seacroft

When the Wainfleet to Skegness railway line opened on July 28th, 1873, so did two intermediate stations named Croft Bank and Cow Bank, the latter after a drain which ran alongside the road leading to the station. The stations were renamed, respectively, Havenhouse and Seacroft from October 1st, 1900.

Seacroft stood in a sparsely populated rural location amidst flat fields, one mile and fourteen chains down the line from Skegness. The name was a little deceptive for the village of Seacroft itself was two and a half miles away and reached by winding country lanes, or one and a half miles by using a footpath across the fields !

Indeed, passengers bound for Skegness could more sensibly use Skegness station and complete the journey by horse-drwan taxi or, from the early 1920's, by W.T. Berry's bus service from Skegness railway station to Seacroft which, incidentally, was one of the earliest bus routes in the town.

It is not surprising that, considering Seacroft station's isolated location, that agricultural traffic was a far more important source of revenue than passengers.

The station itself consisted of two short platforms and one siding on the "down" side. There was a small waiting room provided on each platform and that on the "down" was adjoined the station house which was opccupied by the Station Master, the last being W.J. Smith until his retirement in the early 1930s. From then onwards the station, then under the jurisdiction of Wainfleet, was controlled by two porter-signalmen, Aubrey Cram and Ted Green. The latter occupying the station house after Mr. Smith. The signalbox was also alongside the "down" being built, as the other buildings, of brick.

When the line was opened it was only by request that trains would call at Seacroft. A few years later, when it was to become a scheduled stop, as many as a dozen trains called there, although in the years following the Second World War this was reduced to only half that number. Prior to closure trains amounted to three in the Skegness direction and two in the Wainfleet direction.

In the years just prior to World War 2, the number of passengers increased when the LNER provided a camping coach in the siding which could be rented by holidaymakers for accommodation purposes. Indeed, in August 1938, a total of 150 people used Seacroft but in 1953, the camping coach having been removed, the total had fallen to only 22 in the same month. In the two months leading up to Seacroft being closed to passengers, on December 7th, 1953, only eight passengers were recorded.

From the July 29th, 1953, issue of the Skegness Standard newspaper

SEACROFT BR STATION

To Be Used For Goods Only

The news that Seacroft Station is to be closed shortly for passenger traffic was given at the monthly meeting of the Spilsby Rural District Council on Monday.

The Clerk (Mr. T.H.E. Cottell), reported that a letter had been received from the Brkitish Railways Superintendent at Lincoln stating that for some years the passenger business at Seacroft station had been at a particularly low level, and it had been decided that, from a date to be fixed, passenger trains would cease to call there.

"In coming to this decision," the letter added, "I have been influenced by the fact that the 'bus services between Boston and Skegness, which passes within half-a-mile of the station, is a reasonable one. The small volume of parcels dealt with at the station will be collected or delivered by motor vehicles from Skegness. Goods and mineral traffic is not affected as the station will remain open for this purpose."

Mr. F.W. Frith said a meeting of the Parish Council had been held to consider the same letter and the Council considered that nothing could be done. He was informed that sometimes the station did not take five shillings a month.

The Council decided not to object to the proposals.

As previously mentioned, agricultural traffic was of far more importance and Seacroft's one siding saw much activity, being used by such as nearby Measures' Farms, seed being brought in by train, and potatoes, corn and even pedigree Lincoln Red bulls being loaded at Seacroft for despatch. Eventually, this traffic too would cease, the station closing to goods on April 27th, 1964.

During 1970 the signalbox was downgraded to a crossing box. The station itself, excepting the platforms and the waiting room on the "up" side which had been removed by then, survived. The station house served as a Pets' crematorium until it was gutted by fire in the late 1970s and, subsequently, demolished along with the "down" waiting room some time after.

As it was the tallest structure for miles around, the box was visible for some distance and the view from it of the surrounding flat countryside very good. When the station was open the platforms were lit by paraffin lamps whilst the lamps in the waiting rooms, station house and signal box were lit by oil. In later years, Seacroft still did not have mains electricity, lighting being provided by gas cylinders and heating by a coal fire. It was some time after closure when the station was connected to the mains water supply; prior to this, barrels of water were sent from Skegness by train !

The road saw very little traffic, and in later years were normally kept closed, as the road beyond was private and therefore there was very little activity involved in the crossing keepers duties but to open the gates for the occasional tractor ! The gates were operated manually unlike Havenhouse and Wainfleet which could be operated mechanically from within the box. Seacroft continued to be a manned crossing until 1990 when the crossing gates were replaced and the crossing became open, automatically-controlled. With almost indecent haste, the signalbox was demolished shortly afterwards. Ironically, the nameboards were stolen shortly before.

Today, although the railway line still exists, there is no trace of Seacroft, the wooden gates being long-since replaced by characterless lights which operate via "Sprinter" units speed across bound for Skegness of the Midlands, loaded with passengers probably all unaware that Seacroft station ever existed.