The Burton and Ashby Light Railway – Part 2

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An article by Seymour Glendenning in the July 1906 issue of The Railway Magazine focussed on the newly opened Burton & Ashby Light Railway. [1]

The light railway was a 3ft 6in gauge electric tram line supplied with electricity from a diesel generator plant near Swadlincote. [3] The power plant sat alongside the tram depot. [1: p56]

The first article about the line covered the length from Burton, through Newhall and Sawdlincote to Castle Gresley. It can be found here. [4]

Glendenning notes that the construction cost for the whole network was £150,000. [1: p57] He says that it served a population of about 100,000 inhabitants in the towns and villages through which it passed.

This second article about the line completes the journey, covering the length from Sawdlincote to Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

The route of the line(s) is shown in black on the map extract below.

The Burton and Ashby Light Railway. [2]

We start this second part of the journey at the tram depot which sat in Swadlincote on the North side of the Swadlincote and Woodville Branch of the Midland Railway and to the East of the Burton and Ashby Light Railway

The tram depot off Midland Road, Swadlincote, seen from the West. The trams on the depot are (left to right) Nos. 18, 5, 14, 9 and 10. On the left of the depot is the horse-drawn trolley tower. The map extract immediately below shows the depot (top-left). [3]
Glendenning provided a photograph of the bridge in this photograph under construction (see above). The bridge appears on the map extract immediately above and is seen here in use by the Burton and Ashby Light Tramway, (c) Public Domain. [13]
A similar view in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, August 2022]
The tram depot sat to the East of the Burton and Ashby Light Railway and on the North side of the Swadlincote and Woodville Branch of the Midland Railway, just off the top-right of this extract from the 1920 25″ Ordnance Survey. As can be seen here, the branch into the tram depot left the mainline at high level adjacent to the North abutment of the bridge over the standard-gauge line. The Burton and Ashby Light Railway is shown heading South towards Swadlincote Market Place along Midland Road. Sitting to the West of the Light Railway Bridge and at a lower level was Swadlincote Railway Station. To its North were some Sanitary Earthenware Works.  [5]
This extract from the 21st century Google Maps satellite imagery shows much the same area as the map extract above. The light railway ran down the full length of Midland Road as far as its junction with the High Street in Sawdlincote. [Google Maps, October 2024]
A tram sits on the South side of Market Place and is about to set off for Burton (turning left and running beyond the Town Hall which is at the left rear of the photograph), or Ashby (bearing to the right off the right side of the photograph), (c) Public Domain. [14]
A very similar view looking from West Street East into Market Place in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, May 2017]

At Swadlincote Market Place a branch left the main line to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. That branch ran South from Swadlincote to serve Castle Gresley. We followed that branch in the first article about the Burton and Ashby Light Railway.

In this article we follow the route of the line from Swadlincote to Ashby-de-la-Zouch which heads East from the Market Place.

A tram leaves the High Street, entering Swadlincote Market Place and heading towards Midland Road, © Public Domain. [28]

Glendenning describes this length of the journey:

“The road towards Ashby rises continuously until it reaches a height of 569 ft. above sea level. It passes through the heart of the Derbyshire Potteries, where a great industry is carried on in the manufacture of furnace bricks, sanitary pipes, and common earthenware. Furnaces and kilns abound in Swadlincote, and the subsidiary industry of crate-making is also much in evidence.

There are numerous stacks arranged in the form of a lofty cone, of the long tapering branches of timber with untrimmed bark, which are used for making the big rectangular crates for the conveyance of heavy earthenware.

The clay for the pipes and pots is obtained on the surface, but the fire clay for furnace bricks has to be reached from a depth, by sinking shafts equipped with hoisting machinery.

Imperceptibly, Swadlincote grows into Woodville, where the large pipe works are situated, with their groups of ever-smoking furnaces and yards stacked with great heaps of pipes for sewerage and drainage purposes. But the broken pottery is even more aggressive than the sound ware. Every ‘grotto’, or ‘rockery’, is made of it; every garden path is edged with it, or with fused fire bricks. The mounds of refuse adjacent to the works are continually extending their borders and spreading over the country.” [1: p55]

The road East of Swadlincote Market Place is High Street. As can be seen from the closely cropped extract from the 1920 25″ Ordnance Survey, the line was dual-tracked in the vicinity of the Market Place. Midland Road runs down to the Market Place on the East side of the Town Hall. Trams for Ashby left to the bottom-right of the map extract. [5]

Trams ran East along High Street and turned Southeast and the road became Hill Street. The area to the East of the town centre was heavily industrialised. Different industrial concerns were linked by a network of tramways which were generally below the level of the public road and passed under it, as necessary, by means of bridges and tunnels as the map extract below illustrates.

