The Great Central Railway Stone Circle

Found this little stone circle beside the former route of The Great Central Railway while cycling the Route 6 this evening. The cycling route has re-utlised part of the line in the years hence.

An interesting feature that stands just at the point the line would have descended into the flatness of the Soar Valley which scythes through the city of Leicester; It is a way marker of sorts and a boundary defining fixture for me.

Standing in the centre I can imagine this long dormant line, the train drivers eye view with distant city-light spires up ahead, a summer sunset left and the flickering uncertainty of an end of day low-sky light harassing the train through the embankment below. I can imagine the expectation of reaching the marshalling yards of Bede Island, the hopes it might have carried, and the soot of the final trains to use this line scarring every bridge between.

All the thoughts and all the fears of all the drivers and passengers of all the years, committed to this long dormant line. This Stone Circle somehow reveals.