Kimberley Railway Stations

There are three railway stations in the Kimberley, Nottinghamshire area, these are Kimberley West, Kimberley East and Watnall.

Kimberley West Railway Station

Kimberley West Railway Station was a station serving the town of Kimberley in Nottinghamshire, England.

It was built in 1882 for the Midland Railways Basford to Bennerley Junction branch.

This line is now disused, the station is at one end of a railway cutting through which the branch line ran; this is now designated as a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest under the name of Kimberley Railway Cutting. This cutting is currently the private property of the brewers Greene King at its Kimberley end but a footpath follows its trackbed from Watnall as far as the M1 motorway.

It closed to passenger traffic in 1917 but remained open for goods until 1 January 1951. The station house was used for a while by Kimberley ex-Servicemen's Club and then Kimberley Social Club but is currently derelictcite book|author=Kingscott, G.,|title = Lost Railways of Nottinghamshire|Countryside Books] .
Former Services

Kimberley East Railway Station

Kimberley East Railway Station was a station serving the town of Kimberley in Nottinghamshire, England.

It was built in 1875 for the Derbyshire Extension of the Great Northern Railway. Following the trackbed of this line takes you to the Bennerley Viaduct. This is a grade II listed structure which is still in place on the Nottinghamshire Derbyshire border.

This line is now disused although it can still be traced and is used by walkers and horse riders from Kimberley as far as Hempshill Vale towards Nottingham where its trackbed has been used to accommodate Hempshill Hall Primary School.

The red brick Station House still exists and is used for housing. The associated goods yard has been used to build a small housing development and the railway cutting is used as a local nature reserve.
Former Services

Watnall Station

Watnall is a village near to Kimberley which has merged to form a single urban area. Watnall Railway Station was closed in 1917 and is in the same railway cutting used to provide the Midland Railway with a route through Kimberley in which Kimberley West Station is found.

The cutting still exists although it is heavily overgrown. Remnants of the platform can be found beneath the undergrowth but the buildings are no longer in existence. A bunker was built on this site during the Second World War and used as an operations centre for RAF Fighter Command group 12. Number 12 Group headquarters was moved to RAF Newton in 1946 but the bunker remained in use for the duration of the ROTOR program and was mothballed in 1961. The bunker is used as a rifle range by the Awsworth - Kimberley and District Rifle Clubcite book|author=Lee, J.M.,|title = A Brief History of Watnall] .
Former Services

References

External links

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Further reading

*cite book |last= Henshaw|first= Alfred|title= The Great Northern Railway in the East Midlands|origdate= |edition= |date= 2000|publisher= RCTS|isbn= 0-9011-1588-6
*cite book |last= Kingscott|first= Geoffrey|title= Lost Railways of Nottinghamshire|origdate= |edition= |date= 2004|publisher= Countryside Books|isbn= 1-8530-6884-5
*cite book |last= Lee|first= John.M.|title= A Brief History of Kimberley|origdate= |edition= First|date= 2001|publisher= |isbn=
*cite book |last= Lee|first= John.M.|title= A Brief History of Watnall|origdate= |edition= First|date= 2002|publisher= |isbn=