The Kettering Ironstone Railway was an

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway that served the ironstone quarries around

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

History

Ironstone was discovered to the north of Kettering in 1858 when 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 ...

mainline was driven through the hills. In 1876 quarrying started just to the west of the railway, with short horse-worked tramways used to haul the ore to a fan of sidings beside the Midland. An ironworks was constructed beside the sidings, opening in 1878. To feed the newly installed blast furnaces, the tramways were extended to new ore fields to the south and west. In 1879 a 3ft gauge steam locomotive arrived from Black, Hawthorn & Co to deal with the greater traffic. As the closer ironstone pits became worked out. the tramways expanded to reach new sources of ore. In 1890 a much larger Manning Wardle locomotive was acquired second-hand to work these longer lines. In all three of these "long boiler special" 0-6-0ST locomotives were acquired for the railway. In 1913 quarrying started on land near the village of

Thorpe Malsor Thorpe Malsor is a village and civil parish west of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 145. History The village's name means 'outlying farm/settlement'. The village was held by Fucher Malesoures ( M ...

, more than two miles from the ironworks. A new branch of the tramway was laid to reach these, requiring a substantial viaduct to cross the valley below the village. In 1926 a unique double

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...

locomotive was purchased for the Thorpe Malsor branch, though it was not a great success. A final new set of ore fields were opened at Bunker Hill in 1933, again served by a new tramway branch. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, there was a general decline in demand for iron. The Thorpe Malsor pits were abandoned and the branch removed in 1949. The ironworks were nationalised in 1951, and the Bunker Hill pits were immediately abandoned. This left only the pits around Rothwell village in operation, served by a long tramway branch. The whole system was purchased by

Stewarts & Lloyds Stewarts & Lloyds was a steel tube manufacturer with its headquarters in Glasgow at 41 Oswald Street. The company was created in 1903 by the amalgamation of two of the largest iron and steel makers in Britain, A. & J. Stewart & Menzies, Coatbridge ...

in late 1956. The furnaces shut down in 1959, but ore extraction continued to supply the much larger

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

ironworks. Trains continued to run until October 1962. The remaining tramways were lifted by early 1963.

History

Locomotives

References

See also