"Jurrassic" runs around its train at South Loop where the new station development is proposed.
£24,250 LEVELLING UP GRANT TO LINCOLNSHIRE COAST LIGHT RAILWAY
WILL BOOST SKEGNESS ECONOMY AND HERITAGE ATTRACTIONS
A grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund of £24,250 to the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway to build a new station and interpretation centre at its southern terminus in the Skegness Water Leisure Park, will boost the economy of Skegness and encourage more people to explore the coast’s heritage.
“Match funding” of the grant by the railway’s hosts and owners of the Skegness Water Leisure Park, Ellis Bros. Ltd., of £8,000, will provide £32,250 for the project. Some of the work will be carried out by volunteers from the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust.
The work will begin in September this year and continue until the start of the railway’s 2024 operating season and then conclude after the service ceases running, in the early autumn of that year.
The grant has been made by East Lindsey District Council, which is administering the UK Shared Prosperity and Rural Prosperity Funding scheme in the area.
The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway was the first heritage railway in the world to be built by enthusiasts on a greenfield site when it opened its original route in Humberston, south of Cleethorpes, on 27th August 1960 as “real public transport” connecting the local bus terminus to the beach and the Fitties Holiday Camp. It was built using surplus rails, wagons and equipment from the Nocton Estates Railway, a 23 mile system which connected potato fields between the Bardney area and Nocton village in Lincolnshire, which in turn had been built using surplus equipment from the trench railways of the World War One battlefields.
The Humberston line closed in 1985 and after a period in store at Burgh-le-Marsh, relocated to the Skegness Water Leisure Park in 1992 to be rebuilt by volunteers, reopening in 2009. Since then it has returned its 1903-vintage steam locomotive Jurassic to service; it has won many awards for its restoration projects and has operated a Royal Train for HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, on her visit to the Skegness Water Leisure Park in 2017.
Chief Executive Officer for Ellis Bros. and Company Secretary of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, John Chappell, said: “This is an exciting project for us to create a long term future for the railway and to enhance the existing achievements of the volunteers’ work.
“This contribution from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will enable Skegness to escape from the widely held perception that the town is some sort of ‘cultural vacuum’. Anything which does that by adding to the appeal of the heritage attractions of the Skegness district will benefit all of the town.
“Skegness, as we know it, was only brought about because of the railways – before they reached the area, Skegness was a fishing hamlet of just six houses. Everything we have is down to the railways and the LCLR contributes towards that heritage.”
The Chairman of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust, Richard Shepherd, said: “This grant will enable us to create a ‘destination’ at the end of our line and let people learn about its unique history and heritage – at the moment trains terminate beside Skegness airfield but passengers cannot disembark. The locomotive uncouples at South Loop from the carriages, runs round them and then re-attaches, to return to Walls Lane station.
“The grant will mean we can build a platform, with access from the train for disabled passengers and to place seating and an interpretation centre to tell the remarkable story of our line and its vintage locomotives, carriages and wagons and the role they played in the transport of goods and people in remote areas of Lincolnshire and beyond. We will provide fencing and pathways to mark the boundary between the railway and the airfield. We also have some Victorian railings and posts from the Great Northern Railway’s North Thoresby station – similar to those already on our Walls Lane station, which were salvaged from our original Humberston site and which we are refurbishing for use in the project.
“It’s an exciting prospect which will make the railway more attractive to visitors and so benefit the economy of the whole district. We are extremely grateful to the local authority, to the Government’s fund and especially to Ellis Bros. Ltd for making this possible”.
Diesel hauled train in the proposed platform road at South Loop.