The Railways of Grimsby and Cleethorpes 1980s
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- Опубликовано: 10 май 2023
- This video showcases edited VHS footage that I filmed in the 1980s and captures the railways in Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Additionally, it includes an extra cine film clip depicting East Marsh Sidings in 1964.
I wish I could go back in time to the 80's and 90's and hand some VCR's or camcorders to the signalmen of Britain's railways and say: "Just set these up either end of the signal box and hit record. Try and capture some day to day trains too. You would not believe how fascinating your job is to people 30 years into the future". Really great stuff
Thanks for the kind remarks
Look! Hard working people operating our railways! Government wants this to disappear. Fantastic piece of history here. I wish I could go back in time and give these railway workers cameras and tripods and just tell them "Hit record. The future generations need to see this"
What a priceless little piece of railway history, & superbly edited & documented - many thanks for this.
Glad you enjoyed it
I really enjoyed this informative documentary video. As an ex-railway man myself. I used to remember going to Barnetby quite a lot as that was a haven for seeing lots of freight. Sadly a lot of this has gone and everything now is controlled by York. Also the UK losing a lot of production when companies shifted production to China, Malaysia and other countries killed off a lot of UK factories. Thank you for sharing this piece of history with us. I would be happy to buy this on DVD as I am into the BR era of trains mostly.
Peter.
Thanks for the kind remarks. I have not made a DVD, maybe something for the future.
@@MalcolmHayles People would buy it. Rare footage
Who needs the Caribbean when you have Grimsby and Cleethorpes.
Didn't know this film existed just stumbled across it so very well done thank you.
Thank's for the kind remarks
Fascinating footage. The age of the railways in England is imposing. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching
Great video, I worked with a lot of those signalmen in the mid-80s. One correction though Malcolm - the ground frames on the Light Railway were not released by the signalman at Pyewipe Road, they were released by the single line key token carried by the traincrew. You can clearly see this on the pull-plates of the release levers at the ground frames where it says (key token), intimating that the key token needs to be placed in the lock on the lever to unlock it.
I can remember a plunger inside the points telephone box, which had to be pressed by the guard or shunter. the signalman would then provide the release.
Started in West Marsh sidings when it was still a fairly busy place but soon moved to Immingham as a guard and eventually onto the footplate and away south sadly. Seeing the place as it was in these video clips reminds me of a comment made by an ASLEF official speaking at one of the regular Christmas parties we ran for retired and current staff where he said that he had seen a lot of change in the area over the years and in his opinion what was left might just last his final days on the railway, a sad prediction of what has almost become a reality. Having run one of the last trains to Louth before the line was finally closed and torn up and one of the last to New Holland pier with coal for the ferries before they too vanished into history, Empty sidings closed to all but storage and reception sidings barely used, with plans already in the works for major changes to layouts in the area you could feel the writing was certainly writ large on the wall for what was to come over the next few years by which time I had moved on and was soon sadly to leave the industry for good. I certainly enjoyed this trip down memory lane and look forward to further instalments should they materialise.
Thanks for the kind remarks, the next film will be Immingham
This is absolute gold - and utterly mesmerising. Thank you so much, Malcolm.
Hello Malcolm, I found this video very interesting. brought back memories of now long gone sidings in Hednesford with empty and full coal wagons. Steam engine just ticking over waiting for their next call of duty.. Also as a 6 year old I could see the buses taking pit men to work in a morning an d then taking the nightshift home. .
I visited friends who live just outside Cleethorpes earlier this year and it's changed a lot since this film was made. Thank you for making and uploading the video, it was very interesting and informative, and well documented.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent film. My interest in railways is quite minimal, but the glimpses of Grimsby and Cleethorpes in the 1980s are enjoyable and nostalgic. Thank you for uploading!
Thank you for these videos! I've lived in Immingham for the past 12 years so it's interesting to see what the railways around the area used to look like back in the 80s & 90s as it was completely different down in West Sussex where I was a kid growing up.
Brilliant film thankyou for creating it
Very kind, thank you
Fabulous video, lots of memories here. Used to travel up from Cornwall to visit relatives in Cleethorpes. Always remember passing the imposing Wrawby Junction signal box in the dark and knowing we were on the final stretch. Marsh Junction meant we were getting close and then all the level crossings as we made our way to Cleethorpes. The GCT Double Decker at Pasture Street very familiar, with our Multirider ticket valid for a week of unlimited travel it could sometimes take three goes to get past Pasture Street level crossing with the traffic hold ups!
Thanks for the kind remarks
Absolutely fascinating footage Malcolm, your narration really adds to it with vital local history, please keep them coming :)
Thanks for the kind remarks. My next film is about Immingham and should be available in September.
So many changes down the years, and virtually all swept away with very little left remaining, most is now removed, overgrown, or built over in use by other businesses.
Thanks for a nostalgic look back.
Thanks for the reply. There is virtually no railway left now at Grimsby or Cleethorpes, It just a shame.
@@MalcolmHayles I totally agree, most of it decimated to a bear minimum, and much of what is left is rusting away without seeing so much as a wheel turn on it.
