THE RAILWAYS OF CLIPSTONE RUFFORD & BILSTHORPE COLLIERY RAILWAY WALK

[@davidevans1266]

Just walked some of this today with my 6 year old daughter, she loves the signals. Thanks for the video to put it all in its historical context.

[@timothyparsons8327]

Back in 1982 when I first discovered this railway network serving several collieries, I would never expect to see EVERY colliery and its associated rail connection completely gone! The mining industry used to be the nucleus of our proud industry, which survived the year long miners dispute of 1984-5. No one seems to lament this massive disappearance more than I!! At least one of these routes could become a heritage steam railway, especially in close proximity to the tourist orientated Sherwood Forest?

[@chrismccartney8668]

As a Londoner im always amazed by the emptiness and lack of people ive seen plenty od deteliction around Docklands and East London area as old industries closed or left but normally area is always redeveloped for example the Olympic site and Canary Wharf changed completly and now very busy again but with new industries replacing Huge Dock Area, Beckton Gas Works and huge Railway msrshalling yards and orivate railways and docks and wharves and warehousing etc..

[@TrekkingExploration]

Morning Chris 😀 It's absolutely crazy the amount of empty unused lines and locations there are especially here in Nottinghamshire. I think i have only just scraped the surface.

[@martinpiggins5772]

It was good to see the Clipstone head stocks and for you to put the site into context for me, again this was an area I worked as a utilities Surveyor but never had the chance to go back and explore, thanks for taking us with you👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@TrekkingExploration]

I wish i could arrange a visit inside what remains, there is so much equipment still inside. I doubt it'll ever happen though sadly. Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it :)

[@NXRayA]

Another great video. I regularly go walking up around these former colliery sites and even though it's sad to see it's all gone, it's still an amazing place to go. The former sand quarry and surrounding area to the west of the Rufford Colliery site is quite spectacular and well worth a visit.

[@johnmasters504]

I was a secondman on Class 37 hauled trains from Whitemoor , and 2 or 3 times went to Mansfield Concentration Sidings, our trains of coal always went to Norwich Victoria Coal Depot, 1974 to 1976 era, the dates would still be in my diaries

[@martinmarsola6477]

Thank you for the walking tour. A great video. Cheers mate.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks so much for watching 🙂

[@paulglover3275]

The concrete bridge at 23.55 was actually used in the making of a war film called Jenny's war released in 1985. I remember taking a short cut from Bilsthorpe to Mansfield and coming across a load of people in German uniforms. The original desert was between those two bridges. great content and brings many memories back.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Fantastic, tha nks for watching. I'll have to search up that film :)

[@halfwayloyal]

My late Dad was an extra in that film. He got paid £53 for 1 days work which back then was a decent bit of money, especially as he was on the dole (no, he didn't declare it). But whenever he saw a large crowd scene in a film after that he referred them as £53 a day men.

[@User-3O3]

I live very close to Clipstone pit and as a railway enthusiast, I have walked along where the line to Clipstone once was a couple of times but it was some years ago now. Back then, the rails had been lifted but the ballast was still in place and clearly visible. It seems now that nature is taking back what once was hers and now the ballast is starting to disappear beneath the earth. C19, I believe was still live at the time despite the track having been completely removed.

[@HenrysAdventures]

Very interesting video! Happy New Year!

[@daveb.814]

I'm so glad that you have made use of my old photos Ant, a sobering thought how much time has passed / things have changed since I took them!

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hello David, so glad you have seen it. Thank you again for letting me use them, they really show the difference between then and now 😀

[@francisheyes5329]

Thats was interesting. Only worked one train uptown Bilsthorpe and it was at night, when we got to the colliery my driver took me for a cup of tea in the colliery canteen, it was open throughout the night. Much later in 1974 I started work at Bilsthorpe worked there for approx 6 years then went to work at Lound hall as a mining Instructor. Also worked at Thoresby colliery before Bilsthorpe.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hi Francis, i often wondered what it must have been like from the junction off the Blidworth line, through the narrow lines trees of Sherwood Pines out towards the A614

[@a11csc]

wow that brought some memories back ant

[@westers1514]

Blimey, I walked the same line, at Clipstone, 15-16 years ago; back then it had the rails in place. Thanks for sharing.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Morning. I remember doing the same maybe around 2006. Then went back maybe 2010, all of it gone. That's some miles in total just gone 🤔 Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for watching 🙂

[@TheGodsrighthandman]

Signal C19 covered the approach to Clipstone South Junction. Straight ahead took you round to Thoresby Colliery via Clipstone East Jn whilst branching to the left took you out to Welbeck & Warsop via Clipstone West Jn.

