Railways

Although Attleborough was on the principle main line of the premier railway company in England, the London & North Western Railway, its proximity to Nuneaton ensured that it was not worthwhile building a station there. Being devoid of a station or any general goods facility leads one to think that there is very little to say on the subject of the railway, but surprisingly there is. When the Trent Valley Railway was inaugurally opened on the Saturday morning of 26^th June 1847, and then to a full service from 30^th November 1847, the youthful railway enthusiasts of Attleborough have been treated to a spectacular visual display of railway performance to match any in the kingdom. Many a principal express from the slow laborious old L.N.W.R. types and their wooden bone shaker carriages to the smooth and dashing Virgin electric expresses of today.

I can remember the thrill as a child in the 50’s being taken by my mother to visit relatives graves in Attleborough cemetery to see the finest British Railway steam engines come bursting through the Lutterworth Road bridge with a tremendous roar. Wreathed in steam and clad in dark green, maroon or the more sombre black. Whatever garb they had it did not matter, my heart soared and my interest in steam railways has not diminished ever since.

Attleborough has shared this heritage with the Crewes, and the Camdens of this world as sure as anything.

More prosaically though, Attleborough did have a few railway installations which are worth mentioning. Before the Eastborough Way, or more commonly called “Laundry” Bridge was built if you wanted to wander over the fields to the north of the village at the top of Garratt Street you could use the original level crossing built for the purpose of preserving an ancient right of way and installed at the same time as the line opened in 1847. This was protected by the standard railway crossing gates but also had its own signal box in the early days. Officially designated “Attleborough Crossing Signal Cabin” with one home signal in the down direction as well as probably another in the up direction to protect it when in use. I cannot imagine it being much used latterly since the only access provided was to fields beyond the village. It most probably came into its own when the local farmer at Attleborough Fields Farm drove his animals to the butchers on the Green, or beyond to Nuneaton on Market day. A job which would clog up the main line, and cause the signalman to shake off his lethargy for several minutes at a time. Of course, apart from controlling the crossing the box would be a vital link in the control of the railway right the way from Rugby to Stafford, and in those days block posts were very short. In addition to the signal cabin there was also a crossing keepers house. I guess this was of the usual Trent Valley style designed by James W.Livock – Jacobean revival cottage style – the only example of which survives north of Nuneaton is situated at Mancetter, near Atherstone. After the level crossing was dispensed with, and currently I do not have the date, the crossing keepers house was no longer required and the building demolished. Sometime afterwards a more modern house was built making use of the site. For many years it was possible to see the “hump” where the road level was brought up to the railway. For many years this was known as “Platt’s Crossing” because the box was operated by a man named Platt at least in the 1850’s if not later.

One incident is worth recording from a contemporary newspaper report in the Coventry Herald in 1858:

“The Railway Accident Near Nuneaton”

The adjourned inquest was resumed at the Bull Inn, Nuneaton, on Monday morning. The evidence produced did not throw much new light upon the cause of the accident, for which there does not appear to any party can be blamed.

A plan of the railway was produced by Mr. Joseph Scrivener, surveyor, of Nuneaton,[1816-1861][1] who said he had examined the fences of the field in which the cow had been, ansd did not consider the fence on the side of the railway sufficient. He had also examined the fence on the opposite side of the field, leading to the next field, and he considered the fence was safe and the cow could not get over it, ubless it got over the stile, which has two or three rails and is about three feet high. He also examined the fence which runs from the end of Baker’s field to the turnpike bridge [Lutterworth Road], and his opinion was that no cow had got out of Mr. Moore’s field on to the railway.

George Merry, of Attleborough, deposed that just previous to the accident he saw the cow on the line, and Platt, the gatekeeper, left his box to go and fetch her back. He had a signal flag with him, and he got over the gate into Moore’s field, and Mr. Thompson, who was nearby, cried “The train is coming”. Platt waved his flag. The cow was then on the up line, and going towards the train. He believed Platt did his best to stop the cow, but she changed from the up line to the down, and she was very near the bridge, when the train came through and struck her. He saw the cow in the field ten minutes before he saw her on the line. Neither of the gates in Baker’s or Moore’s field were open; he examined them and found them fast.

Of course, this incident, one of many that occurred on the line in and around Attleborough over the years gives an insight into the method of operation of the line at that date, and particularly of Platt with his flag and signal box as the means of operation of the level crossing gates in 1858.

The next installation to interest our readers will be the siding leading into the Attleborough stone quarry. This was effectively a loop off the main line ending in an elongated head shunt at each end. Opposite the sidings was Attleborough Sidings Signal Cabin. The sidings were guarded by the appropriate signals with a crossing with a single slip on the northbound side. I have not established when the sidings were put in, but they were still in situ in 1891 and consider that they might have been taken out when the Trent Valley line was quadrupled. Although they were still shown in 1891 I have no information if they were still being used for regular traffic. It is interesting to speculate whether Attleborough freestone was shipped in wagons over the railway system, or maybe even local bricks, but suggest such traffic was light. By far the most logical reason for their use is inwards movement of coal from the local collieries in the Nuneaton area to fuel the various steam engines used in the quarry and brick kilns. Also coal merchants in Attleborough itself might have taken advantage of the sidings to receive coal for distribution in the village. The fact that it is referred to as “Attleborough Siding” in the official L.N.W.R. documentation suggests that the installation was used for general merchandise as well. Cattlecake and fertiliser, perhaps, for local farmers, single wagon loads of ordinary goods dropped off by the local goods pick-up Trent Valley line tripping engine used for servicing the way stations south to Rugby.