Another estract from the Ordnance Survey revised sheets of the 1920s. This sheet was surveyed/revised on the basis of what was present on the ground in 1921. [15]

These two extracts from Google Maps satellite imagery cover the same length of the Light Railway as shown on the extract from the 1921 25″ Ordnance Survey above. The Southeastern length of what was Hill Street is now the A514 which bypasses the centre of the town. [Google Maps, October 2024]

A view East along High Street, Swadlincote from the Market Place. This image was shared on the photographs New and Old of Swadlincote & Burton on Trent Facebook Group by Darren Jones on 8th July 2024. [17]
A similar view down High Street in the 2st century. [Google Streetview, August 2022]
Facing Southeast along High Street, Swadlincote in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, August 2022]
A tram climbs Hill Street towards the Centre of Sawdlincote circa. 1910. This image was shared on the Swadlincote Area Railways, Tramways and Industrial History Facebook Group by Ian Siddalls on 24th February 2019. [33]
From Hill Street the line of the old Light Railway runs along a short length of Sir Herbert Wragg Way . Ignoring the junction with the A514, the old line continued to curve gently to the East to follow the modern A514. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
Facing East along the A514, the land either side of the modern road has been landscaped and shows little sign of its industrial heritage. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
This next extract from the 1921 25″ Ordnance Survey shows the Light Railway running East along Swadlincote Road. The Midland Railway Woodville Brach Line can be seen entering the extract from the South. [15]
Further to the East the Light Railway crossed the Woodville Goods Branch of the Midland Railway and ran through the centre of Woodville. [15]
The same location in the 21st century. The goods depot is long-gone as are both the road overbridges close to the junction. [18]
A tram on its way to Swadlincote passing New Inn, Woodville in the early part of the 20th century. This image was shared on the photographs New and Old of Swadlincote & Burton on Trent Facebook Group by Keith Townsley on 10th January 2023. [19]
A similar view looking Northeast on High Street, Woodville, A511 in the 21stcentury. New Inn is on the left of the photo. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
Woodville High Street on the 1921 25″ Ordnance Survey. [15]
A similar area in the 21st century. [Google Maps, October 2024]
Tram No. 13 on High Street Woodville on its test run in 1906. This image, which looks Southeast, was shared on the photographs New and Old of Swadlincote & Burton on Trent Facebook Group by Keith Townsley on 3rd May 2021. [16]
A similar vantage point in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
Further Southeast on Woodville High Street. [15]
A similar area in the 21st century. [Google Maps, October 2024]
Further to the Southeast once again. Trams followed the bend in the highway from High Street into Ashby Road. [15]
Approximately the same length of road in the 21st century. [Google Maps, October 2024]
High Street, Woodville bears left and becomes Ashby Road. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
This next extract from the 1921 25″ Ordnance Survey takes us to the East edge of the particular map sheet. [15]
Heading away from the camera circa 1911 Is Tram No. 7 en-route from Ashby to Burton on what is now the A511. In a minute or two, the tram would be running Northwest along High Street, Woodville. [34]
The same location in the 21st century, looking West towards Woodville. [Google Streetview, July 2023]

The next three extracts for the 1920 25″ Ordnance Survey follow the line across the next map sheet.

The Burton and Ashby Light Railway to the East of Woodville. [20]
The Burton and Ashby Light Railway further to the East. At Boundary the line/road run Southeast towards Ashby. [20]
Further to the Southeast, the bottom of this extract is also the bottom of the particular map sheet of the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1920. [20]

Glendenning continues:

“After passing Swadlincote and Woodville, – the top of a hill is reached, 569 ft. above the sea level. Cornfields and meadows abound on either side, and there is also the magnificent landscape of Charnwood Forest. Then comes the hamlet of Boundary, so called, as it is a boundary of shires, parishes, and manors. Close by is the notable village of Smisby, set amongst fine park-like scenery.

