railway people and places
We're sure you will enjoy the latest addition to Tracks through Grantham. It's a fascinating and evocative collection of photographs taken by Humphrey Platts, who moved to Grantham in the autumn of 1949. He soon made his way to the station to follow his interest in railways and his hobby of photography. The first selection of Humphrey's pictures appears here, and more will be added in the coming weeks.
John Clayson
We received several very appreciative comments when Part 1 came out a few weeks back. The sequel is now published, so why not look out your boots or bike this weekend (or anytime in the coming months) and take to the countryside, while exploring some local railway heritage? There's a surprising amount still out there to discover!
The Woolsthorpe Branch Rediscovered - Part 2: Longmoor Lane to Denton
PS: we've slightly revised and updated Part 1 too.
The Tracks through Grantham team wish all our contributors and readers a very Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing many of you again in April.
John Clayson
Alan Mitchell has recently been back in touch with some more stories of footplate work through Grantham to add to his page, We've updated the photos too.
At risk of too much turkey and Christmas pudding?
Why not rediscover the Woolsthorpe Branch!
If you fancy a breath of fresh air over the Christmas and New Year holiday, while rediscovering some railway heritage, let our new group of pages, Railways Rediscovered, be your guide.
The first page of the group covers the northern half of the former Woolsthorpe Branch, a line built by the Great Northern Railway as long ago as the 1880s for ironstone traffic. There's a good series of photographs which were taken recently while walking the northern section of the former branch from near Muston (Belvoir Junction) to Longmoor Lane, a distance of around 3 miles.
So why not get out and about, burn off a few excess calories and clear away the haze of over-indulgence?
Look out for the southern section of the Woolsthorpe Branch in the New Year.
It's 50 years or more since a stationmaster last walked Grantham's platforms in gold-braided cap and highly polished shoes. We've been delving back in time to discover what the stationmaster's job entailed at Grantham between the 1850s and the 1960s, and who performed the role during that time.
Read more on our latest new page here.
The current issue of Steam World (Issue No. 354) has some Grantham and Barkston Junction interest in an article titled All Lines Lead to Loughborough by Peter Roulston, which starts on page 36.
Peter's spotting vists to Grantham from Loughborough in the late 1950s are described on pages 38-39, while on page 41 a couple of paragraphs describe Saturday trips by the Loughborough Railway Society to Barkston.
Colour-Rail photographs show Grantham station in August 1958 (including a porter with a barrow of boxes of Kia-Ora squash, doubtless bound for the down side refreshment room) on pages 36-37, and Barkston South Junction box in May 1959 on page 40.
Thanks to Mike Mather we've been able to add some interior shots of the signal box at High Dyke in 1974. Go to this page and scroll down.
We've just added a page here with a list of books and a list of articles in periodicals and magazines we've found which have significant content about the railway in and around Grantham.
In April 2009 Steve Philpott boarded the Top Gear 'Race to the North' train at Grantham and settled down to record the trip to York as No. 60163 Tornado competed with a Jaguar XK120 sports car and a Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle in a race from London to Edinburgh.
Steve provides a unique insight into the running of the train, The Cathedrals Express, over the 83 miles, and shares photographs taken at Durham and at Berwick upon Tweed as he traced its progress to the Scottish Border using the regular services of the day.
Read more in I was NOT 'The Stig'!