The Disused Railways around Seymour Junction Part 2 - Bolsover Branch

[@geoffbirkinshaw8466]

I worked at the Coalite Refinery between 1970 and 2003. You were first walking between the two halves of the Coalite Refinery. To your right was the "Old Site" and to the left the "New Site" as they were called. The railway line split them. The branch you followed into the Old Site loading bays was disused even in the mid 70s though the platforms remained.(16.32) . I remember only once rail wagons being parked there in the early 70s. The company moved over to road transport for shifting it's products. The internal bridge at 13.37 was an old farm bridge. It predated Coalite and was rarely used. The giant tank base at 13.53 was for creosote blends. At 14.30 you are looking at the shallow sumps below wooden towers used for evaporative cooling of a circ water system. There were large fans atop these towers whilst water sprayed down. The rectangular section is the reservoir pond for these. The smelly sump at 14.40 was where tankers from Grimethorpe and Askern Coalite works dumped coal oil for processing on the refinery. Once past the Buttermilk Lane road bridge you are next to the site of the "Derbyshire Coalite" batteries where Coalite solid fuel was made. At 31.48 is a pump house for sending drain water effluent to the BET (Biological effluent treatment) plant which was near the modern recycling site on what used to be the stocking ground for Coalite solid fuel. The BET plant's remains look largely intact on satellite view.

[@TrekkingExploration]

That was a interesting and super write up. thanks for that :)

[@cyberleaderandy1]

Great video. My uncle drove a shunter at Bolsover and it great seeing these old images. Thanks.

[@andrewdavis9223]

Hi I live in staveley and I walk along the old railway lines quite frequently we really have lost the good times thanks for showing it

[@bobingram6912]

Thanks to the modern "can't be arsed" attitude we get to see all this abandoned infrasrtructure almost intact, back in the 60s closure era all that lot would have been ripped up with indecent haste. Great stuff Ant, thanks for getting wet and providing those cracking photos, especially the B & W shots, just loving those 56s!!!!

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hey Bob 😀 Glad you enjoyed it, so did I. It was quite the adventure and hopefully i can find many more

[@bobingram6912]

@@TrekkingExploration Aĺways enjoy them, especially when you're in Bloodhound mode sniffing out forgotten rails!!!!!! 🐕🚂

[@TrekkingExploration]

Ha ha ha ha i might have to mention that sometime whilst out filming 😂😂

[@peterrobinson903]

I knew this area very well. I worked at Markham Colliery as a surveyor for 18 years up to 1992. I can remember going down to the coal prep plant and watching a class 58 being made "Markham Colliery". I've lived in Northamptonshire for the last 20 years so your video was a trip down memory lane for me. Thanks Pete.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks for watching it must have all changed beyond belief for you 👍

[@peterrobinson903]

@@TrekkingExploration Of course we didn't make class 58s we NAMED it. LOL. On a more serious note the industrial heart of the area has been ripped out.

[@sarahwinfield3989]

My imagination is not very good but I did get the impression of how busy the site would have been in its heyday. Thanks for your efforts.

[@swc43]

I'm a delivery driver based in Leeds. Also love anything to do with railway. From about 1999 I used to deliver in Chesterfield. Driving down the M1 and passing over this track. Many times I saw a coal train on this line. Thanks for sharing this.

[@TedBaxter-z3w]

This was part of my faulting and maintenance area, remember it well.

[@b4mouse]

Great film Ant, every time I watch your efforts I'm amazed how much industry we have lost over the last 30 years just in your part of the Country let alone everywhere else. These are great for future reference.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Unbelievable isn't it? I'm sure i have only touched the surface so far too :)

[@troggmeister]

You should have stood on the road bridge over the A632 to get a great view of the remaining buildings of Bolsover colliery . Surprising how many are still in use!.

[@stephengiles2873]

Fascinating what survives and is left behind another cracking episode looking forward to the next one

[@TrekkingExploration]

We found much more than expected, really pleased with it. Thank you Stephen 😀

[@psychicspies673]

Visited the triple point set yesterday from the stockley trail end. Sadly the lamp is now gone as they have cleared the site north of the points. In fact they have pushed rubble all the way up to the points so they may disappear too soon 😧Thanks for capturing this before it’s all gone.

[@philiptipper190]

the three way points like the ones shown are rarer than rare

[@lindamccaughey8800]

Really enjoyed that. You hit my fave subject of anything railway. Love the brickwork of those tunnels to. Thanks for taking me along look forward to next video

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hey Linda it's an absolute pleasure. Keep an eye out for Scotland next week 😀

[@a11csc]

from going past here in the 80s to this day what a change

[@stevecrapper9164]

Great Video... a few guys from a group called “Ride Bolsover” have been campaigning to convert most of the line that you walked into Greenway, and it’s walkable mainly due to our efforts to keep it so.... look on Facebook for “build the Stockley trail extension” and you can see we are trying to connect Poolsbrook to Hardwick Hall.