It can still boast of its tournament field, which Sir Walter Scott made allusion to in “Ivanhoe.” The situation is very exposed at Boundary; severe storms rage there periodically, and the inhabitants say that anyone who can live winter and summer at Boundary could live anywhere. After entering Leicestershire, the new line makes a quick descent into Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The old town has the refined air of a fashionable inland watering-place, though its medicinal saline baths are not more than a century old. The fourteenth-century castle was wrecked during the seventeenth-century civil wars; but even the portions that remain are magnificent, alike in size, strength and beauty of architecture.” [1: p55-56]

On its way down to Ashby-de-la-Zouch the road and light railway traverse another full 1921 25″ OS Sheet with little worthy of note. [21] The next image shows the line as it appears on the 25″ Ordnance Survey, much closer to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. [22]

The Burton and Ashby Light Railway approached Ashby-de-la-Zouch from the Northwest. The railway shown to the right of this map extract is the Midland Railway Ashby to Breedon Line. The light railway slips off the bottom of this OS Map sheet and appears again in the extreme bottom right of this extract. [22]
Looking East down Burton Road in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, (c) Public Domain. [25]
A similar view looking East on Burton Road in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
The Burton and Ashby Light Railway crosses the Ashby and Breedon Line (level-crossing) and then turns sharply to the South on Derby Road, Ashby-de-la-Zouch. [22]
The junction of Burton Road and Derby Road in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The green line is the route of the Burton and Ashby Light Railway. The red line the route of the Ashby and Breedon Line. [Google Maps, October 2024]
A tram travelling down Burton Road in 1913 towards the junction with Derby Road, © Public Domain. [29]
Looking West up Burton Road from approximately the same position as the camera which took the image above. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
Burton Road runs left to right across this extract from photograph EPW01157 (c) Historic England, 1926. The line runnign top to bottom of the image is the Ashby and Breedon Line. Burton Road School is to the right of the railway line. The level-crossing gate can easily be seen, but it is difficult to make out the rails of the Light Railway in Burton Road. [26]
This aerial image looks East along Burton Road. It is an extract from Britain from Above photograph EPW015158 (c) Historic England, 1926. The level-crossing gates are much clearer. Two of the electricity supply poles for the Burton and Ashby Light Railway can be made out easily. The tracks of the Light Railway are more difficult to pick out in the road surface, although there is a hint of them in the centre of the road. [27]
This extract from EPW015158 shows the junction of Derby Road and Burton Road with the Light Railway’s route highlighted in green. Britain from Above photograph EPW015158 (c) Historic England, 1926. [27]
New Burton Road and the Burton and Ashby Light Railway transgress onto this OS Map sheet in the top left of this extract before crossing the Midland Railway Ashby and Breedon Line just off the top of the sheet (see that last map extract above). The Light Railway turned from Burton Road into Derby Road and ran South into the centre of Ashby. This can be seen to the right of this image. At the centre of the image, the standard-gauge line crossed Kilwardby Street[23]
This aerial image is also an extract from EPW015158 (c) Historic England (1926). Derby Road enters from the left, Market Street from the top, Kilwardby Street from the bottom and Bath Street from the right. The supply poles can be made out on the route along Derby Road and through the junction onto Bath Street. [27]
This second extract from EPW015157 (c) Historic England (1926) shows the same road junction, this time seen from the South with the tram lines and supply poles running from top to bottom of the image. [26]
A view looking South down Bath Street with a tram close to the Monument. This photograph was taken circa 1914 and is retained in the Derby City Council Archives (Picture the Past), (c) Public Domain. [31]
Approximately the same view in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, April 2023]
The final length of the light railway appears in this extract from the 1920 25″ Ordnance Survey. The line terminated on the station forecourt at Ashby Station. [23]
This final aerial image is a view across Ashby Railway Station from the Southwest and is an extract from Britain from Above image No, EPWW015162 (c) Historic England. The Railway Station is in the bottom-right of the photograph. The Royal Hotel is centre-top. The Light Railway terminus was in the forecourt of the standard-gauge railway station. [30]
Tramcar No. 13 standing in Station Road, Ashby in front to the Royal Hotel, a little to the North of the terminus at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Midland Railway station. The photograph was probably taken on 8th June 1906 on a testing and inspection run prior to opening the line, judging by the crowd of interested onlookers. A number of contemporary photographs exist of car No. 13 in various locations on the tramway on this occasion, two of which by Burton photographer J.S.Simnett are shown below, these being at Winshill and Newhall respectively. The postcard was published by George Brown of Ashby-de-la-Zouch.[8]
Tramcar No .13 at Winshill. [12]
Tramcar No. 13 at Newhall. [9]
The front of the Royal Hotel in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, March 2023]
This image shows trams from the Burton and Ashby Light Railway on the station forecourt in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It is held in the Burton Library Archive, (c) Public Domain. [32]
The Light Railway terminus at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Railway Station. This image was shared on the Rail Thing – Burton and Ashby Light Railway Facebook Group by Roger Larke on 29th June 2019. [24]

