Ilkeston’s Industries

Although most of the large-scale industries that contributed to the social and economic development of the town have gone, their presence can still be seen if you know where to look.

Much of the mining scars have disappeared under landscaping, and most of the Stanton Ironworks site has been cleared and is undergoing redevelopment.

Ilkeston Town Railway Station

Ilkeston Town Railway Station

Ilkeston Town Station, not long after re-opening in 1879. Situated at the bottom of Bath Street, Ilkeston Town Station stood roughly where the large traffic island now stands. The goods yard and long platform stretched...

Tales of the Railways

Tales of the Railways

The Erewash Valley changed enormously after the railways arrived in 1847. They affected every aspect of local peoples’ lives.Until 1948 there were seven railway stations within a mile or so of Ilkeston’s borough...

The Railways and Ilkeston

The Railways and Ilkeston

(A longer read) The provision of a railway along the Erewash Valley was first discussed as early as 1824, but for various reasons that railway was never built. Commercial pressures ensured that the idea of a railway...

Ilkeston Tramways

Ilkeston Tramways

Tram No. 5 passing the Park Road depot, shortly after Opening Day. Ilkeston holds the distinction of being the first town in Derbyshire to have adopted and operated a fully electrical tramway system. An application to...

Stanton at War 1939-45

Stanton at War 1939-45

Stanton Gate Bomb Plant Within months of the outbreak of war with Nazi Germany in 1939 it became apparent to the British Government’s Ministry of Supply, that the available steel plants and foundries already in...

Stanton Ironworks

Stanton Ironworks

The Stanton Ironworks at New Stanton, south of Ilkeston was once the town’s largest manufacturing concern and consequently its biggest employer. The Stanton and Staveley group was later part of the Tubes Division of...

The Local Mining Industry

The Local Mining Industry

Ilkeston lies almost at the southern end of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire coal field, with the deepest seams finally outcropping or bassetting out in the neighbouring parishes of Kirk Hallam and Stanton by Dale....