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Plan of Winteringham Station in 1953 reproduced by kind permission of Alan Corney
This scan kindly produced by Anthony ‘Flyer’ Robinson.
See below for enlarged section containing the station. |
There are three different railway companies involved in the story of Winteringham, plus the Leeds Contracting Company.
They were:
The North Lindsey Light Railway;
The Great Central Railway, (originally called the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway); and
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.
The two big players - the GCR and the L&Y were very wary of each other's intentions for expansion, though neither showed any interest in the
north-west of Lincolnshire until ironstone was discovered there in the 1890s.
When the 'Yorkshire Light Railway Syndicate' promoted a scheme to build the North Lindsey Light Railway from Scunthorpe, to Winteringham,
with stations named Winterton & Thealby, and West Halton, both the major companies could see that there was a potential riverside outlet for at least some of the products from
the expanding Scunthorpe steelworks.
The L&Y proposed in 1904 to build quays along the southern bank of the Humber, and run a steamship service there. It
also wanted to build a railway from Fockerby, where it already had a branch-line, under the Trent and then by way of
Burton Stather, Alkborough, Whitton, Winteringham and South Ferriby to join with the line at Barton-on-Humber.
The Great Central persuaded the NLLR men to extend their railway from Winteringham to Whitton, with their own
proposals for further extensions to Burton Stather in one direction and Barton in the other. These extensions were
authorised by Parliament in 1913, with the exception of the section between Alkborough and Burton. Maps of the time
were printed with the line to Barton already included, and with the extension from Whitton to Alkborough! See here.
The issue was somewhat complicated by the L&Y apparently owning land on Winteringham Haven. However, peace was
declared after a meeting between the two sides, as here:
'Negotiations have taken place between the General Manager, Mr. Fay, and the L & Y. In the event of the final agreement
being arrived at with the L & Y, the opposition to our Bill regarding the NLLR will become relatively unimportant.
1. The GCR will not enroach upon on interfere with L & Y property at Winteringham.
2. The GCR agree to the L & Y connecting their property by sidings to the NLLR.
3. The L & Y to agree to work all traffic as they would do their own(!).
4. The L & Y not to construct or assist in any way in the promotion of sidings or lines in competition with the NLLR, the
intention being that in exchange for the facilities given by the GCR to the L & Y, the GCR or NLLR shall not be deprived of the traffic they were designed to carry.
5. The GCR to agree to all traffic arising upon or destined for the NLLR and the railways running from Winteringham
towards Whitton and Barton from stations on the L & Y or beyond being exchanged at Doncaster and receipts divided by
either the Doncaster or Askern route or accounted for as exchanged. This agreement to be in
perpetuity.
6. The GCR not to object to any application made by the L & Y for authority to construct a Pier at Winteringham underthe Steam Vessels Act 1904.'
In the event, the line was built from Scunthorpe to Winteringham, and then just the section to Whitton. The Great Central
ran the trains, and the L&Y paid for the construction of sidings a wharf and chutes at Winteringham Haven, so peace was
restored! From Normanby Park North to Winteringham, and then later to Whitton, the line was single, and worked by electric train staff.
 The NLLR was opened from Scunthorpe to Winterton in 1906, and then to
Winteringham in 1907. The very first passenger train run to Winteringham was a village sports club special on Saturday 13th July, and the line opened to the public
on Monday 15th July. The goods branch to the haven opened at the same time. It wasn't until December 1910 however, that the line to Whitton was inaugurated. The
driver and fireman on the first scheduled train (15th July 1907) were Joe Stow, and Albert Ryall. The locomotive (seen left) was a Parker 0-6-0T No 744 from the Keadby Shed.
There were three passenger trains in each direction. Typically an early morning train would leave Scunthorpe shortly
before 8 o'clock, arriving at Winteringham by about 8:15. A quick turn round would see the train arriving back in
Scunthorpe by 8:50. There was an early afternoon train too, and the final train of the day would leave Scunthorpe shortly
after 6, arriving at Winteringham by about half past, and returning to the steel town by 7. One can only surmise that the
first and last trains were timed to fit in with the working patterns of commuting villagers (as we would now call them).
However, it would appear the final train of the day was withdrawn as on the 2nd August 1912 the Parish Council received an appeal to reinstate the final train of the day to Winteringham.
  The stationmaster’s house was
built next to the railway station. One of its tenants - Theophilus Teall* - thought so much of the design of the house, that when he retired he had one built to almost
the same design on Winterton Road as these two pictures show.
Since these photos were taken, the real stationmaster’s house in Low Burgage has undergone major changes, and so the similarities are no longer as apparent.
