Blidworth Colliery was one of the later mines to be sunk in the area. Geological problems meant that it ceased production almost immediately after it opened whislt further development work was carried out. It was never an easy pit to work, most of it’s activity being in the notoriously challenging High Hazells seam. Superb coal but very hard got. Blidworth’s coal was of very consistent quality which led to it’s use in the 1948 loco exchange trials. Anyway, I digress. Back to, I think, 1928.

Tom was working at Blidworth during the period of suspended production at the pit, so there was virtually no traffic along the branch, just a few wagons of materials going in each week and empties back out. (Not the direction of traffic flow that the colliery company were hoping for!)These were the early days of radio and crystal sets were the thing of the time. Tom was fascinated by this modern technology and owned a crystal set, as did quite a few of the men locally. The Block Inspectors new this and as far back as 1928 they were sneaking around trying to catch Signalmen with the radio on! However, this wasn’t easy at Blidworth. These fearsome figures of high authority had to travel about by train to visit the boxes making up their empire. Signalmen obviously were on the lookout around ‘passenger’ time for unexpected visitors so the Inspectors also used to make use of the local bus service for unexpected visits. Aa Blidworth this was no problem, they had the bus timetable and the stop was on the road just on the Mansfield side of the box, in clear view of an alert Signlman. Although an inspector did almost catch Tomthere with the radio on once, fortunately the sets were small enough to be swept up in the hand (at the cost of the connecting wires!) and slipped into a uniform jacket pocket.

The thing that did give the game away was the state of the batteries for the telephone to the coliiery weighbridge. The S&T Linesman simply couldn’t understand why the Leclanche cells needed constant topping up when there was virtually no use being made of the phone. There was talk of involving the S&T inspector to look for faults so Tom came clean to the Lineman and explained that the open line wires on that phone circuit made a perfect aerial for the crytal sets and that the battery was also providing the power! Needless to say an arrangement was reached whereby the S&T left the materials for battery maintenance and the Signalmen took over maintaining them on an unoffical basis and nothing further was said!

I think the cost of taking Mandfield Colliery Sidings out and altering things at South Junction probably helped prevent closure. However, the sidings remained in use for wagon storage until very late. I think one of the Shunters was a chap called Carol who went on to be lampman around Mansfield.

You could also run round at Colliery (after a fashion). If memory serves correctly this wasn’t easily achieved at Rufford, or Clipstone in the final years. I remember a lot of the engine and brake working used to propel the van all the way from Toton.

I was part of the team from the MRC who recovered the last of the signalling equipment from Mansfield Colliery. A sad buisness. We’d also recovered much of the equipment from Rufford Colliery box some years earlier.

I do believe that the last regular Signalman at MAnsfield Colliery box was a chap called Jack Stevenson. I never met him but he was well liked by everyone locally. The last time I was there before it shut Jeff Slater, one of the relief men (and a proper old hand signalman of the first and fierce order) was on duty. JEff had come off the Erewash valley in ’68 when Trent took over. I’ve a feeling he’d been at Pye Bridge and quite possibly Westhouses and Blackwell. It mnay even have been him who was on duty when Flash Fletcher landed in a big heap outside the box, having arrived rather too quickly (through no fault of his own I hasten to add!) from the direction of Tibshelf!

Anyway, I digress. THere is some fascinating information on this site about a very little noticed piece of railway.

One final snippet. One of my Grandads best friends was a Mansfield Fireman between the early 1920′s and 1930, when he was made redundant at the start of the depression. He had many stories and several of the concerned this line. Just before he was finished they had a regular job on nights collecting spoil being dug out from the construction of the Welbeck Coliiery branch (midland side) and working round onto the Mid-Notts joint line which was also being built. They were heavy trains and it was well and truly up hill from Mansfield East to Crown Farm. Once off the curve at East they used to shove the regulator in the roof and go for it. A good fire was needed to supply the steam for this charge. They were using Midland No.3 tender locos. One night they had a particularly spirited run, they weather wasn’t great and fog was starting to become a problem in the Maun valley but it didn’t affect them going and they stormed up to Mansfield Colliery box. On the way back the fog had really come down and beyond Masfield Colliery box they were ‘feeling their way’ back towards East Junction. They were only going a t walking pace when they passed Mansfield Coliieries Up Distant. The Fogman there shouted up to ask if they knew who had worked the spoil train that night. Smelling a rat they said they’d no idea but asked why he wanted to know. He replied that the mad b*ggers had been going so hard they were raining live coal all over and had set fire to his fogging hut and he was npow having to stand in the freezing cold all night! Fortunately they were too far away by this time for further discussion!

I am seeking information on the actuall workings within the colliery, where loco’s ran round, paths to and from the empty sidings, brake van roads ? location of a shed for colliery loco’s.

time frame is 60′s 70′s
a very large 1:2500 map is available if anyone can help.

many thnks

Paul Godber

An excellent site,

Question is, why after closure of Rufford colliery sidings did Mansfield junction remain open? why not, close that as well and make the machines No signaller token machines? or even remove one of the machines and make the section from Mansfield South to rufford?