[@jamesharris9828]

Great walk, many thanks for sharing.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks for watching 😀

[@pwhitewick]

Well done Ant. Enjoyable video and a massive edit I should imagine.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks :) It was a tough one, loads ended up being cut out

[@pwhitewick]

@@TrekkingExploration always the way.

[@steadyred1832]

Amazing that the headstocks at Clipstone appear to be in the middle of a playing field, looking at old photos of Clipstone Colliery that entire area was an industrial landscape. It would be very sad to see the headstocks and buildings scrapped, better they are restored and preserved so that future generation know how we powered almost everything in The UK for 100 or so years.

[@darrenbush4491]

Great video,I have been down to Bilsthorpe from Vicars Water on my way to Southwell many times on my mountain bike,you certainly did walk A few miles.

[@TrekkingExploration]

That day was certainly a mission lol Especially that bit here the Bilsthorpe line starts all the way to Bilsthorpe, so so long

[@jasinere35]

dog & duck pub is where the bridlepath starts & follows the bed right up to the clipstone spoil heap

[@jasinere35]

silver birch grows where acidic soil is which is often where coal is stored

[@barrythedieselelectricstea5217]

excellent video👍 theses abandoned lines carry on for miles

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you. It's such a huge network and it's all definitely keeping me busy 🙂

[@TreasureEdd]

Hi, Very interesting video !! I used to live in Kirkby and Mansfield and i always wanted to do some of these walks thanks for sharing Great video too !!

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have more lined up for later in the year when the weeds have died down 😀

[@JohnBath-f8p]

Some of those high embankments and bridges with missing railings look potentially dangerous!

[@chrisbayly5457]

Such an informative video

[@happyhermit2022]

Really good thank you...appreciated 👍

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting 🙂

[@happyhermit2022]

@@TrekkingExploration ...That's ok I really like your uploads. I'm sure it really will catch on keep swimming. It's a real shame Clipstone has been allowed to deteriorate..its work of art. If you look up heritage mines in Wales they have done a remarkable job...although I no longer live in the UK they were a great experience and if you have the time it could accelerate your sub's WTB is a good starting place...good luck and thanks again 👍

[@alanlake5220]

Another great video, would be helpful if you could put a map of some kind on the videos of where you have walked or the area, so people can get there bearings where you are. I wonder if there are any old videos of the lines you cover when they were in use, old cab videos etc

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hi Alan, Maps have been added to most of the more recent walks 😀👍 Thanks for watching 🙂

[@janepatricia8779]

Very informative video.🤗

[@chrismccartney8668]

Amazed how empty it all is I'm used to dereliction in London Docklands but now 2/3rd have been redeveloped with Houses Expensive Appartments and Offices and Industrial units.. city airport Olympic village and canary wharf worth trip on DLR and Cable Car if you ever in London...

[@martinnineteen77]

Great video. Shame you didn't show at the start the Clipstone junction box which was just round the bend where the two signals were. Wish I knew you was filming in the area as I live in Clipstone

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks. At the time there were network rail staff around so thought I'd better stay clear 👍😃

[@2H80vids]

Is that not it at 0:37 ?

[@martinnineteen77]

@@2H80vids you can see the junction box as you say at 0.37 in the video but it’s very far in the distance of that picture. Ant was about 30 seconds walk away along the track but as he wrote above Network Railway were at the box working. The bridge crossing the main road is now fenced off so you can’t go over to view behind the junction box but you can still see the front as next to a public right of way

[@paulwilson3083]

As always very interesting, did the signal box survive that operated those two semophore signals at the beginning of your video?.

[@EMTH_YT]

You planning on walking the old Welbeck Branch line?

