolsover Castle was a nine-coach train to London Liverpool Street, via Chesterfield, on 15 November 1980, organised by Bolsover Secondary School's Parent-Teacher Association.^{[3] [14] [16]}

When Glapwell Colliery closed in 1974, the line south of the station became redundant, although it was not lifted until 1978.^{[citation needed]}

v t e Midland Railway
Legend
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)

By 20 July 2013, all tracks through Bolsover Castle station site had been lifted, but the trackbed was intact. The station itself was demolished some years ago. A business park had been developed immediately west of the station site. One occupant is a firm providing road-rail vehicles, such as track welding lorries fitted with retractable rail wheels. A length of track with dummy overhead wires, presumably for training and clearance testing purposes, has been installed in their depot in plain view from public areas.^{[citation needed]}

The branch between Bolsover Castle and the bottom of Rylah Hill, between Palterton and junction 29 of the M1, is now a public bridleway known as the Stockley Trail.^[20]

The Doe Lea Line south from Seymour Junction to the site of the former Markham Colliery (now known as the Bolsover Branch) has been mothballed as it runs through the new Markham Vale Enterprise Zone at junction 29A of the M1 motorway.^[21]

The line from Foxlow Junction to Oxcroft Disposal Point, through Seymour Junction, has been lifted. It has been protected from breach or encroachment, as there remains the possibility of opencasting in the area; for example, UK Coal (now Coalfield Resources) expressed an interest in 2005 in extracting c. 530,000 tons near Mastin Moor.^[22]