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It's time to look out your boots once more, check the weather forecast and head out into the countryside to explore a line which left the Woolsthorpe Branch at Casthorpe Junction to serve the ironstone quarries at Harlaxton .  It had a life of less than 36 years (1941-77) supplying the raw material for the iron and steel industry but today, more than 40 years after the tracks were removed, there's still a surprising amount to see.

The Woolsthorpe Branch Rediscovered - Part 3: Casthorpe Junction to Harlaxton Quarries

The current issue of Steam Days (February 2017) has a 10-page article by David Martin titled A Day Trip to Grantham: 1961, which starts on page 43.

David's description of his trip includes the journey by bus and train from his home in Clifton, Nottingham.  This section of the article is illustrated by a highly evocative selection of images from the Rail Archive Stephenson collection (mostly taken by T.G. Hepburn), along with others from Tom Boustead, most depicting seldom-photographed locations.

Arriving at Grantham, many of the accompanying photographs are in colour by Keith Pirt, and two more of his pictures feature across the cover and the contents pages of the issue.

We've just added some new photographs to Sam Whitaker's page, including a picture taken when he and three colleagues were was presented with their awards for 45 years' service.  Can anyone help by telling us who the other three gentlemen are?

We've expanded the Grantham Stationmasters page to include some recollections of Harold Scampion, stationmaster from 1947 to 1963.

John Clayson

In the January 2017 issue, on pages 68-69, there are three photographs taken in August 1966 of diesel-electric and steam locomotives at Colsterworth.  Also, on pages 64-65, a photograph showing two locomotives on the narrow gauge tramway system at Waltham Quarries.

We received several very appreciative comments when Part 1 came out a few weeks back.  The sequel is now published, so why not look out your boots or bike this weekend (or anytime in the coming months) and take to the countryside, while exploring some local railway heritage?  There's a surprising amount still out there to discover!

The Woolsthorpe Branch Rediscovered - Part 2: Longmoor Lane to Denton

PS: we've slightly revised and updated Part 1 too.

The Tracks through Grantham team wish all our contributors and readers a very Happy New Year.  We look forward to seeing many of you again in April.

John Clayson

At risk of too much turkey and Christmas pudding?

Why not rediscover the Woolsthorpe Branch!

If you fancy a breath of fresh air over the Christmas and New Year holiday, while rediscovering some railway heritage, let our new group of pages, Railways Rediscovered, be your guide.

The first page of the group covers the northern half of the former Woolsthorpe Branch, a line built by the Great Northern Railway as long ago as the 1880s for ironstone traffic.  There's a good series of photographs which were taken recently while walking the northern section of the former branch from near Muston (Belvoir Junction) to Longmoor Lane, a distance of around 3 miles.

So why not get out and about, burn off a few excess calories and clear away the haze of over-indulgence?

Look out for the southern section of the Woolsthorpe Branch in the New Year.