0139

0139. Harby and Stathern station on a postcard dated 1916. Coy collection.

Neil Cunnington has drawn together the story of the station:-

"This is an unused card by an unknown publisher. In 1916 Mr Thomas Drury was the Station Master. This view is looking south towards Stathern iron ore sidings. The station, built in the 1870's was originally named Stathern Station, but after it was opened for goods traffic in the spring of 1879 and passenger traffic on 1st September of the same year, it was renamed Harby and Stathern Station in November. The originally plan intended this station to be built on the embankment near the bridge over the public road from Harby to Stathern. It was found that the cost of making up the ground was too much so the station was built on level ground further up the line. It was the chief exchange station of the joint Great Northern/London and North Western Railway line, and built on a larger scale than most other country stations. It was opened in 1879. North of the station the line separated with one fork going to Nottingham, the other going to Skegness via Grantham. In the station's heydays around 1910 thirteen passenger trains stopped in each direction but the main purpose of the line was always the mineral and freight traffic, particularly coal, and ironstone from local opencast workings. The upside station (on the left) was destroyed by fire on the night of 26th December 1946 and was never rebuilt. Passenger services were withdrawn on 7th December 1953, but the freight traffic continued until 1964 and mineral trains from Barnstone cement works and Stathern ironstone sidings continued until 26th December 1967. The line finally closed on 12th December 1970."

This close-up shows the passengers on the up platform to Melton Mowbray on the left of the photograph. Two of them are school boys with satchels; the boy on the right is Archibald Octavius Harwood. We think the boys are on their way to the school at Sedgebrook, where they were boarders from Monday to Friday, coming home each weekend. Archibald caught the train from Barnstone which arrived on this platform before he crossed to the down platform on the right for the Sedgebook train.