sidings on the railway to the south of the Stathern Road bridge. The ropeway ran from 1914 to 1916 and from 1923 (when it was rebuilt) to 1948. Tipping docks were built at the wharf and also one at the branch terminus on the Belvoir Road. A group of quarries to the south and east of the village connected with a narrow-gauge tramway running via Eastwell to the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway near Harby. The ore was dug by hand at first but from 1912 onwards steam diggers were introduced. From 1936 onwards these began to be replaced by diesel diggers. The Waltham tramway had steam locomotives from its opening in 1884. One of the tramways had a petrol locomotive from 1929 and a diesel locomotive from 1936. From 1946 onwards the tramways began to close and ore was transported from some quarries to the wharf by lorry. The last quarries to close were south of the Stathern Road and west of the railway and close to the Eastwell Road (east of the road). The last loads of ore were transported from these quarries to the railway wharf by lorry in December 1965. The Eaton Branch then closed and was lifted. There was a wooden viaduct on the railway which was filled in with slag from Holwell Ironworks in 1955. The embankment thus made is one of the two main monuments to iron ore quarrying in Eaton, the other being the final face of a quarry close to Eaton Grange which ceased production in 1948. This had been one of the quarries which transported ore via a tramway which connected with the ropeway. Most of the quarries have been landscaped and returned to agricultural use. References External links Melton Online Rutland and Leicestershire Panther Watch Villages in Leicestershire Civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Melton