Pleasley East railway station

The station was built by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) as part of their Leen Valley Extension which enabled trains to run from Nottingham Victoria to Shirebrook North via Sutton-in-Ashfield Town, Skegby for Stanton Hill, Pleasley East and Shirebrook South.

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)

The Leen Valley Extension started at Kirkby South Junction where it left the Great Central Main Line. It was opened northwards in stages, with passenger services as far as Skegby commencing with some fanfare on 4 April 1898. The line through Pleasley station opened for mineral traffic as far as Shirebrook Colliery on 26 November 1900. Passenger services were extended north of Skegby to Pleasley and Shirebrook (later renamed "Shirebrook South") on 1 November 1901. The high embankment through the village of Shirebrook which completed the Leen Valley Extension by connecting the GNR's Shirebrook (later "Shirebrook South") and the LD&ECR's Langwith Junction (later "Shirebrook North") was opened on 29 May 1901.[1]

The passenger service then settled down to five trains per day plying between Shirebrook (later Shirebrook South) and Nottingham Victoria, with two extra on Wednesdays and Saturdays. There was no Sunday service. The GCR took the LD&ECR over in 1907, so after that date The Leen Valley extension joined the Great Central at both ends. Nevertheless, at least until 1922 local passenger trains ran North from Nottingham Victoria and terminated at Shirebrook (later Shirebrook South),[3] despite Shirebrook North being only a mile further on. To modern eyes this appears like running trains along the East Coast Main line from Edinburgh, terminating at Finsbury Park instead of Kings Cross. It is probably explained by the fact that services from Sheffield Midland via Spinkhill and Langwith Junction (Shirebrook North) continued to the Midland Railway station at Mansfield, giving an onward connection to Nottingham Midland. From 1925 trains started running the last mile to Shirebrook North,[4] but the writing was already on the wall.

The railways in these parts were built primarily to carry coal. Local passenger services were typically loss-making and got in the way of freight traffic. The Shirebrook North - Shirebrook South - Nottingham Victoria service was withdrawn on 14 September 1931.

The line remained open for six purposes:

Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway
Alternate routes
Key Sheffield to the East Coast Sheffield to the South (Great Central Main Line) Alternatives via Langwith Junction Sheffield Victoria Beighton Killamarsh North Junction Upperthorpe and Killamarsh Spinkhill Staveley Central Clowne South Creswell and Welbeck Saxilby Chesterfield Central Shirebrook North Langwith Junction to Yarmouth & Harwich Shirebrook South Heath Pleasley East Skegby Sutton-in-Ashfield Town Kirkby South Junction Nottingham Victoria to London

• coal
• through freight services
• local freight services
• diversions if the GCML was overloaded or under repair,[5][6]
• special trains, notably for football matches(see below) and enthusiasts, and
• Summer excursions.[1]

Pleasley East closed for local goods on 2 October 1963.[7]

Summer weekend excursions to places such as Skegness continued to call at Pleasley East until October 1963. At which point the station became redundant and closed completely.

The GCML closed North of Nottingham in September 1966, so diversions also ended, but a last hurrah was a sleeping car service from Marylebone to Glasgow which passed through from 1962 to 1964.[8]

Collieries closed or rationalised production, for example Pleasley Colliery joined underground with Shirebrook Colliery and sent its coal to the surface that way.

Through freight dwindled or went by other routes, so fewer trains passed through the Pleasley East site.

A Stephenson Locomotive Society "Farewell" railtour traversed the line on 4 May 1968.[9][10]

The line was closed on 27 May 1968 and has since been lifted. Pleasley East station has been razed to the ground.

Parts of the trackbed and those of neighbouring lines have been turned into public footpaths and bridleways.[11]

• Pleasley East railway station on navigable 1947 O.S. Map

53°10′30.68″N 1°15′6.94″W