Underneath The Arches.....

The following is of an area of Mansfield that many will not know. This lane had an old fashioned beauty that we lived with in that time. As a youngster, we lads from Bradder Street used to wander along lanes like this in the 1940’s during war time. Sure it has a kind of beauty today, but it has changed, maybe for the better, I don’t know. I guess I must be getting old.

This is the kind of Mansfield my folks knew and lived in. I think of the blood and sweat the miners of the stone that went into the building of that viaduct gave to earn a living, what a hard life it was in those days.

Under the arches should probably have been called Lovers Lane. It was indeed a lovely stroll on an evening in the weather we used to get in those far off days. I don’t recall this unmade track ever having a name. But walking along this lane, under two arches of two different viaducts, over and along side of the river Maun, past Fatty Man’s Bank, strolling down past some pretty cottages and on into the Byron Yard – “I can taste that Mansfield Bitter now.”

It has been said that the stone from the viaduct that is no longer spanning the area shown, was put into landfill. How sad that makes me feel. Never mind, perhaps one day in the future someone will come along, dig up the stone, and re-use it to create another vision of beauty that will be around for the future of generations to come

 

This sketch from memory of the side road off of Quarry Lane....The two quarries, one sand, and one stone...The entrance being through the arch in the distance leading to the left from the track...The right fork takes you to the old Lord Byron Yard and Matlock Avenue...Just under the arch on the left,and a few paces past the gate,the River Maun runs under the road and on to Field Mill Dam...Shoggy Green's stables are shown on the right, and his horse used to graze off the grass in the field...Originally , and probably still is , a cart track that once saw the stone and sand from the quarries hauled on rail trucks along small gauge lines and pulled by horses to their destination...Or even a short haul to build the Viaducts...The brewery cart horses would also have to take this route to the Lord Byron Inn...
The archway loeading to the quarries. The road and archway are built under the viaduct that still remains..
The Lord Byron Yard from Quarry Lane showing another angle...Sadly no longer there.

Comments about this page

  • I recall sitting outside the Old Byron with my Father and having my bottle of orange crush and packet of Smiths crisps. It was a regular walk from Garnon street where we lived at the time

    By John Barry Bowskill (24/03/2021)
  • I saw your article on quarry lane and believe that my grandmother Mrs Bathsheaba Cooper and my Uncle Reg lived at number 18 in the 1960’s, does anyone remember anything from this period. 

    By Michael King (10/11/2014)
  • You are right Alan, the main part came down 19th June 1970, and it was ‘blown-up’ with explosives rather than demolished stone by stone. The arch over the road was taken down in a more controlled way over the next few days. I’m led to believe, like Mansfield Viaduct, the arches were brick with a stone dressing, thus, not much stone to re-use. The resulting rubble was used as landfill in other local railway removal schemes.

    By Berisford Jones (13/07/2013)
  • Thank you Beresford, always wondered, so nice to know…Alan

    By alan curtis (13/07/2013)
  • I understand this viaduct was demolished in1970…43 years ago…What happened to the thousands of tons of stone that went into the building of the railway arches ? It was first class stones. Was it re-used for a second life and put to good use for the town ?….If so, where is it now ?…

    By alan curtis (12/07/2013)
  • Alan, I’ve been hunting around for info on another subject and I came across a short (late 30’s) mention of ‘Quarry Lane, Unemployed Social Centre’, next door to a fish & Chip shop run by ‘F Austin’, any recollection of what the centre was about and /or how was it financed?

    By Berisford Jones (31/07/2012)
  • Hello Berisford. In making your request , I believe you have helped revive part of my memory box….Starting with the fish and chip shop :- In the 1930’s, Mr and Mrs Austin moved into Arlington House, a large house at the bottom of Bradder St., previously owned by the Bradder family….The two Austin children, Carmel and Margery, who were grown up, became very good fiends of my sister Alice and her husband Reg….So the two families knew each other quite well…Mrs Austin,  opened their front room and made it into a fish and chip shop which did quite well….Mrs Austin would sit in a corner of the ” Chippy” in a big rocking chair, keeping her eye on the business.. This is the part Berisford where I believe you have come up with a missing answer…..Actually it was next door but one that would have been the Unemployed Social Centre…..On the other Quarry Lane site, I have sketched a drawing of what was a long wooden hut at the side of the old Scout Hut, situate at the bottom end of the Tippin on Quarry Lane…. I reiterate that one very bad winter, the roof collapsed under the weight of the snow….Inside the hut were all sorts of comfort….A warm fire stove, tables and chairs, comfortable settees and arm chairs. all kinds of indoor and outdoor games and sports equipment…Food and drinks preparation area….All the comforts of home….After quite a long time, the hut was finally dismantled ,taken away and was not replaced…

    By alan curtis (31/07/2012)
  • For anyone who doesn’t know what a Cabbage Club is, it is a club run by keen gardeners who like to pit their skills with other keen gardeners and show off their vegetables and whatever they have grown and nurtured in their gardens and allotments. They show them off at a Flower, Fruit and Vegetable show in order to win rosettes and other prizes. In the 20th century, Quarry Lane and Bradder Street were surrounded by literally hundreds of these kind of allotments. They were the pride and joy of the men and women who tendered them. Early in the 20th century, the club they formed held their meetings in the Lord Byron Inn where many a tankard was “downed “. Of course the prizes they won were worth having. I have read somewhere,that the Lord Byron was built early 1800’s, and may have started out as a Beer House – later to be purchased by Mansfield Brewery for just over £1000. When the Inn was demolished sometime in the 1950’s, many of the old fashioned clay pipes were found behind the chimney stack.

    By alan curtis (15/07/2012)
  • Very nice Alan, quite the artist! So, the old Lord Byron Inn wasn’t on the site of the one that’s recently been cleared?

    By Berisford Jones (13/07/2012)
  • Hello Berisford, thank you for the compliment. I never came top in the class for Art, nearly always came second, Ken Chambers always beat me, no matter how I tried. Berisford, you are correct,the old Lord Byron pub, was about 200 yards nearer to Bradder Street, on the opposite side of Quarry Lane. It was across the foot bridge the other side of the River Maun.

    By alan curtis (13/07/2012)

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