Home town history V - coal mining

oh go on then...

​In the 1820s, the engineer William Stenson bore a shaft in a field next to a track known as Long Lane on the outskirts of Whitwick. After finding the presence of coal, he established Whitwick colliery in 1824. This precipitated the growth of an industrial settlement around the site, and the founding of at least three other collieries in the area. This is now known as the modern town of Coalville.
Stenson was inspired by the success of the new Stockton and Darlington railway in the north-east of England, engineered by George Stevenson. Seeing the potential benefits of this modern form of transport to his own enterprise, Stenson formed the Leicester and Swannington Railway Company. He persuaded Stevenson to invest £2,500 in the railway, and Stevenson’s son, Robert, was appointed as the railway’s engineer. The resultant Charnwood Forest Railway was constructed between 1881 and 1883. The track, a branch line of the Ashby and Nuneaton Railway, ran from Coalville to Loughborough. It was known as the Bluebell Line due to the flowers growing along much of the length of the track during the spring. The intention was to eventually run the track to Leicester and link it to the Midland Main Line, but this never came to fruition. The line was never successful. In an effort to increase the profitability four halts were opened at Thringstone, Gracedieu, Snells Nook and Whitwick. However, by 1885 the line had gone bankrupt; passenger services ceased to operate on 13 April 1931, and freight services ceased on 12 December 1963…