Two railway lines used to cross on the level at Retford station

At Retford the line from Sheffield to Gainsborough and beyond used to cross the King's Cross main line to Scotland on the level. In 1965 a dive-under was constructed so this crossing could be removed.

Our History Underfoot has been to Retford to tell this story and look for traces of the earlier arrangement. If you're interested in Midland railways this is a good account to subscribe to.

Eighteen miles to the south of Retford, the King's Cross main line still crosses another line on the level. This is at Newark, where it meets the Nottingham to Lincoln line. The proximity of the River Trent to the crossing means that a similar dive-under cannot be constructed there.

The photograph below is taken from Newark Castle station on the Lincoln Line, and you can see a train speeding by on the King's Cross line. Note the reassuring red signal.

The Joy of Six 1462

"America has become a place where it is no longer entirely safe to speak freely. Where criticizing the Government can get you into trouble, perhaps even cause you to be fired from your job, or deported. Where engaging in public protest can get you arrested. Where every day you wake up with a clenching stomach, wondering what new Government outrage has happened overnight." Alexandra Hall Hall on living in the US today.

Thomas Lockwood says Robert Jenrick's Newark constituency "is now is now a live laboratory test for the future of the British right – and for the fragmentation and reinvention of British politics".

Zoe Crowther talks to Imran Ahmed, the British-born campaigner against online hate who is threatened with deportation from the US. He fears the "tendrils of Big Tech" have already reached Westminster.

Foluke Ifejola Adebisi reflections on the life and death of Patrice Lumumba. "We often decry our current African leaders, their incompetence, corruption, complete lack of willingness to stand up for the good of their countries or their people. But while we decry them – and we must do that with all that we have – let us not forget that we sometimes had leaders who gave their all to the struggle. Their blood, their lives, their spirit, their souls. Let us not forget what happened to them." 

"This myth of 'boy books' does real harm. It narrows reading down to one-dimensional stories built around aggression or dominance. The overwhelming message boys receive is that reading is fine, as long as it reinforces orthodox masculinity and does not ask you to feel too much or think too deeply." Louis Provis on the wrong way to encourage boys to read.

"Hayley Mills was quickly growing out of her childhood film roles and this was an ideal production that helped transition her into more mature teen roles." Silver Scenes celebrates The Moon-Spinners (1964).

A journey along the disused Market Harborough to Newark railway

It was building the Great Northern and London & North Western Railway (GN&LNWJR) that brought my hero J.W. Logan MP to the Market Harborough area. You can see, from the sturdy bridges that remain to this day, that Logan & Hemingway knew how to build railways,

Borders and Beeching traces the disused line from Welham Junction, just north of Market Harborough, to Newark, though the stretch through Melton Mowbray is missed out.

As Eastern Leicestershire is not heavily populated, the GN&LNWJR was always more of a freight line, serving many local ironstone quarries and also bringing coal from the East Midlands to London via Market Harborough and Northampton. There were coal concentration sidings at Welham. 

Despite what the caption suggests, Medbourne station was not on this line but on a short curve that joined it to the line to Stamford. And when I used our new on-demand bus service to get to Hallaton recently, it set me down and picked me up from the old station site, even though it's a little way out of the village, as though it were meeting a train.

Passenger services officially ended in 1953, but unadvertised trains ran until 1957 and the GN&LNWJR branch to Leicester Belgrave Road saw holiday trains to Skegness as late as 1962.

Goods services ended in 1964, but odd fragments of the line continued to see workings for some years after that. It's worth reading the Wikipedia entry on the GN&LNWJR to get a clear picture of the life and death of this interesting line.

And there's more border collie content in a recent post on this blog.

GUEST POST The future’s bright, the future’s orange

Stuart Whomsley on how voting Liberal Democrat last Thursday has changed his life.

I voted Liberal Democrats, for the first time, for three reasons: 

• Through my union membership I got to vote for the Labour leader. I voted for Starmer. I voted for him on the basis of promises that he later broke. Fool me once, shame on you: fool me twice, shame on me. 
• The Lib Dem manifesto had more policies that I agreed with, particularly rejoining the EU. I had been on a London march for that. after all. 
• A website algorithm said that they had most in common with my views. 

However, tactical voting was what I was had been thinking about. Wasn't voting Labour the best way to keep the dreaded Robert Jenrick from being re-elected here in Newark? 

If he survived and became party leader, our town would become the heart of darkness. It gave me the chills. 

Even so, I considered those three points and stuck to my guns. So come the day, my cross went in the Lib Dem box. 

As I left the community centre I sensed a change coming over me. I started to experience the world in new ways: its sounds, its colours, its opportunities. 

Ever since, I have been relishing the words 'Liberal' and 'Democrat'.

Liberal: willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas. 

Liberal: a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare. 

Liberal: a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy and free enterprise. 

Democrat: an advocate or supporter of democracy. 

I ask you, what's not to love in those words? 

