Nottingham Arkwright Street remembered

On Tuesday I posted a video showing the final days of the Great Central. Of particular interest to me was the footage of Nottingham Arkwright Street.

This station was memorably described by P. Howard Anderson in his Forgotten Railways: The East Midlands:

Passengers aboard a train approaching Nottingham from the south enjoyed a superb panorama of the city rising away beyond the rooftops of Broadmarsh, and this sight could be quite breathtaking when familiar landmarks were silhouetted against an evening sky.

But the occupants of the miserable dwellings overshadowed by Arkwright Street station were hardly appreciative of this spectacle, for the platforms were at roof level and only a matter of yards away from their windows. As far as the amount of noise, the lack of daylight and privacy, and the sheer ugliness of their environment were concerned, these were the unhappiest properties in the city.

Just as it had deputised for Victoria at the turn of the century, Arkwright Street gained a new lease of life when that great station closed its barriers for the last time in 1967. It had been disused for over four years, but with a coat of paint and a new sign over the entrance of the ageing buildings and platforms on the east side became a terminus for trains from Rugby Central.

But this was never intended to be a permanent arrangement and within two years the diesel railcar service was withdrawn leaving Arkwright Street quietly to decay once more.

There is more about Nottingham Arkwright Street, including photographs of its demolition, on the Disused Stations site.