Kimberley - Part 02 - Trains And Pubs
w/e 23 January 2011
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

We spent most of the first part around Hardy & Hanson's Brewery site and the Midland Railway and left via Brewery Street. Resuming at the other end of Brewery Street on Edgewood Road (left) there is a choice of route available. A path to the left leads over a footbridge which offers views of a walk along the former Great Northern line (right) but I chose to follow Edgewood Road back to Station Road.

Great Northern Line

From Station Road the footbridge is clearly visible and evidence of the former railway line is obvious with the level crossing gates that are still in situ. A car park now from which there is access to the Great Northern Walk stands where the railway lines once ran whilst the former station building stands on the right.
The Sidings

The station buildings have now been converted to residential housing and the road onto which they front retains another link with the railways as it is called The Sidings. Both the Midland and Great Northern railways opened in the 1870s their main purpose being the transportation of coal from local collieries although I imagine more than one barrel of beer found its way onto the trains too.
Chapel Street

The alternative route over the footbridge mentioned earlier rejoins Station Road just beyond The Sidings and Station Road continues to Main Road to the right. The incline between the two which we followed on this frosty and misty morning is Chapel Street which runs parallel to Station Road. Sandwiched in the narrow piece of land between the two until the 1960s there used to be a terrace of four or five cottages.
The Cricketers Rest

The terrace has now been demolished but it would have been overlooked by the Cricketers Rest on Chapel Street, another hostelry that was tied to the local brewery.
Toll Bar Square

Chapel Street has been converted into a cul-de-sac just beyond the Cricketers and the land beyond to Newdigate Street developed to become Toll Bar Square where small events and markets can be held.
Mosaics

The square contains a number of mosaics depicting subjects that have contributed to the town's history and heritage such as an old windmill and a colliery.

Barrel Seating

Some of the novel seating in the square on the Newdigate Street side also harks back to the brewing industry and is in the form of barrels..
James Street

Newdigate Street meets Main Road opposite James Street which is sign posted as a Victorian shopping area and is where the next part in this series will take us but the second pub in this part, the Queens Head, stands on the corner of Main Street.
The Gate Inn

Crossing to the Queens Head and turning to look back along Newdigate Street is a good place to view the third pub that stands in close proximity. This is the Gate Inn which as stated on another website now serves "so called Kimberley Ales from Suffolk rather than the nearby Hardy and Hanson's brewery following its acquisition by Greene King."
Back to Part 01
Kimberley Index
Forward to Part 03

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