Leebotwood Station

[grahamgrasshopper]

Hi there.

This is my first go on this forum, so apologies if I make a mess of things.

I am researching some family history and have come up against a brick wall.

My Grandfather worked as a Plate Layer for GWR from around 1920 to 1962ish and was based at Leebotwood Station near Shrewsbury on the Welsh Marches line. Please would anybody have any information/pictures about the station? Also this may not be the correct forum, but where would I find his employment record? I have tried The National Archives but no joy, but I may have been looking in the wrong place. I could not see any records relating to this area of work.

Thanks for your help and patience.

Graham

[DSY011]

Hello Graham and welcome to the Railway Forum. A number of members have asked the sort of question you have just asked, and most have been helped by the more knowledgeable members on the site. I hope someone will find the information you want soon. Meantime enjoy the forum.

[John H-T]

Welcome to the Forum Graham.

This book might be helpful if you don't already know about it:

My Ancestor was a Railway Worker by Frank Hardy, ISBN 978-1-907199-02-8.

Hope this is helpful.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[62440]

You just beat me to it John, I was looking up the old posts on this while you were posting!

Anyway, Welcome to the forum Graham and good luck with your research.

Regards, 62440.

[locojoe]

Welcome to the forum Graham.

[ianrail]

Welcome to the Forum, Graham, and regret I can't point you to any photographs of the station.

This post does raise an interesting point. Enthusiasts have made huge personal efforts to collect all existing photographs of closed stations and publish them on the internet for the rest of us to enjoy. Subterranea Britannica is perhaps the best known for its list of closed stations, currently detailing nearly 1,500 of them. Correct me if anyone knows better please but I understand this represents around a quarter of all the closed stations in the country. As you have found though, Graham, Sod's Law says that despite this huge effort the station you want to see is never on the site!!

However, it would be interesting to know how many stations have closed but no known photographs exist of them. Even more so, how much (or how little?) cine film was taken of certain lines? I always loved the "Steyning Line" between Shoreham-by-Sea and Horsham which closed in 1966. I remember making just a few short journeys on it when I was quite young. A few years ago I managed to buy a DVD showing all the moving images they could find taken of the line. The total amounted to minutes rather than hours of playing time. Still, it's fantastic that enthusiasts recorded those priceless scenes (in colour too) with the primitive and expensive equipment available at the time.

[wyvern]

I've recently been trying to find out about the stations along the Erewash Valley line. Although there is a wealth about most of the lines in Derby, it seems the Erewash was so familiar to everyone, nobody thought to write about it.

Perhaps its the same with Leebotwood. All I have is the date of opening and closing and that it was opened by the Shrewsbury and Hereford Joint Railway.

[ianrail]

Originally Posted by wyvern

I've recently been trying to find out about the stations along the Erewash Valley line. Although there is a wealth about most of the lines in Derby, it seems the Erewash was so familiar to everyone, nobody thought to write about it.

Perhaps its the same with Leebotwood. All I have is the date of opening and closing and that it was opened by the Shrewsbury and Hereford Joint Railway.

Ah yes, the stations up from Stapleford & Sandiacre, Stanton Gate etc all the way up to Clay Cross Junction. There they were in the 1960s, all open with their maroon LMR signs and old-fashioned lamps, broad platforms and all beautifully kept. The train always seemed to grind its way along through a succession of "temporary" 20mph speed limits over the Nottinghamshire coal mines. It was tedious at the time and I never took any photographs. What a pity.

[lnwr20]

Hi Graham welcome to the forum hope you like it here, I may be of some help here The Shrewsbury an Hereford linewas not just a G.W.R. line it was a line under joint ownership an the companys were the G.W.R. an LNWR/LMS joint all the way between Shrewsbury an Hereford. you may be able to find the information at the LNWR Society the web site address is, www.lnwrs.org.uk they may even have some photos of leebotwood station i hope this helps.

[Ian Beaver]

Hi Graham,
Not sure if you are still on this, but did you ever find any further information on Leebotwood Station? I live in the Station House which I can only find a picture from 1971, but nothing else. We have to do some work to the house and was looking for past pictures etc if there are any? We have found a well and a few other bits and bobs, but little else! thanks in advance.
Ian