01/09/2026
On this day in 1939, Quorn & Woodhouse took a critial part in the evacuation of school children and mothers from Sheffield prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Quorn & Woodhouse became the chief detraining station for the Barrow-Upon-Soar district and was planned to see over 1400 children arrive to escape the threat of city bombing on Friday, 1st September 1939. In the end, only around half that number travelled.
On evacuation day, Quorn & Woodhouse was described as being "a hive of activity", and under the watchful eye of Station Master Harold Doughty, the children were marched over the road bridge and into the station yard where a fleet of buses awaited to take the children into villages around the Charnwood forest.
The local police force were on hand on the platforms to oversee the marshalling arrangements, as was Sir Robert Martin, Chairman of the Leicestershire County Council.
The accompanying photograph is taken from the Leicester Mercury and pictures some of the Sheffield children arriving at Quorn.
