lar attention but are progressing well. Itwill soon be time to remove the forget-me-not's and plant the bedding plantswhere necessary. All the perennials arelooking healthy and will soon be in flower.Some much needed painting work hasbeen started but again we need goodweather before we can continue. Theseats,fencing and buffers all need atten-tion but time and climatic conditionsneed to be on our side!Thank you to our visitors who takephotographs around the station andcomment on our work, it is much appre-ciated. Mike Dunk

GREEN ACRES NEWS

We are busy at Greena-cres organising the fi-nal touches to the

Wartime Weekend on 8th &9th June where Greenacreswill be turned into an‘American Base’ for the week-end.We will be welcoming FionaHarrison and Ricky Hunter aspart of the live entertainment,

along with a number of re-enactors,Punch & Judy shows plus there will belots of lovely home-made treats at ThePlatform Café, so hoping you will comeand join us at some point over the week-end.The Platform Café will be launching itsnew look menu on Tuesday 3th Junewith 2 for 1 on all main meals everyTuesday in June. Just in time forFather’s Day on 16th so why not treatDad to a full English breakfast or a tastylunch overlooking stunning views of theCity’s skyline. To make a reservationplease ring 01509 633870.Book Fair at Greenacres, we will beholding our first Book Fair on Saturday6th July with a variety of books on saleranging from young children’s booksthrough to sporting books. The Plat-form Café and the fair will be open from

The font used in this publication is ‘Gill Sans’, a true ‘Railway Font’ being designed by Eric Gill in 1927 for the LNER for use on their Notices and Posters.

This Newsletter is an independent publication, and whilst every attempt is made to ensure accuracy of information, any discrepancies are not the responsibility of Great Central Railway.

JUNE 2013. No. 59.

If you have any material that you think might be useful for this publication, please e-mail me at brian.rowe2@virginmedia.com

10am until 4pm with a kids reading cor-ner.Teddy Bears Picnic, there will be lotsgoing on at Greenacres during TeddyBears Picnic on 23rd 24th, 25th, 30th &31st July and 1st, 6th, 7th and 8thAugust,with Bouncy Castle fun, Ted’s TreasureHunt, Face Painting, Craft Table andlovely home-made packed lunches avail-able.Looking for somewhere to hold achildren’s birthday party? Why not popinto Greenacres and take a look around,an ideal venue for little ones with lots ofspace for them the run around, indoorcatering can be provided. Ring Lesley on077785 12275 for further information.To keep up to date with all the news,offers and events please follow us ontwitter @TheSidingsLE3, Like us onFacebook at Greenacres or log ontowww.gcrailway.co.uk, you will find usunder ‘Stations and Cafes’

WELCOME!It is always nice to be able to announcethat new volunteers have joined us hereat your local station, so we would liketo welcome two newcomers, Geoff andJean Manchester to our little team.Geoff will be occupying our ticket office,and his wife Jean will be be playing herpart in the kitchen/buffet.We hope that they will enjoy their timehere with the “Happy Gang” and thatthey will soon become used to our ways.They’ve certainly arrived at an oppor-tune time, and will shortly find thatappearances can be deceptive, and thatthe station can, at times, become a veryhectic and busy place!

TELEPHONE NUMBERSLEICESTER NORTH

0116 261 0946

LOUGHBOROUGH CENTRAL

01509 632 323

THE PLATFORM CAFÉ

077785 12275

The “big One” of course being theAnnual Wartime Week end! Yes, itis a year since the last time I adver-

tised this event, but it doesn’t seem tobe so.Once again “Panzer Lehre” will be ourGerman re-enactment group, and whohave proved to be very popular for thelast three years, so we wish them everysuccess with their efforts once more.At the time of writing, I’m not too surewhat this year’s programme will consistof, with regard to our station’s offeringbut am sure it will be something inter-esting for all to enjoy.

The above photo possibly answers aquestion frequently asked by visitors toour station, “Where did the railway goto from here in the old days?” It some-times comes as something of a surprisewhen told that it eventually terminatedin London.The photo also shows how attractivethe station is, for those who choose toaccess the GCR via Leicester North.

