REALLY SideTracked – Mow Copy and Scholar Green
Flanders and Swann Slow Train event No 3
A geocaching meet-up between 3.00 and 3.30 pm on Saturday, 12 January, at the site of the old station near Mow Cop in Cheshire.
This is the next in a series of SideTracked events based on the song Slow Train by Flanders and Swann. Written in 1963, the song laments the closure of many stations and railway lines under the Beeching cuts of that era. The song is introduced by Donald Swann reciting in a slow monotone: "Millers Dale for Tideswell — Kirby Muxloe — Mow Cop and Scholar Green", before the song starts with both Swann and Michael Flanders singing "No more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe, on the Slow Train..."
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Mow Cop and Scholar Green station, looking north
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Mow Cop and Scholar Green railway station was situated about a mile away from the village of Mow Cop, and was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on 9 October 1848. The station closed on 7 September 1964 and was subsequently demolished, however the line remains open and is now electrified, forming part of the main line from Stoke-on-Trent to Manchester. The signal box survived until 2002, when control of the whole area passed to a new control centre in Stoke-on-Trent, and is now privately preserved in the village.
The event will allow like-minded cachers to meet up to chat, discover and swap trackables, and explore the site of the old station. Hopefully it will also be possible to listen to a recording of Slow Train. Please note that there is no easy parking in this area, though some on-road parking may be availble a litle way away. Note also that this is a busy railway line, and therefore please ensure that young children and dogs are kept under control. We will meet on the pavement on the corner of Station Road and Drumber Lane (the road that goes over the level crossing), as this allows a safe place to congregate without causing distractions to road or train drivers.
Related web pages:
(Background images - Donald Swann and Michael Flanders in concert, 1966; disused track near Dunstable Town station in 2006, copyright Nigel Cox, CC-by-SA)