Derby Friargate railway station was the main station in Derby on the Great Northern Railway Derbyshire Extension, popularly known as the (Derby) Friargate Line.

History

The line opened on 1 April 1878. The station was on the

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 ...

line, which ran from Burton-upon-Trent to Derby Friargate. Then line continued to Nottingham London Road. The station was closer to the city centre then its counterpart station which is on Midland Road. The station was on Friar Gate, just north of the city. The station was closed to passengers in 1964 and to freight between Nottingham and Derby in 1967. The site was then taken over by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

for test tracking and researching. It used a single line between Friar Gate and the line near Eggington until the 1970s, when it was cut back to nearby

Mickleover Mickleover is a large suburban village of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is west of Derby city centre, northeast of Burton-upon-Trent, west of Nottingham city centre, southeast of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne and northeast of Uttoxete ...

and the line was lifted. The track was then severed by a new relief road and new builds, and purpose built student accommodation was built on the other side of the old trackbed.

Present day

Friargate Bridge

] Today little remains of the station except Andrew Handyside and Company, Andrew Handyside & Co's bridge over Friargate, although the remaining arches attached to the south side of the bridge on the right side reveal a boarded-up arch, the inside of which contains the original staircase to the central island platforms. Now vanished is the canopy that provided passenger access to the station, which was directly adjacent to the boarded-up arch. It is now impossible to access this from below or from the boarded-up recess where the staircase ascended to the platforms.

Station site

It is possible to walk the old station site and to inspect Handyside's bridge, although the crossing has been fenced off for safety reasons. The old route of the line was towards

over a steeped bridge taking the line under

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 ...

Old Road. The main line and sidings are now an industrial estate. Grade II listed warehouse

From here the route approaches the site now occupied by Sainsbury's and there are still some signs of the existence of the old railway, such as a disused bridge over where the line once stood. Further along and a bridge carrying the old Kingsway part of Derby outer ring road can be observed, although today it only carries a little-used pavement. Next the line crosses the line of the A38 and climbs through a deep cutting to a summit at Mickleover tunnel. Neither end of the 464-yard tunnel is visible, having been hidden beneath spoil since 1982. For further information about the route of the line and its history see

Friargate Bridge restoration

In late 2007 many members of the public and people with local businesses near Friargate railway bridge noticed the poor state of maintenance of the bridge. Several letters appeared in the local paper about this issue. An online petition was set up to ask the council to restore the bridge. The bridge was sold by British Rail to

Derby City Council Derby City Council is the local government unitary authority for Derby, a city in the East Midlands region of England. It comprises 51 councillors, three for each of the 17 electoral wards of Derby. Currently there is no overall control of the co ...

for £1 in the 1960s, with the provision that the bridge would be maintained in good condition in perpetuity.

''Memories of Friargate Station''

Published in 1998, the book ''Memories of Friargate Station'' by local author Susan Bourne chronicles the station from its early days until its demolition. It also looks at the people who worked there.

Station masters

*Alfred Mason 1880–1882 *William Goodship 1882–1884 (afterwards station master at Leicester) *Stephen James Sanders 1884 – 1888 *W. M. De-Ville 1889 – 1905 *F. Worman 1905 – 1922 *John Frederick Drury 1922–1932 *S. Marsden ca. 1934 *Oswald Walker *Sidney Harold Woodward ???? – 1962

"Underneath the Arches"

The

Flanagan and Allen Flanagan and Allen were a British singing and comedy double act most active during the 1930s and 1940s. Its members were Bud Flanagan (1896 – 1968, born Chaim Weintrop) and Chesney Allen (1894–1982). They were first paired in a Florrie For ...

song " Underneath the Arches" may have been influenced by the arches around the bridge. According to a TV programme broadcast in 1957, Bud Flanagan said that he wrote the song in

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 ...

in 1927, and first performed it a week later at the Pier Pavilion,

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

References

Notes

Sources

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Friar Gate Line
{{Coord, 52.9235, -1.4862, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Demolished buildings and structures in England Disused railway stations in Derby Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1878 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Former Great Northern Railway stations Beeching closures in England