A FEW PINTS OF DARLEY'S

We now enter the county of South Yorkshire (once part of the West Riding) and cross Hatfield Moors, a large peat bog. Until recently, this was harvested by a factory just off the Sandtoft to Hatfield Woodhouse road. A narrow gauge railway brought the product from the moors. Here, around 1968, a Simplex diesel shunts by the works.

This is how the peat was unloaded.

A couple of colour photos of locos at the works in 1983.

There were some sharp curves on the line out to the moors.

At the loading site, there was a little Lister loco to shunt the wagons.

This strange machine was used to cut the turf.

Another mechanical device was used to load the wagons.

We now head for the town of Thorne and cross the GCR Doncaster - Scunthorpe line at Kirton Lane.

To the east is Thorne South station. Here it is in GCR times and (below) in 1997.

Just outside is the Victoria Inn. Be warned, there may not be any cask beer.

The Stainforth & Keadby Canal passes through Thorne.The town has a history of boat building.

Thorne Lock, with a boatyard beyond.

A new swing bridge has recently been built.

The Rising Sun was situated by the canal bridge. It was a good Darley's pub, sadly now closed.

Luckily, the nearby Canal Tavern is still serving pints.

A few yards away is Thorne Park, with a miniature railway.

Now for some pictures of old Thorne town. Here's the Market Place.

Church Street.

The Electric Picturedrome cinema.

The Black's Head pub has long gone.

The Red Lion has also vanished.

The White Hart is still going, but has no real ale.

Wilfreda Beehive was operating a town service in 2008.

Thorne is overlooked by the tower of Darley's Brewery. Here it is in its heyday.

Darley's was taken over by Vaux and closed. Here it when still brewing.

A good free house (not serving Darley's) is the Windmill.

On the way to Thorne North station, an Old Mill Brewery tied house, the Punch Bowl.

Thorne North station in NER times.

Now we're in BR days.

A class 158 DMU arrives in 2008.

Cadman's Coaches was a local operator; here's the yard in the mid 1970s.

Beyond the town is Moorends, where there was a long vanished peat works, served by rail and its own internal canal.

The present day settlement called Moorends was built to serve Thorne Colliery.

Here it is, from the air, in 1928.

Moorends is pictured here in two old postcards.

That's where I'll leave you for now. Next time, we'll head north, then veer to the west. Don't forget, there's a map of the route so far here.

TROLLEYBUSES!

We're now on the Isle of Axholme and heading west, soon arriving at Belton village. Here's a postcard of an area called Grey Green.

 

A windmill and a bridge over one of the many drains in and around Belton.

Belton station, on the Axholme Joint Railway.

Here's what's left in 1974.

The Sir Solomon was a pub in the centre of Belton. It's gone now.

By the church, the Vicarage.

Also close to the church, the Crown Hotel.

The Crown became a Darley's house, as seen in 1976. I'm happy to report that it's still going strong.

Heading west, out of the village, we can call in at the Wheatsheaf.

Barry Dodd's bus (trading as Selwyn Motors) could have taken us onwards to Sandtoft (centre photo by Andrew Fieldsend)..

As we arrive at Sandtoft, we pass the old RAF airfield, part of which is in use by the Sandtoft Transport Centre, now known as the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft.Here, back in the early 1970s, volunteers are erecting the poles to carry the overhead wires.

Doncaster Corporation 375 was the first trolleybus to run under its own power at Sandtoft.

Some overhead work taking place.

Here are a few of the resident trolleybuses, from Nottingham, Derby and Aachen.

Each July, the Sandtoft Gathering is held, with lots of visiting vehicles. London's RM737 was a regular attendee.

It wasn't just buses at the Gathering.

A feature of each Gathering is the beer tent. The erstwhile miniature railway passes by in 1998.

This railway has now gone, but here it is in action. A new line is now under construction.

A Mainline bus prepares for departure at the end of a Gathering day.

Sandtoft once had a short-lived bus service, operated by Lincolnshire Road Car.

Epworth Travel was a bus company based at Sandtoft. It didn't last long.

A good place to end today's journey is the Reindeer, in the centre of Sandtoft village.

Next time, we'll enter South Yorkshire. Here's a link to the route so far.