The colour orange suddenly has a fascination for me. I find myself wearing it more and more. It suits my complexion. Orange the colour of youthfulness, enthusiasm and happiness. 

This brings me to… The Ed Davey effect. I cannot now go past a tombla without giving it a spin. A cheese is something to roll down a hill and chase. Zumba classes? Morris dancing and swing? Count me in. 

By the way, The Ed Davey Effect would get a session on John Peel if he were still alive. 

Gone are the memories of Nick Clegg, another oath breaker. The Coalition seems a lifetime away. The Tories used and abused the Lib Dems then targeting their seats in 2015. Now was the time for revenge.

 Ed was coming after the blue wall, treating it like a tower of blue Jenga blocks to be pulled apart and crashed down all over the South West. 

So, after 14 years of being a supporter of the opposition to the government, I now face the prospect of many more years in opposition. 

But in a different way. No longer in despair at the incompetence and cruelty of the government, I shall instead be giving the new government friendly pokes in the ribs and telling them: "You can do better than that." 

And, yes, Jenrick won, but it was by thousands, so my vote made no difference. My vote could not transform Newark: all it could transform was me.

You can follow Stuart Whomsley on Twitter.

Police arrest woman after finding her hiding under giant teddy bear in Boughton

Embed from Getty Images

Our Headline of the Day Award goes to Nottinghamshire Live for this tale of crime fighting in the East Midlands.

Thanks to the reader who nominated it, and also to the judges for their services throughout the year. They were wearing paper hats and eating mince pies when they made this adjudication.

Bingham Toot Hill School students sanctioned after tampering with dead pigeon

A pigeon yesterday.

Thanks to a nomination from a Liberal England reader, the Newark Advertiser wins our Headline of the Day Award.

A 1960 film made to promote commercial traffic on the waterways

The blurb on YouTube explains:

This is an edited version of a film made in 1960 to show how British Waterways were upgrading their  broad waterways for more commercial traffic. At that time the container revolution had not really started, but within ten years container ports including inland container ports enabled goods to tranship quickly and without all the handling shown here.

At the heart of the film is a trip up the Trent with nice shots of Newark and a river freight depot at Nottingham.

John O'Gaunt railway viaduct, Leicestershire

John O'Gaunt was a station on the The Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway, which ran from Market Harborough through Melton Mowbray to Nottingham and Newark. It took its name from a nearby covert that was known to fox hunters.

The line closed to passengers in 1953 and to good traffic in 1962, but the John O'Gaunt viaduct still stands.

Now watch The Last Days of Melton Mowbray North.

The flat railway crossing at Newark

Just past Newark Castle station the line to Lincoln crosses the East Coast main line on the level.

It's all controlled by signals, of course, but if I were driving a Lincoln train I would be tempted to look both ways before proceeding.

The photo above was taken from Newark Castle station and shows a train on the East Coast main line using the crossing.

There used to be an arrangement like this at Retford too, but one line was raised and the other sunk so that they no longer crossed on the level. At Newark the River Trent makes any such arrangement impossible.

The footbridge at Retford used to be a great place for watching trains. Deltics accelerating through the station on the main line: coal trains hauled by brand new Class 56s thundering through underneath.

I remember that the local lads all called each other "thee" and "thou". I wonder if that usage survives today?

Newark Town Lock and the warehouses on the Trent

Just stream of Newark Castle stands Newark Town Lock and some warehouses which have now been converted into flats.

For more on the Trent through Newark, see The Tears of a Clown.

Plans for the restoration of Newark Castle

Newark Castle stands beside the Trent, close to the centre of the town.

Newark & Sherwood District Council is full of plans for it:

The project aims to restore the Gatehouse area of the Castle (where King John died 800 years ago) by the addition of a roof, floors and windows. This will both protect the structure from future degradation and open up a series of new rooms which will allow for additional interpretation and exhibitions. In addition a new entrance into the gatehouse via the Castle’s North West tower will allow for a separate, paying attraction to be developed which will greatly assist with the sustainability of the site. ,,. 

The project will house a key educational resource featuring King John, Norman crime and punishment, the outlaw sub-culture that surrounded the mythical Nottinghamshire hero Robin Hood and the castle’s pivotal role in Newark’s Civil War history.

At present the Castle grounds are occupied by a small park.

How to help the Liberal Democrats in the Newark by-election

#90734059 / gettyimages.com

Polling day in  Newark is 5 June. If you want to travel there to help the Lib Dem candidate David Watts, you have a problem. There is no Liberal Democrat HQ to report to.

I have asked the East Midlands party, and the best thing to do is to email Marilyn Rayner and tell her you are coming. I am sure you will be found plenty to do.

The party is planning an action day on Saturday 31 May, with a stall in Newark marketplace. Full details are on the East Midlands Lib Dems website, and that is the best place to look for the latest news of the campaign.

Newark is an interesting town, and the constituency also includes Southwell. I recommend a trip to Southwell Minster - the most beautiful cathedral you have never heard of.