BUILDING A CASE FOR BRIGG'S INTERESTING RAILWAY HISTORY TO BE DISPLAYED

When long-awaited housing development finally takes place on the former railway yard adjoining Brigg station, we suggest the name(s) chosen should reflect the interesting history of this land.
New housing here will form part of an extensive Hewson House re-development scheme - the former office block at the top of Station Road having already been vacated as an initial phase.
The potential development site also includes the former goods yard behind the station (built in 1848) where there was a brick goods depot and sidings in which wagon-loads of cargo arrived every week, together with seasonal oranges from Spain - used to make marmalade at the Spring & Co factory adjoining the town centre.
Revealing its plans for the Hewson House site a few months ago, North Lincolnshire Council indicated it would be seeking a partner/partners to progress the scheme.
Brigg Blog would also like to see an information board erected to outline the history of the site and the glory days of Brigg station when it was part of the Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway mainline.
The station had a range of buildings, a W. H. Smith bookstall/stand, a cast-iron footbridge (replaced in 2015) and a roof (removed in the early 1960s) which had spanned both platforms.

 

This board could be similar in design to the impressive one recently installed on the Old Courts Road car park (pictured here) and the earlier one located near the County Bridge.
Providing an information board on or near the railway station came to mind as a result of information sent to us a few days ago by the Independent Brigg Line Rail Group.
The IBLRG is currently visiting some Lincolnshire towns which lost their stations decades ago, chiefly as a result of the Beeching era cutbacks by British Railways.
The group's latest trip, to Mablethorpe, showed a striking example of what's possible when it comes to preserving past links.
This seaside resort has stylishly re-purposed the site once occupied by its railway turntable.
It was used by steam locos which, for decades until the 1960s, brought thousands of holiday-makers and day trippers to Mablethorpe on excursions from cities and towns in the Midlands.

The pictures here, taken by the IBLRG, show not only the former turntable site as part of a wildlife haven/park but also a very detailed information board explaining the history of the turning facility and Mablethorpe's railway station up to its closure in 1970.
If the idea of providing an explanatory board near Brigg railway station is taken up, the town's former coal-drops need to be included.
This was a brick structure to the west of the station - near to platform one and directly behind where the metal produce auction shed stands today.
Coal mined in British pits was brought in wagons which were shunted into sidings (long since removed).
The coal was 'dropped' into the coal merchant's yard below and then bagged for delivery to local homes and businesses by horse-drawn carts and (later) in lorries.
Sadly, a decision was taken in the late 1990s to demolish the Victorian coal-drops - among the last in the region to survive in anything like original condition.
With hindsight, was heritage grade two listed building status in order?
One reason given at the time was the site being earmarked for re-development.
Well over 20 years later, Brigg is still waiting for something positive to happen.
The ex-coalyard has now 'returned to nature' with trees, bushes, grasses and wild flowers.
It has become an unplanned extension to nearby Holland Park wildlife haven and designated area of public open space (NOT forming part of the future housing development site).
The trip to Mablethorpe was the latest 'Away Day' for the IBLRG - undertaken while Brigg station's Saturdays-only passenger train service remains suspended (review expected by the operating company in December).
It followed a few days after the IBLRG had been to Louth and Horncastle.
Decades ago, people from our area who had booked a week's holiday in Mablethorpe or who wished to make day or weekend trips could take a train from Brigg, Elsham or Barnetby and then travel south from Grimsby on the East Lincolnshire Line, changing at Willoughby Junction to access the resort.
However, the East Lincs passenger train service was withdrawn in 1970, in line with the Doctor Beeching Report's recommendations.
"All that remains today is a supporting platform edge (pictured here) and the site of the turntable," the IBLRG found after reaching Mablethorpe by bus from Lincoln - a two-hour journey.
On the plus side, the IBLRG notes that Mablethorpe beach has won an award for being one of the best in the country.
A wonderful fish and chip shop/restaurant was also identified and enjoyed.
However, there was a 40p charge for visiting Mablethorpe's public toilets (free in Brigg, of course).
The Stagecoach bus company's 'app' also failed to relay the information that, on market days in Mablethorpe, buses are diverted, the IBLRG says.
So it "only just managed to catch the last bus back to Lincoln at 15:05" - having walked 7.44 miles on foot during the visit.
The IBLRG's report about the outing to Mablethorpe also reminded Brigg Blog of a weekly-long family holiday to Mablethorpe in the 1960s which was made by train via Grimsby.
For the benefit of railway enthusiasts, the journey from Grimsby Town was on a train bound for London King's Cross (via Peterborough), hauled by Immingham-based Britannia class 4-6-2 No 70040 Clive of India, and we changed trains at Willoughby.
Caravans located on dedicated sites in Mablethorpe were much more basic in the 1960s and toilets and washing facilities were shared in a communal block.
We've made many visits to Mablethorpe since then - always by car.
A memorable train-spotting trip to Mablethorpe one summer in the mid-1960s saw some of the last steam-hauled excursions arriving from the Midlands (probably hauled by Stanier Black Five 4-6-0 locos) as well as modern diesels bringing visitors to the resort.
Neighbouring Sutton-on-Sea still had a railway station at this time, too.
Cleethorpes and Skegness remain rail-connected today, but the majority of east coast seaside resort visitors arrive by car or bus.
The nearest railway turntable to Brigg was located at rural Wrawby Junction, where three routes converged.
British Railways withdrew the last steam locos it had based in northern Lincolnshire in 1966, and the Wrawby turntable is thought to have been removed in the early 1970s.
Located between busy tracks and in a distinctly rural spot, this facility could not be accessed at close quarters by the public with any degree of safety.
Few, if any, photos survive of it being used in the 1950s and 1960s.
View more pictures from the IBLRG visit to Mablethorpe here...

PICTURED AT THE TOP OF THIS POST: Unloading oranges from sunny Spain at the Brigg railway station yard in the 1950s, a busy scene at Brigg's goods depot in the early 1960s, the coal-drops in 1997 (rails on the top of the brickwork long since removed) and (lower right) the re-purposed site of the former Mablethorpe turntable in July 2022 (picture by the Independent Brigg Line Rail Group).  Below - a recent picture showing part of the former station yard (taken from the top of the footbridge).