Whitwell Colliery & Railway - Abandoned Site of Derbyshire Pit

Whitwell Colliery & Railway - Abandoned Site of Derbyshire Pit
In this weeks video I come from my home village of Whitwell. A former mining village in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire. Near Worksop, east of Chesterfield and south east of Sheffield.
Mining in Whitwell goes back to 1890. The colliery closed in 1987. Within a little more than a year, the majority of the colliery buildings and infrastructure had been flattened. Other tha.n a few industrial units finding a home there until recently, the site is now a ruined landscape with little more than rubble and fly tipping.
We can however walk around the site and see the areas of the Duke railway sidings, as well as rails still in the ground near the colliery complex. A short section of narrow guage line, probably from coal tubs is still left not far from the entrance.
As well as the colliery, we also had a line to the Whitwell Quarry, now seemingly cut off from the mainline. The old Whitwell station was taken away brick by brick and now resides at the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley.
Thanks to Phil Sangwell for his cracking photos. You can see more of Phil's work here - www.flickr.com...

[@alanmeeds54]

I spen my first year at Whitwell working in the stockyard at 15 years old, underground at sixteen and watched Lol Galpin chop his finger end off, I picked his glove up and his finger end fell in my hand Alan xxx

[@j18buk]

Great Video. The Bridge you stood on at start of Video has always been known to me from being a kid as called the Cow Bridge

[@Carolb66]

Hi Paul, you live in a nice place for exploring anything railway related. Nice walks & countryside with railways you can't beat it. Great video. ❤😊

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Carol. I love it here. I moved from Beighton a few years ago and it's such a slower pace of life here.

[@peterrobinson903]

Where the concentration of the 'narrow' guage lines are was the stockyard where tubs and trams would be loaded with supplies such as chock nogs, rings etc. then pushed up to the shaft and sent in the pit. When I started in October 71 as an apprentice surveyor at Whitwell the office was in the stock yard. I left after about 18 months but went back in 1975 and the office had moved across the road near the garages in the car park. I used to walk to work from Hodthorpe and remember one moring seeing a few guys up ladders numbering all the brick and stone work on the old station. They told me they were going to dismantle it and take it to rebuild at Butterley MRC. Unfortunately I was transferred to Markham the next week and never saw it demolished.

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Peter, great info. Good to hear from you.

[@sugarbertie1143]

Great video mate. Within a few minutes walk of my home!!

[@WobblyRunner]

Me too👍

[@simontaylor3394]

Thanks Paul - great informative video !!

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Simon 👍

[@markg99]

Drink every time Paul says lamppost 🥳🍺

[@WobblyRunner]

😄

[@Life_Of_AL]

Im looking at a house in Whitwell at the moment, I knew I’d find some interesting railway stuff on your channel 😊

[@WobblyRunner]

😄 I can thoroughly recommend Whitwell as a place to live.

[@Life_Of_AL]

@@WobblyRunner It’s literally round corner from the station. Ideal for getting town to Shirebrook Junction

[@WobblyRunner]

@Life_Of_AL ooooh when they run. Just as I moved here the service changed to 2 hours. Frustratingly I go down to Creswell now as my return train doesn't call at whitwell 🙁

[@davehodgkiss5375]

My Grandfather worked at Whitwell colliery. I remember going to pick him up from work with my Grandmother and having tea in the canteen there. I'm definitely going to have to go and have a look around! Great video!

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Dave 👍🙂

[@j18buk]

The Last few years before pit shut they built a new pad for loading Merry Go Round Trains, The pad is where the Class 20's are on Phil's Photo. The Last MGR Train (56104) i believe that loaded at Whitwell Colliery was on Dec 19th 1986 a few months after it officially was closed on 27th June 1986.

[@WobblyRunner]

Great stuff. I would loved to be able to have a walk down through the village and see freight trains in the colliery or quarry.

[@gregsherlock5119]

Some amazing finds there. The number of times I've stood on Whitwell station waiting to photo or video unit moves to/from Worksop, and wondered about having a look myself on the old colliery site. Fabulous!

[@WobblyRunner]

👍🙂 cheers Greg. I bet there's loads more I didn't find too.

[@whyyoulidl]

Thx, enjoyed coming along on yr explore 👍🏿

[@WobblyRunner]

👍🙂

[@ffrancrogowski2192]

This is an excellent film. Discovering all the old trackbed and in some instances with rails still in place, is brilliant. I guess the narrow gauge lines once had those small 'jubilee' trucks for off loading materials into standard gauge rail wagons. The photos you show are most excellent of the trains, and it's hard to believe these days how these sites became so derelict, so quickly. It's a wonder they haven't built one of those damned things known as a housing development on the site! Anyhow, many thanks for this film to be shown to us all.

[@WobblyRunner]

Thanks very much. I enjoyed this one. I think it was one of my first trips out after covid and I was still feeling a little under the weather. I did read news that this was going to developed (like you said) a housing development a few years ago but it seems to have gone quiet.

[@seamusmcevoy2011]

As I always say to the kids I coach - perseverance is the key, it certainly paid off for you because the narrow gauge track was a brilliant find. As you rightly say it was hard to ascertain what was fly-tipping and what was old buildings, but it didn't really detract from the film. It was lovely to see the old station masters house in use and that the old station was also still being used. I'm pleased you liked the photos from my explore this morning, the platform is normally so overgrown that you can't see it, but as I said at the start - perseverance is the key!!!!

[@WobblyRunner]

It sure is. 👍🙂. Patience is certainly rewarded more often than not in this game

[@toopoos]

Nice one fella, I've just seen your channel and this is the first one I've watched. Looking forward to catching up and seeing your future updates. Cheers and I've subscribed. 👍

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Tony. Appreciate it 👍

[@newwhittingtondroneboy2723]

I have done some drone flying above the old Staveley works in Chesterfield. It is a place I am sure you would be able to make an Interesting video. Keep up the good work.

[@WobblyRunner]

Ah yes - I keep meaning to go and have a look around Staveley Works. I wasnt sure how accessible it actually was, or if there was much to see from the ground.

[@markeilo5065]

excellent vid ty

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Mark

[@mrbetamax1969]

Film sets in the waiting theses villagers. Good product Paul with the now and then pics ... As for the lampposts never have I seen so much vandalism ..felld in there prime 😢

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers. Very eery. I did see something about building houses on this land, but that seems to be a few years ago now.