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hi, it is one that is being considered. I'm still looking into it.

[@kevinmulhall]

Ant this is taken from a post in the LD from Roger You wouldn't believe that there used to be 29 railway tracks there counting the up yard, the main lines, the down yard and the cripple sidings., when you first went in to your left, if you had looked along the bank side you would have found some old phone pots, Zoe and myself plus Louise and Jon found a wagon plate in the up yard from a Diagram 1/115 24-5 ton min, watching this I see all the old signals and lines as I worked around here from 1979 till the end of July 1985

[@TrekkingExploration]

29 wide that is crazy. I'd have loved to have seen an image looking down on it all from say 40 years ago. I bet there is loads hidden in the undergrowth if we looked hard enough

[@kevinmulhall]

@@TrekkingExploration When you was at Mansfield cs and looked at the water tower, you came across tiles that was the Shunters block, if you look hard enough along the main route you may well find stuff, the signals you shown at Rufford Colliery I had been up them all as part of my job

[@paulcharlton4788]

Interesting video! What kind of camera are you using? Can it be set to a higher resolution?

[@TrekkingExploration]

Is it still looking a little pixilated? It's a mixture of Gopro Hero 7 & a Sony Xperia XZ, all recoreded in 4K. It does sharpen up, however KZbin has been very slow at processing uploads today.

[@pwhitewick]

@@TrekkingExploration we have the same issues. Using a canon 80d and a hero 7, still comes out pixelated on occasion. Pretty sure it's KZbin. 👍

[@TrekkingExploration]

Yes, i have read it can take up to 48 hours for it to come up to scratch on KZbin :)

[@paulcharlton4788]

Ah okay, I didn’t realise that! It was actually giving me a headache which is such a shame as you’ve put a lot of effort into making the video.

[@TrekkingExploration]

@@paulcharlton4788 Morning, I've played half of it through this morning it seems fine now :)

[@2H80vids]

A wee bit extra research on the Clipstone junctions revealed a few interesting nuggets, which might be of interest: www.signalboxes.com/clipstone-east.php According to that site, the track on the south/east bit of the triangle(where the two semaphores are stood) wasn't lifted until 2016. This photo, I think, shows your two semaphores from the other side: www.flickr.com/photos/alanpadley/8161774712/ What a fascinating area you have to explore Ant. It's quite sad that so much of it is closed now but it does make walking the routes a wee bit safer. At least the local authorities seem to be trying to use the trackbeds, rather than building on them. These videos are helping to keep me sane during this latest lockdown in Scotland. I've been in isolation(apart from the wife) since March, so entertainment is pretty important. I'm loving watching these, then trying to explore a wee bit further/deeper myself. It can take hours, uses lots of teabags but it's great fun - and educational. Your back catalogue is getting a beating today, tomorrow - who knows? 👍👌😁 Cheers for now, Dougie.

[@butchknapman3939]

Yet again, a video full of interesting information It's all video of walking forwards The only time you film yourself is when you talk to the camera, none of seeing you approach or passing, which is unnecessary

[@mervingoose1151]

my grandad Aaron moore was pit manager at bilsthorpe colliery his adress was 10 the green bilsthorpe ,,,took me down the pit shaft in about 1958 /9

[@TrekkingExploration]

That must have been quite the experiance

[@daz4643]

Evening Ant, could you tell me what is the music you always finish your films off with i have looked on Joshwoodward.com but cannot seem to find it! Cheers Daz

[@TrekkingExploration]

I'll have a listen as it's different everytime now. I'll watch this video and get back to you😀

[@daz4643]

@@TrekkingExploration Thank you, ;-)

[@TrekkingExploration]

Its this kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHW0mH-ioqicrKs Morning Mandolin my Chris Haugen

[@daz4643]

@@TrekkingExploration Super Thank you

[@jasoncorlett8186]

I'm guessing the people who want the headstocks demolished. Are the people who want the area turned into a housing development. I personally say they should stay. It looks amazing. And should be left as a monument

[@jasinere35]

Newark road you went over ollerton Doncaster one way Newark the other

[@TrekkingExploration]

It's the A614 between Nottingham & Ollerton.