Ditchford railway station is a former railway station on Ditchford Road,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

on the former

Northampton and Peterborough Railway The Northampton and Peterborough Railway was an early railway promoted by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) to run from a junction at Blisworth on the L&BR main line to Northampton and Peterborough, in England. The construction of the lin ...

line which connected

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

.In 1846 the line, along with the London and Birmingham, became part of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

. At

grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

in 1923 it became part of the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

. Ditchford is famous as the locality of reputed

treacle mines Treacle mining is a joke about mining black treacle (also known as molasses) in a raw form similar to coal. The subject purports to be serious but is an attempt to test credulity. Thick black treacle makes the deception plausible. The topic has ...

. The origin of this fantasy is obscure, though the station's sidings were primarily to serve a nearby

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

quarry.Butler, P., (2007) ''A History of the Railways of Northamptonshire,'' Great Addington: Silver Link Publishing For most of its existence although on the bank of the river Nene it was without mains water, which had to be brought in each day by train. The Station Master had the power to stop any train so that his family could travel to

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

and its remoteness meant that it saw little business and it closed to passengers in 1924. It was occasionally used by railwaymen until 1952.

The former service

The service was from Peterborough to Northampton via Wellingborough. The station opened in 1845 and closed in 1924 to passengers.

References

External links

Subterranea Britannica
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1845 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1924 Disused railway stations in Northamptonshire Former London and Birmingham Railway stations John William Livock buildings Irthlingborough {{EastMidlands-railstation-stub