[@TrekkingExploration]

That's fantastic, we did discuss the idea of the trail going right through to the clown and Creswell trail and how huge it would all be. Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it 😀

[@seamusmcevoy2011]

@trekkingandtowpaths Just spent 5 hours travelling back from the South Coast where I was competing in a Shot Putt competition and needed to chill out, so imagine my delight when I went to your site and found this new video. I am now totally relaxed as well as informed about that area and it's history, keep them coming mate they really hit the spot!!

[@TrekkingExploration]

Ha excellent, it was the longest one I've done in a couple of months too so extra relaxing time 😀 Already working on Scotland Part 1 😀

[@seamusmcevoy2011]

@@TrekkingExploration I just know that the Scotland videos are going to be so good, can't wait.

[@richardpettet9996]

Great video again. Good to see old photos to compare. Amazing what is not recovered. Surely concrete sleepers could be reused but would be difficult to get out now. What a waste.

[@TrekkingExploration]

That triple point set, it's in great condition. I guess the extra width was too much hassle to remove and transport

[@frankfitzgerald5832]

Another great video Ant......dont know this area but really enjoyed watching this....great stills too including a few Romanian Grids ...Frank & Lee...

[@TrekkingExploration]

This one was enjoyable, I'd never been before but remember as a child seeing it all from the M1 motorway 🙂

[@tonyrobertson498]

Very interesting video

[@iandolby7003]

You walked to "Doe Lea" Branch. The bridge sides and no bridge was the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway. That line ran from Duckmanton to Scarcliffe. On this line was Bolsover's second railway station.

[@RolandMillward]

My old stomping ground. I had uncles and other family who worked at Markham Colliery and Coalite. What a polluter Coalite was. Back in the 60’s the Doe Lea river ran as black as night.

[@TrekkingExploration]

At least the closure has some benefits for the environment. It still smells now

[@steadyred1832]

Another excellent video. Have you had a look at the site of Avenue Sidings & the site of the coke works on the other side of the mainline, the railway overpass appears to be part of a cycleway now.

[@LindaVarey]

Fantastic film.. The shed you pointed the camera into it looked like it likely was a coal hopper wagon repair workshop..

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hey Linda thanks for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm going back to bolsover this week for a more detailed look around so hopefully i can find enough for a follow up video 👍😀

[@johncavill1139]

big clean up job for somebody at ex coalite site

[@craiglogistics2092]

Very interesting Ant, i'm sure that all those concrete sleepers could be re-used by a preserved railway somewhere, it's amazing what is just left to nature

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks Craig. It was nice to get back out onto the local lines again. Now the weeds are dying down i can get into a few others

[@OberstvonChoochoo]

Back in 2015/16 I was doing a Railway Apprenticeship and one of the big jobs we were involved with was clearing up some of this stretch main between the "New junction" under the M1 and just about the approach to the Coalite plant, with no Heavy Equipment, all by hand. I'm surprised that the structures are still there, well what's left of them, shame I couldn't get any pictures, because even though it was a closed line, we had to learn not use anything that might distract us, if we were on the real railway.. Sadly after completing the course short after tearing up the section, I went back into warehousing 🙄

[@westernmonitor]

Great video guys came up this way lots during 70s and 80s , its sad to see it all closed. The x 2 20s pic is not the 70s its a pair that were retro liveried in the 80s. Keep up the good work

[@TrekkingExploration]

Excellent thanks for watching and the kind comment 😀 I think they were a Tinsley pair? Cheers 👍

[@paulcharlton4788]

Network Rail recycle lots of stuff, they have facilities to test track etc to see if it can be reused but apparently they hardly ever reuse concrete sleepers, they are usually crushed to make aggregate. Whole track panels (track and sleepers together) are lifted out, put on a lorry and sent off to be assessed. I guess those sleepers are left there because for some reason the track was removed on its own (stolen perhaps?) so it was then too difficult to handle the individual sleepers.

[@TrekkingExploration]

I bet the triple point set was seen as too much hassle with the extra width

[@janepatricia8779]

Another well done Video Ant ,🤗

[@TrekkingExploration]

😀

[@mickd6942]

Those telephone insulators are very collectible as they often have the initials of the railway company that owned them and can be surprisingly old.

[@TrekkingExploration]

I'll keep an eye out for that in the future. Thank you 😀

[@seany84uk]

Love the videos! some epic music!

