Lost Railways of Lincolnshire

Description

The railways came to Lincolnshire but, once it was realised that there were profits to be made, a network of lines was built across the county.  Among the major lines were what is now the East Coast Main Line and the vital goods artery linking the ports of Grimsby and Immingham with Scunthorpe and Doncaster, both still in use today.

The transport of goods was of paramount importance to the railway companies, with coal coming into the county from Yorkshire and agricultural produce, cut flowers and Grimsby fish going to London and the south east.  Passenger transport was also important, with lines carrying workers to Grimsby and Immingham and to the ferry links across the Humber.  Especially profitable were the visitors and holiday-makers travelling to the seaside at Cleethorpes, Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea.

Sadly the good times were not to last and by the 1930s, competition from road transport meant that lines began to close, first to passengers and then to freight.  The closures continued into the 1960s when the Beeching report began to take effect.

In this excellently written and well researched book, author Alan Stennett tells the story of the lost lines – the reason for their construction and for their closure.  Modern photographs accompany those taken when Lincolnshire’s lines were open and busy, and there are also details of what can be seen of these lines today.

Alan Stennett was one of the team who set up BBC Radio Lincolnshire and is now a freelance journalist and broadcaster, working from his Lincolnshire home in the old Woodhall Junction railway station.  He is also the author of Nobbut a Yellerbelly and Lincolnshire Farming.