MAINTENANCE REPORT!The maintenance team have been work-ing together every Wednesday, al-though we have already lost one day tothe adverse weather conditions. Asusual, the grass is a problem, it needs tobe mowed and strimmed every week.Extra work has been tackled on thepathway which needed cutting back andedging before we could put down someweed killer. The flower beds need regu-

Photo. Allan Moss

REUNIFICATION! Exciting News in Next Issue!

(A Short history)with its continental loading gauge,slow curves and lack of gradessteeper than 1 in 176, the

Great Central was years ahead of itsrivals’ routes into the capital. Add to the aforementioned the planto continue under London, and then,after travelling south, to traverse theEnglish Channel via a channel tunnel,one can see that it would have beena wonderful asset to the nation. (Who knows how much further itwould have developed by the presentday?) The Great Central Railway (LondonExtension) was the brainchild of theVictorian Industrialist Edward Watkin,who envisioned a rapid rail link to thecontinent that would have been farsuperior those of his rivals’. Unfortunately, by the 1950's thenational network was under acutethreat from road transport, which wasreaping the benefits of the newmotorways that were beingconstructed, and which was alsosuffering from a serious lack ofinvestment by the government of theday. This, coupled with the fact thatthe areas served by the GCR werealso covered by other lines, whichhad always looked upon the GCR asan interloper, made it inevitable thatit would be the first to go, under thenow infamous “Beeching Plan”. Pre-Beeching the railway continued

south, the next main station beingLeicester Central, from therecontinuing on to Whetstone,Lutterworth, Rugby and finallyterminating at London St. Marylebone.

THE GREAT CENTRALRAILWAY (1899-1969)

The original station that used tostand on this site was known asBELGRAVE & BIRSTALL, but, by thetime that the present Heritage Railwayhad reached this far south the buildingswere in such a sorry state, owing tovandalism, that the decision was takento rebuild. To have rebuilt it to itsoriginal appearance would have beenprohibitively expensive, so the presentstation is something of a compromise.Plans are, however in the pipelineto make many improvements. Anydonations that you feel able to make,to speed up these proposals would bemost welcome (please use the donationbox in the Waiting Room.)

If you are wondering how the originalstation used to look, see the abovephotograph. It was a typical GCR stationwith the usual “Island” platform,accessed via a flight of stairs from thebridge. If you look to the left you willsee where the original staircasedescended from the bridge (nowbricked up). The present station is siteda little further south than the original.The two intermediate stations,ROTHLEY, and QUORN &WOODHOUSE, still being intact willgive you a better idea, although thereis a larger copy of the above photo onthe wall of our waiting room.

Leicester North Station Arrivals & Departures every Sat. and Sun. 6th April to 27th October 2013.‘Special’ Timetables apply on ‘Gala

Days’, “Thomas” & other eventsetc!

(see web site for details)

Leaflets advertising ‘Drive a TrainExperiences’, Dining Trains etc

available from the Waiting Room!

Forthcoming Attractions OnThe GCR.

Meet the Moshi Monsters1st-2nd June

40’s Wartime Event7th - 9th June.

Summer Steam Fayre6th-7th July.

www.gcrailway.co.uk

(upper photo, looking south)Loco. No. 44847on the 14:38 Marylebone-Nottingham, passing Bel-grave & Birstall station master’s house (now theGreen Acres site) 8/8/1966. Taken by P. Skinns,(Parcel Acc's. Clerk, Leicester Central Station).(lower photo) Leicester Central Station. GreatCentral Street. (1925)Picture courtesy Leicester & Leics. Records Office,Wigston, Leics.

NOTICEIf you wish to be kept informedabout Leicester North Station

this “Newsletter” is available on-line. Go to www.gcrailway.co.uk

click on “Leicester North Station”and the link to the latest issue is

at the bottom of the page.

Arrivals10.08. 10.30. 11.30. 12.30. 1.30. 2.07. 2.45. 3.45 4.43.

Departures10.10. 10.45. 11.45. 12.45. 1.45. 2.20. 3.00. 4.00 4.55.

LEICESTER NORTH NEWSLETTER

LEICESTER NORTHSTATION