[@TrekkingExploration]

The music is vital i believe, getting it right makes the difference 😀 thanks so much for watching 😀

[@jedkendray9814]

Excellent video

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks Ged 😀👍

[@richardperry8774]

Love these videos, not sure if I heard it right but you showed a picture of a pair of green class 20s, I thought I heard you say it was taken in the 70s but those two locos were running around like a married couple in the late 80s early 90s in this livery so it defo wasn't the 70s, hope this help.

[@TrekkingExploration]

You are correct lol the iimage i was sent was dated the 1970's then later found out hey were a celebrity Tinsley duo in the 1990's? Glad you enjoy them and thankyou :)

[@jessgerrard2792]

Another great video Ant. Appreciate it may be difficult sometimes but could you give an indication in your videos of how long the walks are, how many miles etc? I’d like to do a few of them and knowing how long the routes are would be a great help. Thanks. Jess

[@douglasengle2704]

Thank you for the Video. I was wondering what was the typical gradient on these coal railway lines might be. The terrain looks to be slightly rolling, but there are many high railroad bridges over roads and rivers. That that might mean the railway is trying to hold a low and consistent gradient. In the USA low railway gradient is typically

[@hoof2001]

Was tar a byproduct of coking? Coalite was a chemical coking process I think, so maybe those ponds were tar storage pre-transportation after coal had been processed chemical/heat treated to produce coalite. It would then be further treated into other products like creosote. Just a guess but putting it out there to be howled down and for better answers

[@ninjagoggles]

Fantastic!!

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks Kiwi 😀

[@djp120970]

Quality loved this one

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you ☺️ It was a tricky one to put together but worth it 👍😀

[@fenman150]

cheers i love this sort of video.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hi James, glad you enjoyed it. I'm going to have to start looking further afield soon for walks like this one

[@MrCsfootage]

So I guess its safe to assume that if Vinny doesn't turn up to dispatch our train this week he's possibly fallen off a rather unsafe old signal post somewhere...?

[@eggy77]

Quite sad rewatching this now knowing so much of the old line through Coalite is no more due to them clearing the site for future industrial use. Can understand their need to remove the old bridge at Buttermilk Lane as the road is now much safer for traffic and pedestrians but can't see much of the old trackbed now and looks like a few of those telegraph poles have gone, and I suspect the abutment towards Bolsover has too. I believe there's still plans to make the Stockley Trail extension but it's such a shame once it's done most of the old railway features will have gone. I think in time they are also going to remove the bridge the the A632 crosses over. 😢

[@johnrogers2826]

What is the music while we wait? I like it.

[@TrekkingExploration]

With the countdown before it starts?

[@chrismccartney8668]

Is land derelict a park or redevelopment area

[@andrewdavis9223]

Did you not count the tanks 😮

[@martinmarsola6477]

Thanks for the great walk thru. Also thanks to your partner in this. His name is Vin? Don’t even know yours either. Would be nice to address your thanks by your proper name, if that’s OK with you. Cheers buddy.

[@stephenwhitehead4199]

The reason why we're in the midst of future power cuts

[@kenjones3253]

You might like the recent report at www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/coalite-bolsover-derbyshire-august-2019.120221/

[@TrekkingExploration]

Quite a bit over the other side isn't there? We didn't go near it as there were quite a few hi viz vests knocking around

[@lindamccaughey8800]

I will be

[@wallanclarke4970]

The buildings that are on the right-hand side at the top of the cutting are the old Bolsover Colliery Workshops, the one in particular that you focused on was the Blacksmiths shop, I started work in there 1969, going further towards Glapwell, the steel bridge was the pedestrian bridge that was built in the mid-30s to get to the entrance/pit gates after, the pit head baths had been built on the site of the Colliery brickyard,, before that time the entrance to the pit was up the road towards Bolsover, just past the old railway station, the stone walls on each side of the line were part of an "Internal colliery light gauge railway that took the miners "Allowance coal" to the model village and took clay back to the Colliery to the brickyard,, the clay pits were on the left and right-hand side of the line where the football fields were/are.

[@johnking1381]

Be careful when exploring coalite people, the dioxins are still there, another good video Ant, I did both ends of Bolsover Tunnel yesterday, pics on LD and ECR page on fb

[@TrekkingExploration]

Hello John. I've just been over and had a look. I dread to think what's dumped inside there. I'll have to wander over in a few weeks hopefully 🙂 Thanks for watching and commenting 🙂

[@johnking1381]

@@TrekkingExploration no problem, if you ever want someone to explore with let me know I work in Bilsthorpe