Belgrave & Birstall

Hullo,

Just out of curiosity, why was the decision to demolish Belgrave & Birstall Station and replace it, slightly further away, with Leicester North rather then rebuild/restore B&B?

Cheers

Chris

 

I dont know if this was the principal reason, but its new location puts it within the boundary of the city council (or something along those lines).

Chris

 

The stations buildings were very poor state. http://www.gcrleicester.info/html/leicester_demolition_1.html

 

But why not rebuild the actual station, rather then build a new one thats not historical. Unless of course it was to be within the City Council boundary, in which case tis genious!

Don't want to start any fights, just asking questions

 

if the new multi million pound plan went ahead and they extend the line south wouldn't the new station have to be demolished? If so would they put the original back?

 

I dont see any need for demolition - the hydraulic buffers are in the way but the station building is to one side.

Chris

 

I attended the recent "get some in" veterans' event on the GCR (How lovely it is to be considered a veteran and have a badge to prove it!) and had not visited the GCR for some months. I was very impressed with the work being undertaken on Loughborough Central Station to restore the massive canopies and also on the improvements (in my view) that had been made at Leicester North. The station looks really tidy and, although vandalism from the usual suspects is always a threat, the station has that lived in and cared for look which so many stations once had. Nice one GCR! Also nice to be able to have another look around a Chinook helicopter at Belsgrave and Birstall Station Yard. Last time I had the pleasure of doing that was from Lashgar Gah to Khandahar in 2008. Rather cooler on the GCR!

 

I'm quite fond of the GCR and I like just about everything about the line, except, Leicester North Station... Don't get me wrong, a nice impressive station, but, if there's anything on the line that looks out of place, it's Leicester North Station; Afterall isn't one of the unique features of the GCR the island platform stations? I know they have several island platform stations along the route, but it's a unique piece of their heritage and image. I'm sure one of the first things people think of when they think of the GCR is the island platform stations. If I'm not mistaken they do plan to build a second platform at Leicester North, why don't they rebuild Belgrave and Birstall station? Undo what had been done to the original station and allow there to be another piece of the GCR's history recreated...

Oh, and if people think it would then be a waste of good time and money on the Leicester North Station... I think a good idea would be to recycle as much material of the current Leicester North Station as possible, for instance, I would have thought that the station building and canopy could be put to good use at the proposed Leicester Abbey Station?

Let me know of your thoughts on the idea and the topic in general... please... But you don't have to... It's a free country and all that...

 

I believe the original plan for the GCR revivalists was to have a large terminus station at Leicester North where the hydraulic buffers are now located. This would have been in GCR style and would have been quite an impressive edifice (if the drawings I saw were anything to go by) but it would have blocked any extension south (not that I think that will ever happen now - hmm, well, who knows!). It proved far too ambitious I believe and so the Leicester South Station we now see (and I quite like actually) is the result. I must admit that the Leicester South site lacks something, even a water tower or small locomotive shed would help to set it off a bit.

 

While it may have been too ambitious, wasnt the principal reason the discovery of a high pressure gas main under the site, or something along those lines?

Chris

 

yes, or something along those lines.

 

Water main I believe.

I wholeheartedly agree with the original poster, I would love to put B&B back to how it should be. I think it's highly unlikely though - and certainly not unless the line is ever extended southwards - I can't see us wanting to close the line for the several months it would take to re-arrange everything, so trains would have to be running through the site to somewhere.

With my dreaming hat on, I think there is perhaps more chance of rebuilding East Leake - at least the platforms survive - pity it's now surrounded by houses, and has a restriction on its use, but never say never.

 

What are the restrictions?

Regards

 

Trains are not allowed to stop at East Leake except in an emergency, and there are operating hours restrictions on 'heritage trains' too (which, bizarrely, don't apply to the Gypsum traffic). Clauses were put into the Transport & Works Act Order to placate about 5 locals who raised objections when the GCRN took over from Railtrack (or whoever it was at that time). I daresay the T&WAO could be changed but it would be an expensive process.

So, whilst the station could be fully rebuilt, as things stand no trains could stop there.

I suspect there would also be problems with level access (there isn't any), parking (ditto), and the fact that the staircase opened out onto what is now quite a busy road. None of which would have been a problem if the goods yard hadn't been lost to housing. Incidentally, I believe the GCR objected when the houses were built, but with no funding to buy the site and at that time no GCRN, the objection didn't carry much weight.

Phil

 

Are the houses quite new though? One in particular is very close to the up line (which is the one which is intact). It does seem very shortsighted of BR Holdings to have sold that given the potential of bringing tourists into the middle of Leake.

 

I had a look on google earth. They are all new detached houses. As for the one right by the line, I wonder who gave planning permission for that one!!!!

 

Apart from possibly a couple at the far end of Rope Walk which were added later, they were all built about 20 years ago.

 

Thanks, Phil. Can I assume that this will impact on the railway even after the projected £15m has been spent?

Regards

 

Getting a little off-topic here, I think - but just to add what I understand about the houses on the site of East Leake Station...

A previous poster commented... "I had a look on google earth. They are all new detached houses. As for the one right by the line, I wonder who gave planning permission for that one!!!!"

I live locally, and from memory these properties were developed at the time when there was no activity at all on the branch from Loughborough to Ruddington. The MOD traffic had stopped as the disposal depot had closed at Ruddington, and it was before the gypsum traffic from Rushcliffe Halt.
Apparently the developer thought that the line was closed completely, so it came a bit of a shock to the homeowners a few years later when Network Rail / EWS and British Gypsum started running freights. Apparently they couldn't protest, as the line had never been formally closed. I think that's why there is now the 10mph restriction and 'no stopping' rule.

Also, I can confirm that the rebuilding of Belgrave and Birstall was ruled out at the time due to the discovery of a high-pressure main underneath - but can't remember whether it was gas or water. Anyway, the decision as taken to develop a 'Southern Terminus' a few hundred yards further south.
At the time this was also to to tie in with the potential development (by Leics City Council) of the allottments next to the site into a visitor attraction of some sort, but this has not happened.

Hope this helps

 

That is not correct, the water main was discovered after the present platform structure had been built. The original plan for the terminus was for a building beyond the buffer stops, and that is the only part of the plan which the water main prevents from happening. It would have no impact on moving the station northwards to the original B&B site (however unlikely that may be).

At the time Leicester North was built I was told that the city boundary was just off the end of the old platform and by moving the station across the boundary they could attract funding from the city council, but how true that is I've no idea.

Phil