The Battlefield Line

During a week's break in Moira, Leicestershire I visited the historic Battlefield Line

In 1873 the Midland and London North Western railway companies opened the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. For more details about the history of the line click Battlefield Line then click "History" towards the top right of the page

Today the line  it is the headquarters of the Battlefield Line and the home of the Shackerstone Railway Society, which operates the railway from Shackerstone Station, via Market Bosworth, to Shenton, near to the site of the famous Battle of Bosworth in 1485

At the outset in the 1870s the plan was to site the station where it is today, but in response to a request from Lord Howe of Gopsall Hall, the Committee agreed to move it north of the junction and call it "Gopsall"; but soon altered their minds and moved it back to the junction

I arrived an hour or so before the first train and spent my time exploring the station and its surroundings before boarding today's train - sadly not a steam engine.

The line is run by volunteers and I spoke at some length to one who was renovating his WWII guard's van. He knew a lot about the line and its history - his passion and enthusiasm for railways shone through.

This Midland Railway Square Box is believed to be the oldest one of its kind still in use. The wooden bodied box was rescued from Measham, where it was being used as a Canal Inspectors Office. It was transported to Shackerstone and placed on to its present brick base in 1978.

More details of Shackerstone Station are on the Battlefield Line website Battlefield Line - it's worth exploring the many and various links from the Home page

The first stop was Market Bosworth

The station is to the west of the town 

The original station buildings survive on platform 1, but are used by a private garage, appropriately called Station Garage. The track in platform one is a siding, used for the storage of wagons and diesel shunters in various states of disrepair. Platform 2 is on the running line and is the only one in use. 

The signal box survives, as do several semaphore signals, though this signalling is not in commission. The waiting room was originally at Chester Road on the Birmingham Cross-City Line; when this line was electrified between 1991 and 1993, the building was dismantled and reconstructed at Market Bosworth

Shenton railway station is located about 0.5 miles from the village of Shenton, It is the southern terminus of the Battlefield Line Railway. The station is located at the foot of Ambion Hill and is actually the reconstructed Humberstone Road Station from Leicester. The original station closed in 1968 and was dismantled and relocated (except for a small lamp room that now serves as the Station Pottery)