Derbyshire Places (2) : Willington

Willington is a village in South Derbyshire close to the Staffordshire border probably best known for the now closed nearby Willington coal fired power station. The five cooling towers still dominate the landscape.

Willington was listed in the Domesday Book as Willetune with the land consisting if two estates held by Ralph FitzHubert and the King. FitzHubert's manor passed to the de Willington family and later to the founder of the Repton school.

Willington was at one time one of the highest navigable ports on the river Trent and the Trent & Mersey Canal later ran through the village. The railway reached Willington in 1838, the station also serving the nearby Repton school. The station was closed in the 1960s but re-opened in 1995.

Meeting with Manchester

Yesterday as a pre-birthday treat I went up to Manchester, only the second time I've ever been to this fine city. This time I did more exploring around the centre itself including the excellent cathedral. I also did a bit of a canal walk and travelled on the trams but those will be subjects for later posts. My photos of Manchester can be seen here.

Great Central Railway

Yesterday I returned to Loughborough and made a proper visit to the Great Central Railway which runs between Loughborough and Leicester North. I visited all four stations on the line including Quorn & Woodhouse and Rothley. It was highly enjoyable travelling through this part of Leicestershire, the GCR is one of the best preserved railway lines around and my first visit was long overdue! You can see my photos here.

BGLR : Tram stop

A tram stop shelter (or a bus stop one anyway) has been built. At the moment it is on the bridge stop though maybe it will move when the tram scenery is done next year.

Churches (37) : St Peter and St Paul, Coleshill

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is the parish church of Coleshill in Warwickshire. A church has been on the site since Norman times though the oldest parts of the current church date from the fourteenth century possibly 1385CE [1]. Most of the church dates from the following century however including the spire.

The church was rebuilt in 1859 including a replastering of the exterior and retiling the roof. The spire was also rebuilt. The spire is tall and slender and the tallest structure for some distance around Coleshill.

[1] Nikolus Pevsner & Alexandra Wedgwood, Warwickshire (Penguin, 1966) p. 235