For a very full description of the Stationmaster’s House, when it was still owned by the railways, please click here for “Flyer” Robinson’s account.
When the line was opened to Whitton, the first two trains went ‘all the way’ while the final train of the day terminated at
Winteringham before returning to Scunthorpe. Interestingly, there were two platforms at Winteringham! The one for which
we have numerous photographs was on the spur towards Low Burgage, but there was a second, joining the first at an
angle to it so that trains to Whitton did not have to reverse, but simply pulled up on the adjoining platform, almost on the bridge over the Haven Drain.
All trains were made up of Third Class carriages (there were only two classes on the Railways by this time ... First and Third!).
The return fare from Winteringham to Scunthorpe was 8 (old) pence - approximately 3½p in our present currency. The
station at Scunthorpe was just off Dawes Lane, close to St John’s Church. The current Scunthorpe Station was named Frodingham, and later ‘Scunthorpe & Frodingham.’
Meanwhile on the goods side of the business, Lysaghts Steelworks were receiving iron ore shipments from Grimsby, and
returning processed iron there for export or coastal shipment, and the anticipated use of Winteringham Haven for at least some of this traffic never materialised.
The railway staff employed at Winteringham Station were also charged with looking after business at the Haven. The people employed were:
1 stationmaster
1 signalman
1 male porter
1 female porter
Though it is believed that the staff frequently changed, the 1933 WEA group stated there were
only four stationmasters between 1907 and 1926. These were (in order of appointment): Mr.
Herbert James Richards (see Kelly’s 1909), Mr. Barratt, Mr. Britain and Mr. Samuel Elliot. But
we have found evidence of others - Herbert Unsworth was Stationmaster (according to Kelly’s 1919 Directory), and Mr Theophilus Teall in 1913 (according to Kelly’s 1913 Directory)
Apart from the stationmaster’s house mentioned above there were two passenger platforms, at
the eastern end of which was the booking hall, waiting room, staffroom, and so forth; a weighbridge capable of weighing lorries and other vehicles up to a limit of 20 tons; and a goods
platform which handled many types of products, but chiefly farm produce and cement from the Eastwoods factory after it had opened in 1938.
 Shunting duties were carried out daily by the pick-up goods from Scunthorpe.
Anthony ‘Flyer’ Robinson tells us: “Even though Winteringham had a signalman on
the staff, there was no signal box but he operated the signals and points on what is known as a ground frame (a single or number of levers in a frame at the track side or
suitable position as with Winteringham at the end of the platform).”
After 1922, the passenger service was reduced to just one train in each direction per day.
The passenger side of the railway ran for exactly 18 years to the day that the first
passengers had been carried the last regular passenger service being withdrawn on 13th July 1925. As this is a Monday, I presume that the last passenger train actually
ran on Saturday 11th July, there being no trains on Sundays. This was the first closure of the century of passenger
services in the locality. Fred Hawkins and Ted Kirkby were two of those who were in the local platelaying gang. About
the time of the closure of passenger services, the staff included Fred Hawkins, Fred Hawkins junior, Ted Kirkby, Jack Weston, Elliott the Stationmaster, and H Ball the porter.
 Villagers of the time tell of numerous specials in addition to the normal service. The
specials included ones to the seaside, and others to London, especially to Wembley, which was then the newly opened West London stadium.
The freight service on the line continued until 1951. During the Second World War the
Haven had certainly seen an increase in some of its freight handling, with Eastwoods factory alone sending a shipment of 75,000 tons of cement to a Scottish naval base. A
memo from the LNER on 3rd June 1940, reminded those responsible for such things that “wagons for shipment at Winteringham must have bottom doors” [so that the coal
could be discharged into barges via the chutes].
By 1948, the goods pick-up was timetabled to leave Frodingham yard at 9:00 a.m.,
arriving at Whitton by 11:30. It stayed there until 4:40 p.m. and returned to Frodingham by 6:35.
Soon though, the line - particularly beyond Winteringham towards Whitton - became a store for wagons. In his book, "The
Lost Railways of Lincolnshire" Stewart Squires tells of the time an engine and guard's van were dispatched to retrieve the
wagons so that the track could be pulled up. The engine was coupled to the first truck. "The guard then set off, returning
1½ hours later to say that he thought 500 wagons excessive, and so he had only coupled the first 265 on!"
The line officially closed on 1st October 1951, and the tracks pulled up the following year.
But for several years afterwards it remained an unofficial shortcut between Winteringham and Whitton, and its hedgerows
produced prolific crops of blackberries!
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An enlarged section of the station plan (reproduced by kind permission of Alan Corney
, and scanned by Anthony ‘Flyer’ Robinson).
