Travels Through History: Loughborough

The book Travels Through History: Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, and Loughborough is available at a discount price between 29th July and 5th August 2026.

Standing on the platform of Quorn and Woodhouse station in rural Leicestershire on a frosty winter’s morning, the first sound I heard was the long, high squeal of a whistle. I was about to climb onboard a carriage being pulled by BR steam locomotive 78019, built in the 1950s, on the Great Central Railway, Britain’s only mainline double-track heritage steam railway.

The Great Central Railway runs between Loughborough and Leicester North with two stations in between at Quorn and Rothley. The round-trip is approximately 16 miles and takes just over an hour. The cost is 12 pounds for a daily runaround ticket though a generous ticket inspector might reduce the amount if you were buying a ticket later in the day. The ticket doesn’t just allow customers to ride on the steam train(s) all day, but also gives them access to all the station facilities.

Rather than evoking a single bygone era this railway has made individual stations unique examples of a particular time with each station being staffed by volunteers in costume.

Before my train arrived, I looked around Quorn and Woodhouse station, which depicted a 1940s war time theme. Original metal adverts attached to the stout brickwork were selling Wills Star Cigarettes, Lyons Cakes, Colman’s Starch, and Hudson’s Soap. Churchill was growling about victory on the loudspeaker. Notices in prominent places reminded visitors to keep their gas mask with them at all times. A more subtle message in the gentleman’s toilet reminded visitors in a hurry to ‘Please adjust your dress before leaving’. The Ladies’ Waiting Room had its own fireplace, which was being stocked with real coal by an enthusiastic porter as I looked in through the door.

I took a seat in a carriage that reminded me of my first commute to work in the 1980s and the train steamed away towards Rothley, passing reservoirs, farmland, and green belt land covered in frosted trees and bushes. Steam enthusiasts were at various bridges with their cameras and notebooks.

My first idea had been to go to Leicester North and visit the city. After leaving Rothley the train chugged into Leicester under a ceiling of steam on a windless day. Leicester North is in Belgrave, which is not Leicester’s nicest suburb. There is a bus stop which might have connections to the main bus station. As there was no bus, I walked over the footbridge to Thurcaston Road, turned left, and read the signs. It was 2 miles to Abbey Park and the National Space Centre, 3 miles to the city centre. I returned to the station, where there are toilets, a buffet, and a booking office. Not very many people had got off the train when I did, and I could now understand why. Leicester North is grim. The station evokes the 1960s, but doesn’t have the ambience of the other stations. There’s no turntable at Leicester North, so the steam engine runs backwards on its return journey to Loughborough.

Loughborough station is the main terminus for the Great Central Railway and evokes the 1950s. They keep all the engines in the train shed here. The Great Central Railway Museum is at one end of the station, while the locomotive shed and works, and the signal box are 5 minutes walk from the other end of the platform. A yellow metal sign advertised L & C Hardtmuth’s Koh-i-Noor pencils “made in 17 degrees for all purposes” and a poster highlighted the attractiveness of holidays in Whitley Bay. Signs for waiting rooms, toilets, refreshments, and a mysterious ‘emporium’ passed overhead as I walked along the platform. The Charnwood Forester dining train was waiting for customers in a siding, with a long line of diesels just behind. Loughborough station is around 15 minutes walk from the town centre and there is limited street parking, should visitors wish to start their journey at this station.

Rothley was my last station – an Edwardian experience crammed with details of the pre-World War One era. Small mounds of suitcases on barrows showed that travellers have always taken too much with them on holiday. Adverts for Royal Daylight Oil, Brooke Bond Tea, and Albonoids “the best aperient for adults”—right outside the gentleman’s toilets—covered the walls. Posters for the “Gems of the Chilterns”; for, not surprisingly, Blackpool; and for Grimsby ‘for the continent’ (I should hasten to add that it was advertising Grimsby as a port) vied for space on a large noticeboard.

Manufacturers of artificial teeth were promoting their product as were W Sharpe & Sons of Sileby whose ales would ‘suit The Palate, The Appetite, and The Temper. None but Reliable Beers are supplied’. There was also a poster for the maiden voyage of the Titanic. The third class rate was 7 pounds 9 shillings and 0 pence from London, Liverpool, and Southampton, but only 6 pounds 10 shillings and 0 pence from Queenstown in Southern Ireland—these were one-way fares I presumed, though in the end it didn’t matter.

Rothley also has a model railway and tea room on one side of the tracks and a large green signal box open to visitors on the other. Visitors should take care when crossing the tracks.

Besides the normal services, the Great Central Railway also runs special dining trains for Burns’ Night, Valentine’s Day, and on Mothering Sunday. The railway also runs Murder Mystery trains where would-be sleuths can solve a murder or two while working their way through a lengthy menu.