Coalville Crossing Confusion (2)

 100 Years Old

Midland Red opened their depot in Coalville in 1925 and, coming from the centre of the town to Snibston, you are obliged to pass the former establishment. The depot consisted of a substantial office block in Art Deco style ...

... with the company name and the opening date clearly displayed.

Of course there was a booking and information office as part of the block. Later, new windows were installed although fbb does not know whether these came after Arriva (successors to Midland Red) vacated the premises.

Back to the original with a better view of the booking office ...

... we continue a few yard further along the Ashby Road and there is the depot itself.

Again we see later modification after departure of the bus operation.

A more recent view from above shows a brand new roof throughout, which would have cost much fine gold.

The most recent view from the road shows the garage front completely infilled with panelling.

So, adieu 100 year old bus garage. Snivel, snivel!

What is, of course, significant is the change in the structure of bus operation over that 100 years. Services have been reduced, fares have risen by nearly three times the rate of inflation and many many more potential customers have cars.

How is the move to net zero going, then?

Some of the 100 Years Remembered.

Last Sunday, visitors arrived in good numbers to celebrate the centenary. Older visitors could revel in nostalgia for the good old days when red buses plied the roads of Leicestershire in great profusion.

Some would remember red buses with black roofs, usually gleaming cleanly for their role in long distance express services.

And they were luxury!

Thanks web site designers for telling us twice! fbb has not seen any photos of double deck buses at the event.

A good day was had by all - and there was a small reminder of the strong competition for the buses that would eventually change the industry ...

... namely the motor car.

Remember those railway tracks that were NOT controlled by the Coalville Crossing signal box?

The sidings once led back towards the town and made a junction with the Leicester to Burton branch east of the former Coalville Town station.

But where the thin black siding line crosses the BROWN road is, apparently, another level crossing. Indeed there are still rails in the road ...

... and gates no longer closing. This side is a footpath leading to Snibston Park. Opposite and also gated ...

... is another footpath on the former track bed. This leads, ignominiously, to Coalville's extensive car parks and, via a left hander, leads out on to the former A511 east of the former station and former signal box. 

Here is the path but Coalville doesn't overdo the direction signs.

So you would never know that this footway will take you along the route of the Snibston Colliery sidings and crossing Belvoir Road at Oliver's Crossing.

Oliver?

Crossing what was then known as Hugglescote Lane and because it formed the main outlet for coal from Snibston Pit it was much used, interfering for many years only with limited traffic. The lane was initially very little developed with housing but, as the town grew in importance industrially, more permanent gates were needed, served by an attendant.

The identity of many of the early “gate minders” is not clear but by 1881 Oliver Robinson, aged 62, was described as such. It is understood that he suffered an accident in the pit in the 1870s and was given this duty in compensation.

You wonder what Oliver would have thought if he could ever know that he featured in blogs about Coalville and was a star of the town's history even in 2025.

The above view hasn't changed much today, apart from a lick of paint on one of the shops.

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 14 Sept