The Depot and Powerplant at Swadlincote

Glendenning tells us that:

“The power station and car shed have been built at Swadlincote, which is about midway between Burton and Ashby. These premises are designed to give every facility for convenient and economical working, with ample margins for any extensions that may be necessary in future. The shed has six lines of rails, and underneath there are pits about 4 ft. deep, like a railway engine shed, so that the motor machinery on the cars may be easily got at for the purpose of examination and repairs. Adjacent to the car shed is the spacious and well-equipped power station. Here we find that not only is steam out of date for light locomotive purpose, on a short track, but it is also being superseded as a prime-mover for the generation of electricity; at any rate, in comparatively small and isolated stations, where a varying and not very heavy load has to be dealt with.” [1: p56]

Perhaps for an audience unfamiliar with the use of electricity as a power-source for a railway, Glendenning spends quite a few words explaining the reason for the choice of diesel engines to create electricity for the network. Not initially the most obvious choice in a coal-mining area. He goes on to say that:

“There are two three-cylinder vertical engines of 240 18.1lp each with a huge fly-wheel weighing about nine tons, coupled direct to two cylinders, each capable of giving an output of 150 kilowatts.” [1: p57]

The Depot was “built with accommodation for 24 trams, 8 tracks x 3 deep but only 20 trams were owned.” [6]

Following closure of the system, “the tram sheds were used to accommodate Thomson’s Fair from 1935 into the 1940s and then for munitions during the Second World War.” [7]

Rolling Stock

Glendenning reports that the new line was to be operated by open-topped cars “with all the latest possible improvements, …  Built at the Brush Electrical Company’s Works, Loughborough.” [1:p57]

Glendenning goes on to describe the tramcars:

“They bear the Midland Railway Company’s coat-of-arms, and are designed to carry 57 passengers each, 22 inside and 35 outside. They are mounted on Brush rigid wheel base trucks, with steel tyred wheels, provided with Hudson-Bowring-lifeguards, and magnetic track brakes. The electrical equipments, powerful motors, etc., were furnished by the British Westinghouse Electric Manufac- turing Company, of Trafford Park, Man- chester. Accommodation has been provided for the carrying of a limited number of parcels on the platforms of the cars, while, at a later stage, it is intended to carry booked parcels. Workmen’s cars, with special fares, will be run as soon after the formal opening of the line as possible.” [1: p57]

Electric Tramcar No. 2. [1: p56]

The LMS Society notes that: “The cars were in Crimson Lake and a white livery with ornate gold panelled lining and Midland crest. It was in this condition that the cars came into LMS ownership but all the cars were repainted in a simpler livery at Derby Works. The original white had weathered to a light cream and the later cream mellowed in a short life to a yellow. Although the method of tramsport to Derby Works is not certain the LMS owned bogie tramcar wagons and with an open top tramcar the bodies would almost certainly come within the loading gauge. The trolley pole, seats and wire screens were easily removed and so it is more than likely visits to works were by rail journey.” [6]

There was also a horse-drawn trolley tower/maintenance platform which can be seen in the photograph of the tram depot above.

The Service Provided

Glendenning notes that the frequency of service “between Ashby, Swadlincote and Burton [is] every half hour. … Between Woodville, Swadlincote, Newhall and Gresley, every 15 mins. … Ordinary service commences at 8 am. … Passengers between Ashby and Gresley change at Swadlincote Market Place or Woodhouse Road.” [1: p57]

This photograph was taken on West Street, Swadlincote. It is probably a picture of one of the Sunday School outings. The image was shared on the Photographs New and Old of Swadlincote and Burton on Trent Facebook Group by Keith Townley on 19th June 2021. [11]

The LMS Society goes on to tell us that:

“Special services were often run, Sunday School Outings and other Club Outings, and even a Railway Club on 8th July, 1909 hired three trams for a return trip from Burton to Ashby. Special services to feed passengers to excursions from Burton Station before normal services, and upon their return after the last train, were another feature.

