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Quorn & Woodhouse

HISTORY OF THE STATION

Quorn & Woodhouse Station was opened in 1899 as part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway’s (MSLR) London Extension from Sheffield which became the Great Central Railway (GCR).  It was intended to serve the villages of Quorn, Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves. A goods yard and a Station Master’s house were also provided. The station is of typical GCR London Extension design, with one double-sided island platform, reached originally from the road bridge. The island platform was cheaper to construct and more efficient to staff than the more traditional two-platform station.

By the early 1890s when the MSLR was proposing to build their new line, a station in the vicinity of Quorn and Woodhouse was hotly anticipated, with the area being within easy reach of the Charnwood Forest. Upon opening, Quorn and Woodhouse quickly became a popular destination on Bank Holidays for Midlander's wishing to escape the smog filled cities. Between 2000-3000 people would flock to Woodhouse Eaves via Quorn and Woodhouse station before flooding back in the evening and squashing into trains for home.

In its heyday about 300 passengers a day used the station – workmen, clerks, typists and first class passengers too. Quorn & Woodhouse station was a popular station for releasing racing pigeons as the platform was open and there were no telegraph wires or obstructions. They often arrived in specially constructed Pigeon Carriages, one of which has been restored and runs in trains today.

Commercial activities were an important part of station life. A firm of builders’ merchants had a depot in the yard; there were also coal merchants and deliveries of cow-cake and fertiliser for local farmers.  Timber was sent out by train from the Beaumanor Estate. There was also a steady flow of food and drink from Fortnum and Mason in London to nearby Beaumanor Hall.

During the 1920s the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VIII and then the Duke of Windsor) was an occasional visitor as he enjoyed an outing with the Quorn Hunt. Express trains were stopped specially for him and he changed into his riding habit in the booking office with a porter posted outside.

The Great Central Railway became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the Grouping of the railways in 1923.

During the Second World War the station played an important role; in September 1939, the station played a key role in evacuating women and children from Sheffield and welcoming them to Leicestershire. Evacuated children arrived at the station and were walked across into the yard where they were taken by bus to the billets in the surrounding area.

In 1943, the Royal Engineers arrived at the station and turned the yard into a Railhead for Ordnance. Train loads of ammunition were loaded on and off trains in specially laid sidings and taken off by lorries for storage in ammunition dumps around Charnwood ahead of D-Day.

On valentines day, February 14th 1944, Quorn village welcomed the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the American 82nd Airborne Division to train at the military Camp Quorn, situated in the grounds of Quorn Hall, ahead of D-Day that June. They stored their bulky equipment that was not needed out of battle in the station yard. After D-Day, they returned once more before departing one last time for Arnhem in September 1944.

After the Second World War, the railways were nationalised and the Great Central route came initially under the Eastern Region of British Railways. Military influence at Quorn and Woodhouse continued into the 1950s with regiments including the Leicestershires, Northamptonshires and Lincolnshires arriving and leaving by train to Camp Quorn.

In the late 1950s, the Great Central route was transferred to the Midland region of British Railways and from then came a long decline. Rumours that British Railways were proposing to close stations such as Quorn and Woodhouse came as early as 1959, although no official statement was made by British Railways, sources at the time claimed that it was quite obvious this was the case. A formal proposal to withdraw local services came in the early 1960s and the start of a long campaign against closure ensued. The station closed to passengers on the 5th March 1963 with goods services lasting only until the September.

THE STATION TODAY
Because of the association with the Second World War, the station has been restored, to its 1940s condition and currently sports the 1924 LNER brown and stone colour scheme. Traces of which were found during conservation work in 2012.

The General and Ladies Waiting Rooms are in one building, complete with coal fires (in season) and period advertising. In the General Waiting Room we show films appropriate to the station’s era. There is a disabled-friendly lavatory in the Ladies Waiting Room, together with a baby-changing table.

A second building houses the Booking Office with typical office furniture and with a genuine ticket rack dispensing proper Edmondson (cardboard) tickets.

Under the road bridge, is the Air Raid Shelter which is where the village Home Guard were based during the Second World War. Today you can purchase drinks and snacks in our NAAFI-style Refreshment Room which is open on most operating days.

On the platforms you will notice a selection of barrows and trolleys with a collection of luggage and goods in transit and a perambulator complete with baby and gas-mask.

Adding to the wartime theme, notice that we are doing our bit for the war, with our Dig for Victory vegetable garden on the embankment across from Platform No.2 and the old pram collecting scrap metal for the war effort.

Look out for the early LNER colour-light signal next to the bridge at the end of Platform No.1. Next to it, there is a red telephone box (of the K6 type first introduced in 1935) currently under restoration.

The Gentlemen’s Lavatory is in a separate building at the south end of the platform and originally was open to the elements, with no roof.

Just off the platform area, is the working signalbox, originally from Market Rasen in Lincolnshire and there is the apparatus used to transfer mailbags to or from moving trains.  Try to be here on special events when this is demonstrated – it’s an experience not to be missed!

Also in the station yard are the former Goods Shed and Weighbridge Office, a re-built Anderson shelter and the Butler-Henderson Café, open daily for hot and cold food. The original Station Master's house at the entrance to the station is in private ownership.

Today, the station yard is used both as the railway’s principal car park, but also an area for many special events, including Wartime Weekend, Bonfire Night, Railwayana Swapmeets, traction engine and children’s events. Access from the car park to station platform is via a foot crossing over the railway line and a ramp onto the platform. In the yard you can also find the turntable.

All of us at Quorn & Woodhouse Station are unpaid volunteers.  A wide variety of volunteers are needed at the station, including Uniformed Staff, Booking Clerks, Tea Room staff, gardeners and restoration volunteers working in the buildings and station yard.

The station today is run by Senior Station Master Jack Arthur Shaw and a large team of volunteers.

We welcome new volunteers to our successful team, so if you are interested in joining us, please talk to the stationmaster on duty, contact the Volunteer Support Team: volunteers@gcrailway.co.uk (01509 633853) or e-mail the Senior Station Master : jack.shaw@gcrailway.co.uk

Our next running day

This Weekend

Two steam locomotives and a heritage Diesel Railcar are operating this weekend.

This Weekend

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Reunification appeal - Reuniting the two halves of the Great Central Railway

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