Old railway ballast, Ashby Magna
Welcome
Use the menu at the top to go straight to the photographs.
Otherwise, read on for an explanation of what this website is about.
This website is a fun project to record my wanderings along the remains of the Great Central Railway.
Initially, I plan to walk the length of the line covered by OS Landranger map 140, Leicester, the section of line from Leicester to Rugby. Sadly, sections of the line are no longer accessible, having been built over or being held in private, but I'll try to cover as much as is practical.
I hope to produce a photographic record of what can still be found of the GCR with the desire to encourage others to go and do the same.
This project was partly inspired by a book, 'The Great Central Then And Now', by Mac Hawkins. My copy was published by Grange Books 1999, but the first edition came out in 1991 from David & Charles. The contents are a fascinating study of the line from Sheffield Victoria to London Marylebone with pictures from the post-war period contrasted with pictures taken by the author in the late eighties/early nineties.
Unfortunately the book is now out of print, but good second hand copies are still available, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in rail transport history who lives near the path of the Last Great Mainline.
While the book is an excellent starting point, I have noticed changes to key locations over the last 15 years. A startling example is the loss of the 'Birdcage' viaduct crossing the WCML at Rugby. Additionally, the book is far from complete in its record. The Woodhead route was omitted and the footnotes to the pictures and maps give tantalising details of various structures which are not covered pictorially.
So, I will be trying to record all the structures on the line that still exist, give a fuller flavour of what can be enjoyed by walking the Great Central and capture a snapshot of how the railway lives on while nature slowly takes over.
I started this project in 2012. A change in job led to a pause of 5 years but late 2017 I decided I wanted to complete the project. The first survey of the whole route chosen was completed in ...
19th November 2017
Otherwise, read on for an explanation of what this website is about.
This website is a fun project to record my wanderings along the remains of the Great Central Railway.
Initially, I plan to walk the length of the line covered by OS Landranger map 140, Leicester, the section of line from Leicester to Rugby. Sadly, sections of the line are no longer accessible, having been built over or being held in private, but I'll try to cover as much as is practical.
I hope to produce a photographic record of what can still be found of the GCR with the desire to encourage others to go and do the same.
This project was partly inspired by a book, 'The Great Central Then And Now', by Mac Hawkins. My copy was published by Grange Books 1999, but the first edition came out in 1991 from David & Charles. The contents are a fascinating study of the line from Sheffield Victoria to London Marylebone with pictures from the post-war period contrasted with pictures taken by the author in the late eighties/early nineties.
Unfortunately the book is now out of print, but good second hand copies are still available, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in rail transport history who lives near the path of the Last Great Mainline.
While the book is an excellent starting point, I have noticed changes to key locations over the last 15 years. A startling example is the loss of the 'Birdcage' viaduct crossing the WCML at Rugby. Additionally, the book is far from complete in its record. The Woodhead route was omitted and the footnotes to the pictures and maps give tantalising details of various structures which are not covered pictorially.
So, I will be trying to record all the structures on the line that still exist, give a fuller flavour of what can be enjoyed by walking the Great Central and capture a snapshot of how the railway lives on while nature slowly takes over.
I started this project in 2012. A change in job led to a pause of 5 years but late 2017 I decided I wanted to complete the project. The first survey of the whole route chosen was completed in ...
19th November 2017
About this site
It was designed to be used with the Google Chrome Browser. It may appear different in other browsers.
All the photographs can be enlarged by clicking on them.
All photos are copyrighted.
Pictures are presented in the order North to South for each section of line.
OS map references are approximate and taken from my GPS device i.e. my brain and map.
The historical OS map pictures are from the OS 1 : 10,560 map series for 1949-1969, available online from the National Library Scotland: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5&lat=55.78537&lon=-3.16449&layers=193&b=1
The pictures were mainly taken with a Canon Powershot SX210 IS and edited using Canon ZoomBrowser EX, Windows Paint and paint.net software. A few were taken with a Samsung Galaxy A5 mobile phone, marked as M.
Some of the pictures are attempts recreate shot viewpoints as featured the book 'The Great Central Then And Now'. The related photographs are noted as GCRTAN with the relevant picture number given
All the photographs can be enlarged by clicking on them.
All photos are copyrighted.
Pictures are presented in the order North to South for each section of line.
OS map references are approximate and taken from my GPS device i.e. my brain and map.
The historical OS map pictures are from the OS 1 : 10,560 map series for 1949-1969, available online from the National Library Scotland: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5&lat=55.78537&lon=-3.16449&layers=193&b=1
The pictures were mainly taken with a Canon Powershot SX210 IS and edited using Canon ZoomBrowser EX, Windows Paint and paint.net software. A few were taken with a Samsung Galaxy A5 mobile phone, marked as M.
Some of the pictures are attempts recreate shot viewpoints as featured the book 'The Great Central Then And Now'. The related photographs are noted as GCRTAN with the relevant picture number given
Updates
Pages marked closed are... closed for business. As that section of the line hasn't been walked yet. However comparison pictures to GCRTAN have been added for these sections. 10/12/17.
OS maps 1949-1969 added to Holt, Lutterworth Industrial Lutterworth North, Lutterworth South and Cotesbach pages 05/12/20.
OS maps 1949-1969 added to Shawell North, Shawell South, Newton and Rugby North pages 04/12/20.
OS maps 1949-1969 added to Rugby Central, Rugby South, Onley and Willoughby pages 03/12/20.
Titles added to Leicester Central page 23/06/19.
Titles added to Leicester South page 21/06/19.
Map references, area map and route map added to Leicester South page 09/06/19.
Leicester South and Leicester Central pages now open. Map references and titles to be added 30/05/19.
Pictures added to Aylestone North. Map references and titles added.
Route maps added to Whetstone, Glen Parva, Aylestone South and Aylestone North pages 28/05/18.
Route maps added to Whetstone, Glen Parva, Aylestone South and Aylestone North pages 28/05/18.
Route maps added to Cosby Hill, Cosby South, Cosby North and Cosby Corner pages 26/0519.
Bridge Farm North. It was very difficult to determine the route of the railway on my visit 12/11/18. Another visit was made, walking North from Bridge Farm. It appears that soil was excavated from the M1 motorway then piled up on the track bed. New pictures added. Titles added. 23/05/19.