Three Aspect Colour light signalling was installed on the reserved country stretch between Stanhope Bretby and Sunnyside, Newhall where the line traversed the brow of a hill and the west passing loop was out-of-sight from both sides. The lights were operated by a trolley wheel contact on a solenoid, a system devised and installed by a firm, Bracknell, Munro and Rogers.” [6]

The safety record of the Light Railway “was marred by only one serious accident. No. 19 ran away and overturned at the foot of Bearwood Hill in 1915 but there were few injuries.” [6] Another source says that there was an accident in 1919 which resulted in the death of two people. [10]

The 1919 accident at the bottom of Bearwood Hill which resulted in the death of two people. [10]

The line was completed in 1906 and was assumed locally and by Glendenning to have a bright future. It was, in fact, short-lived:

“The Burton and Ashby Light Railway Company had a fleet of 20 tramcars and these operated until early in 1927. … With the increasing use of the motor bus, competition for passengers was intense and the tramway services were reduced to rush hours only. With costly maintenance required on the now 20 year-old trackwork, the tramways were beset with problems and finally the doors were closed on 19th February 1927.

Rail passenger services were still running through Castle Gresley, Swadlincote, Woodville and Ashby and motor buses took over the tram services.

The major undertaking ‘Midland Red’ or the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co. Ltd., to quote its full title, in which the LMS had a controlling interest, took over the main services. Other local operators, Victoria Motorways, Regent buses, Brooks Blue buses ran alongside the trams for a period.” [6]

References

  1. Seymour Glendenning; The Burton and Ashby Light Railway; in The Railway Magazine, London, July 1906, p53-57.
  2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_and_Ashby_Light_Railway, accessed on 12th October 2024.
  3. https://www.midlandrailwaystudycentre.org.uk/twochainplans/small/RFB00809sm.pdf, accessed on 16th October 2024
  4. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/10/19/the-burton-and-ashby-light-railway-part-1/
  5. https://maps.nls.uk/view/114591362, accessed on 17th October 2024.
  6. https://lmssociety.org.uk/topics/tramways.shtml, accessed on 18th October 2024.
  7. https://www.southderbyshire.gov.uk/our-services/things-to-do-and-places-to-visit/arts-and-culture/heritage-trails/midway-heritage-trail, accessed on 18th October 2024.
  8. https://www.tramwayinfo.com/Tramframe.htm?https://www.tramwayinfo.com/trampostcards/Postc200.htm, accessed on 18th October 2024.
  9. https://www.dfhs.org.uk/filestore/2019_June_137.pdf, accessed on 17th October 2024.
  10. https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/burton/man-who-job-righting-tram-2345427, accessed on 19th October 2024.
  11. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/2R6vHdibthqy15xd, accessed on 18th October 2024.
  12. This image was shared on the Newhall, Stanton & Bretby Yesteryears Facebook Group by Kevin Hallam on 19th February 2023, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1074190616309168/search/?q=tram, accessed on 18th October 2024.
  13. https://gsq-blog.gsq.org.au/travel-on-my-mind/swadlincote-tram_ed/, accessed on 17th October 2024.
  14. https://www.southderbyshire.gov.uk/assets/attach/5004/Swadlincote-Heritage-Trail-Town-Centre-leaflet-FINAL2.pdf, accessed on 19th October 2024.
  15. https://maps.nls.uk/view/114591365, accessed on 19th October 2024.
  16. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=286971863140713&set=gm.3943789782373007, accessed on 19th October 2024.
  17. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=7921013811278470&set=p.7921013811278470, accessed on 19th October 2024.
  18. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.0&lat=52.76966&lon=-1.53509&layers=168&b=ESRIWorld&o=100, accessed on 19th October 2024.
  19. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=712114870626408&set=pcb.5768333646585269, accessed on 19th October 2024.
  20. https://maps.nls.uk/view/114591374, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  21. https://maps.nls.uk/view/114592296, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  22. https://maps.nls.uk/view/114592356, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  23. https://maps.nls.uk/view/114592383, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  24. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1341193816054846&set=pcb.2997610126945848, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  25. https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~brett/genealogy/photos/eng/dby/scarratt/fwscarratt0099.jpg, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  26. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EPW015157, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  27. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EPW015158, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  28. https://uk.pinterest.com/stephen_baldwin/burton-ashby-light-railway, accessed on 20th October 2024.
  29. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/469359592409742050, (the original image appears to have come from the National Railway Museum but the link is broken), accessed on 20th October 2024.
  30. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EPW015162, accessed on 21st October 2024.
  31. https://picturethepast.org.uk, accessed on 21st October 2024.
  32. http://www.burton-on-trent.org.uk/page/2?p=hkwnwgtg, accessed on 21st October 2024.
  33. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10213834165548649&set=pcb.2048907168550697, accessed on 21st October 2024.
  34. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10221709102377148&set=gm.5146941508747232&idorvanity=356398021134962, accessed on 21st October 2024.

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