The three railway-connected scrapyards on the site of the ex-Great Central Railway goods yard in Leicester

The ex-Great Central Railway goods yard in Leicester was established at the end of the 19th century at the side of the GCR London Extension, next to Western Boulevard to the south of Leicester Central station.  With its large goods warehouse, for many years the goods yard dealt with the arrival and despatch of goods for the local area.  However, with the run down of general goods traffic and the closure of the route from London to the north in the 1960s, the major part of the goods yard became used just for local coal distribution with Frank Berry’s scrapyard taking over one corner and sending general scrap out by train.

Vic Berry opened a scrapyard next to that of his brother Frank Berry and eventually Vic’s yard expanded to cover most of the site.  It became famous for scrapping railway locomotives and coaches, which were sometimes stored in huge.stacks prior to being cut up.  However, after a disastrous fire in 1991 Vic Berry’s scrapyard was cleared, though for a few years A.E. Piggott & Sons operated a small scrapyard sending out scrap by train.

The story of the scrapyards is outlined in the pages linked here:

Frank Berry's scrap yard
Vic Berry's scrap yard, early
A.E. Piggott & Sons scrapyard
Vic Berry's scrap yard, later

Frank Berry’s scrapyard in the 1960s and 1970s.

Vic Berry’s scrapyard early years, 1980s.

Vic Berry’s scrapyard later years and finale, 1980s and 1990s.

A.E. Piggot & Sons scrapyard in the 1990s.

88px-CC-BY-SA_icon.svgMany of the photographs in these railway photograph galleries are available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.  Attribution should include a link to www.nigeltout.com.

Three Leicester Railway Scrapyards