Alfreton Station - What do the disused entrance doors lead to?

[Intercity 225]

Hi,

I recently used Alfreton station and noticed that there were two double doors right next to the main entrance that had been taken out of use with the windows covered in white paper so that you couldn't see what was behind.

Please look at the two photos below to visualise what I'm referring to:

Older photo before white paper applied to windows

More recent photo with white paper applied

Does anyone know what is or was behind these doors? I asked the gentleman in the ticket office but he was unsure. I used this station as a child and seem to remember there being some form of secondary ticket kiosk there but I could be wrong... it was a long time ago!

Any information appreciated.

Many Thanks

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Looking at the layout of the building, wouldn't that room essentially be the back of the booking office? Unless they were new or on cover from elsewhere, I'd be very surprised if the clerk didn't know the ins and outs of a station that small. Were the signs in the window evident in both photographs not there when you visited, as that may give some clue?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Did it have a Red Star Parcels Point at any stage?

 

[tom1649]

It was a Red Star Parcels office.

 

[70014IronDuke]

It was a Red Star Parcels office.

Yes, it appeared so, but that was just a cover. In fact, it was decided in the late 1960s that due to the abundant local coal supplies, Alfreton was far more suitable than Box to house the strategi ....agh, agh, a ... [sounds akin to strangulation] ...

 

[3141]

Yes, it appeared so, but that was just a cover. In fact, it was decided in the late 1960s that due to the abundant local coal supplies, Alfreton was far more suitable than Box to house the strategi ....agh, agh, a ... [sounds akin to strangulation] ...

Somebody made a film about that, called "Honey, I shrunk the strategic steam loco reserve..."

 

[edwin_m]

Alternatively Red Star was a double bluff and it housed a communist sleeper cell.

 

[Bald Rick]

.... a communist sleeper cell.

Isn't that what you call a berth on the Lowlander when Jeremy Corbyn goes to visit Glasgow?

 

[Intercity 225]

Thanks for all the replies, a Red Star Parcels office makes perfect sense and correlates with my distant memory of it being some form of kiosk.

Also for the previous four posts!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Hi,

I recently used Alfreton station and noticed that there were two double doors right next to the main entrance that had been taken out of use with the windows covered in white paper so that you couldn't see what was behind.

Does anyone know what is or was behind these doors? I asked the gentleman in the ticket office but he was unsure. I used this station as a child and seem to remember there being some form of secondary ticket kiosk there but I could be wrong... it was a long time ago!

Any information appreciated.

Many Thanks

There's a local legend that the doors lead through a secret time travelling portal and anyone going through it will find themselves back in the 1980s.

Although the doors are now locked, anyone wishing to have a similar time-travelling experience can simply catch a bus to Mansfield.