Steam train sculpture in Nottingham - April 2017

Once again we venture a little further away from Loughborough, this time to Woodthorpe Grange Park in Nottingham (not to be confused with Woodthorpe and Grange Park in the south of Loughborough). Woodthorpe Grange Park was originally a wooded area that was mainly used for grazing pigs. In 1874, the land was bought by industrialist Henry Ashwell, who built a mansion, Woodthorpe Grange.

The Nottingham Suburban Railway was built in 1889. It cut straight through the estate, and Ashwell, despite being compensated, became unhappy about the railway being built through his estate. He soon sold the land to Edward Parry -the very man who had designed the railway that split his estate in two! The estate was sold by Parry to a city councillor in 1905, and was later purchased by Nottingham City Council, who turned the estate into a public park, which opened in 1922.

(I wonder why he would have given permission for a railway line to be built over his land if he didn't like it.)

Meanwhile, the railway was struggling to survive due to competition from a tramway between Nottingham and Sherwood. Passenger services on the line ceased in 1931. After an enthusiasts' event in 1951, the line closed for good, and the tack was dismantled, leaving only a number of structures, including this bridge that carries Woodthorpe Drive over the trackbed.  This steam train sculpture sits in front of a brick wall under the bridge that is stylised to look like a tunnel, so that it appears as if a train is emerging from a tunnel.