Stapleford Park

[1] American fast-food restaurateur and hotelier Bob Payton bought the house from Lord Gretton in 1988 to convert it into a hotel.

[4][5] The 6th Earl objected to a proposal in 1844 to run the Syston and Peterborough Railway through Stapleford Park along the course of the River Eye.

The dispute led to a series of brawls and confrontations between the Earl's men and canal employees on one side and the railway's surveyors on the other with up to 300 involved in each skirmish.

The tight bend was a nuisance for the express trains, and later when the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway built a connection to Bourne, the opportunity was taken to reduce the curve, with Saxby station being moved in the process.

In 1958, the Stapleford Miniature Railway was constructed by the 2nd Lord Gretton in the parkland, as part of a public attraction which also included a lion reserve.