Bulwell Common railway station was a station in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

on the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

main line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

, the last main line to be built from the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The station opened with the line on 15 March 1899.

History

The station was the fourth to serve the northern Nottingham suburb of

Bulwell Bulwell is a market town in the City of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. It is south-west of Hucknall and to the north-west of Nottingham. The United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded the population of Bulwell at 29,771 which amounted to o ...

, directly or indirectly, following the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

(later LMS) station later known as Bulwell Market on their line from Nottingham to

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

and

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from the nor ...

, the Great Northern Railway (later

LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...

) station called Bulwell Forest on their own route up the Leen Valley and on up to

Shirebrook Shirebrook is a town in the Bolsover district in Derbyshire, England. Close to the boundaries with the districts of Mansfield and Bassetlaw of Nottinghamshire,OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: (1:25 000): it had a population of 13,300 in ...

, and that same company's Basford and Bulwell station (later renamed Basford North), on their

Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension The Derbyshire and Staffordshire extension of the Great Northern Railway was an English railway network built by the GNR to get access to coal resources in the area to the north and west of Nottingham. The Midland Railway had obstructed the GNR in ...

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...

and

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

. The choice of ''Bulwell Common'' as the name for the Great Central station is something of a puzzle, as

Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of ...

have no record of any

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

ever having been designated in the Bulwell area. The station was one of the standard island platform design typical of the London Extension, and here it was the more common "cutting" type reached from a roadway (St. Albans Road), that crossed over the line. Just to the south, a west-to-north connecting curve from the GNR's Basford and Bulwell station joined the GCR at Bulwell South Junction, while to the north, a connecting spur to the GNR's Leen Valley line branched off north-eastwards at Bulwell North Junction; further north still was the lengthy Bulwell Viaduct which crossed over the Midland line and spanned the Leen Valley, while a short distance to the north of this was a fifth station to bear the name Bulwell - the relatively short-lived Bulwell Hall Halt. Bulwell Common station was closed to passengers and goods on 4 March 1963, the line itself on 5 September 1966 to passengers and completely on 25 March 1968. Where the station once stood is now a housing development, but the stationmaster's house remains.

Station masters

*E. Williamson *F.H. Stables 1945 -1949 (afterwards station master at Lutterworth) *J.M. Mackness 1949 - ????

References

Disused railway stations in Nottinghamshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1899 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1963 Former Great Central Railway stations 1899 establishments in England Transport in Nottingham {{EastMidlands-railstation-stub