Disused Stations: Sidley Station

Sidley Station Gallery 2 1964 - 2013

A lone passenger waits for a Crowhurst train at Sidley station in May 1964, a few weeks before closure of the line.
Photo by Harry Frost

DEMU 1121 in the down platform at Sidley station on 7 June 1964, a week before closure of the line. The trailer of 1121 was withdrawn in September 1991 and is now owned by Hastings Diesel Ltd who have restored it to a high standard; it is on long-term loan to the Lavender Line in Sussex. The driving car was withdrawn in April 1994 and scrapped in August 1995.
Photo by Roy Patterson

Sidley station looking south from beneath the Ninfield Road bridge c1967. The track was lifted in 1965 and within a few months the platform would also be demolished.
Copyright Photo from John Mann collection

After being let out by the Southern Railway in 1938 the former street level building at Sidley became a garage. The building survived until 1971 when it was demolished to make way for a new petrol station.
Photo from Mike Pannell's collection

Sidley station looking north in July 1967.
Photo by David Pearson

By March 1968, after removal of the edge stones, the platforms were little more than mounds of earth; only the ramps under the bridge survived. Eventually the trackbed was filled up to platform level and tarmacced over.
Photo by Nick Catford

Although the platforms and all other buildings had been demolished the goods shed survived until early 2009 before it succumbed to industrial redevelopment. The shed was built to a standard SECR design and similar sheds were used on the Tattenham Corner branch. The shed was much larger that was required for the limited amount of goods traffic handled at the station. It was eventually declared surplus to requirements and was sold out of use in 1929. For many years it was used by Builders Merchants' Pepper & Son Ltd but by this view in April 1996 it has clearly been out of use for some time and remained in a derelict state until its demolition 13 years later.
Photo by Nick Catford

For many years the Sidley station site was used for motorcycle training. This view from October 2007 shows the site of the down platform. The red container sites in the brick-lined recess in the embankment originally accommodated the down platform building. Motorcycle training ceased in 2012 when the site was required for the new Hastings - Bexhill link road.
Photo by Brian Halford

The site of Sidley station looking south from Ninfield Road bridge in November 2013. The site has been cleared and construction of the Hastings - Bexhill link road is underway. The industrial units in the background are on the site of the goods yard.

Photo by Nick Catford

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[Source: Nick Catford & Peter Harding (History)