This was another piece of Mansfield that I knew very well, and just about walked up and down it every day for many years.
In the days of the horse drawn carriages, regular travellers were transported along this road either going to the station or to the Midland Hotel. This mode of travel was soon followed by the motor cars and buses as these came to be more and more popular with the folk of Mansfield.
Mansfield Midland station was raised above the surrounding areas, hence one side being called Station Hill, and the road in the drawing being called, Station Approach. But to the locals, both the approaches were called station Hill.
The Bus Companies took advantage of both modes of transport, for they made the station a terminal for their routes. So much so, that passengers were able to arrive at the station by train, then board a bus to complete their journey.
I have called this page “The Station Master’s House” for I recollect someone saying that the Station Master lived there. I can only confirm that when I was about 6 years old, my father took me to visit at the house. My father also worked for the rail company for many years, and for some reason, I have always believed it was the Station Master who lived there. I had no reason to think otherwise.
My wife, who came from Maltby Road, also remembered that her mother once told her that her auntie, (her mother’s auntie) lived there and was married to the station master.
I remember the road around the station was cobblestone, horses would often slip on the stones when pulling carts.
I have previously written that Heymier and Copeland’s had their stores under the two arches at the bottom of Station Road to house their stock.
Round the corner on Queen Street, the house of the station master had two gated entrances, so my feelings are that the house also in past times had it’s own horses and carriage. My recollection from being 6 years old was, It was a big house that you could easily get lost in, big, especially in comparison to ours!
Many of these houses went years before the rebuilding of the town. So much so, as the cars came more available to those who could afford, no rebuilding was made then, but the space was used for car parks.
A few years later, these houses fell into disrepair, and along with those on Quaker Lane, were demolished to make way for Council Plans for the town.
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Which one of the houses in the drawing is the Stationmaster’s house please?
Was the address on Queen St. or Station Rd. – or neither?
Speaking to my cousin a while ago, he remembers going there when my grandfather used to live there. Think that must have been 1950’s or 1960’s.
Cinderellas Walk is one of the few left from my childhood. I sometimes cycle along it when I’m on one of my rides around the area, it’s nice to see the old engine shed is still there and being used. The biggest change is the view from the footbridge that takes you over the railway onto Cinderellas Walk at the top of Victoria Street the busy goods yard was there with all the point work and railway wagons, all gone now just two through lines. There’s a good picture from the 1960s taken from that bridge in Jack Cupits book Mansfields Railways it brings back a lot of memories.
Wow ! Peter, just been looking at the sight when it was cleared and made into a Car Park. before the new bus station was built What a transformation. The walkway has disappeared and has been replaced by steps. And now the car park has been replaced by the new Bus Station. There is no wonder I get lost on my visits. How different it looked when the car park was there, and what a difference they made to the beginning of the Town Viaduct. I agree with you about the walks around town, keeping away from the roads and streets. I wonder if anyone can put a name to them all, or name the ones they know/knew. The obvious one to me was Cinderella’s Walk.
Alan, I think the new bus station is where the old station masters house was? So much of old Mansfield I remember from my childhood has gone not all for the better. In the early 50s I recall going for a walk in town on Sunday mornings with my dad and you could go from one side to the other without walking on a road by using alleyways like Old Meetinghouse Lane that ran from Rosemary Street to Westgate, the yards that ran from West Gate to Clumber Street and the Lurchills that ran from Clumber Street to Woodhouse Road.
Can you remember walking from the Rosemary Street end of Old Meetinghouse Lane towards Westgate, about half way along you came to the rear entrance to the Co-op Bakery and slaughterhouse on the right hand side, and on the left was a short unmade road that ran to the end of the old Walkden Street, on the left of the unmade road between Old Meetinghouse Lane and Walkden Street was a row of very old cottages, I knew someone who lived in one of them but I don’t remember his name. What was the name of that unmade road if it had a name, does anyone know?
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