What a waste of a good resource.
The 08 was ice cream van liveried 537, scrapped at Bescot in 1994 on site by Cooper of Sheffield.
As a kid in the fifties we always had a car so train travel was out apart from a couple of times a year as a treat, a trip to Cleethorpes by train mostly steam hauled excursions. When passing through the docks everywhere seemed so busy and much better kept. Engines and trains simmering away in Suggitts lane waiting to take day trippers home. Never seemed to get the tide in at Cleethorpes though. There was always Wonderland and the big dipper, the miniature railway and boating lake. I even had a ride in a light aircraft which took off from the beach one year. We never went to Hawkeys cafe overlooking the station though, not posh enough for Mum. It was the Cafe Dansant for her, mind you the cakes were good. Thanks for bringing back those happy childhood memories.
Glad you enjoyed it
From Australia, I'll shortly do another Eurailpass and have planned a trip to Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes. So the video is topical and very handy, plus well shot.
This footage (and detailed explanations, even if sometimes I can't understand the accents) is excellent. It's terrific that you've preserved most of what you took for all time: I recall reading as a child about BR 'fish vans'. The small containers shown in the 1964 clip were also used in Oz at the time, but we've all long progressed to 12.2 and 6.1 metre TEUs.
Thankyou for an excellent video. After leaving school in 1962 I went to work on the docks when the commercial docks and fish market were still alive and thriving and I will never forget those early days. However, I was quite pleased to come across this recording of the docks during the final years of rail traffic which I found very interesting.
Thanks for your kind remarks. I started on the railways in 1959 on the fish docks and as you say it was thriving. It was a wonderful time, but then again I was only 15 years old.
A great watch. Thanks for your hard work producing this.
Glad you enjoy it!
Informative. Thank you. I volunteer on the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway (ex NER from Grimsby to Boston). Really good to understand the recent historical context.
Glad you enjoyed it. I worked as a freight train guard on the GNR line via Louth during the 1960s, and I was a member of the first group, that came together to try to stop the closure of the line from Grimsby to Firsby.
It was never NER. The line was built by the GNR
What a fascinating video. Thank you for sharing. I lived in Lincolnshire when I was a child and spent my spotting days in and around Lincoln.
Thanks for your kind remarks. the next video will be about Immingham.
Excellent stuff, the many times ive travelled that same route. Even aged 8!. Great o see old films, if you have anymore plz upload them.
The next one will be of Immingham
Fascinating. You filmed this in either Sept or Oct 1989 judging by the condition of loco's captured and grass etc going yellow. 47212 (returning 'light' from Cleethorpes fuelling point) was painted into that livery 5.89, while 37110 was done 6.89, 31453 (on the Tioxide trip working) was given that DCE 'drab grey' livery 2.89. All 3 loco's done during overhaul at Doncaster works. The shunter in Rf grey pulling into Brickpit sidings from the docks is 08537, withdrawn early 1990. Always found this area very interesting even though i'm from Kent! There was a great article in Rail mag 10/89 covering this area with freight traffic timetable etc. I think the West Marsh traffic went to Wolverhampton at time if i recall. . . As a side-note, being a dj/producer i made a dance track called 'Tioxide Trip Working' in 2014, just before i briefly 'aquired' a diesel locomotive driver for a girlfriend (she listened to my FM radio shows in London) and heard said tune and others i made in her locomotives/kitchen etc. Incredible stuff for a spotter. I still havn't got over it lol !! Small world eh, there's some bits on my channel. Thanks for upload, excellent recording.
Thanks for the reply. The video footage was taken a various times throughout the 1980s, including 1989. I think the article in the Rail Mag was with David Price a rail manager at Immingham, I can recollect providing him with some data.
@@MalcolmHayles Great info, thanks.
Thanks for that Malcolm wow that brings back great memories I am in my 44th year now as a local rail enthusiast in the area nice to see Fred jack and Bob at Cleethorpes sadly not all here now once again thanks for a great video Malcolm
Glad you enjoyed it
Good morning Malcom. That was an awesome video on a great railway in and around Grimsby 😊 I was lucky enough to work for a exhibition company called Lynton commercials from Manchester that made an exhibition trailer for start of regional railways in the 90 if I remember. I traveled all over the north west and Cleethorpes was one of the station I visited with the trailer. Most of the railway workers that attend just asked a bout redundancy lol 😆 But for me being a train enthusiast it was haven lol 😆 I also had many train spotting trips from Manchester on my Honda CB250 in the 70s to that area. But unfortunately I didn’t have a camera back then as I’d of got lots of great pictures. But I do still have my train spotting note books with lots of train numbers of that era 👍🏻 Thanks again for posting a fantastic in-depth video of that area even though it’s was in decline 😩
Thanks for your kind remarks.
Excellent film takes me back to my days of being a train spotter. I am still a rail enthusiast, and the number of times I have been through to grimsby on a class 31and stock doing the cleethorpes to Liverpool lime Street service.
Thank you very much!
I like that film, its brilliant, I'm from Cleethorpes
thanks for posting Malcolm, brought back a few memories 👍
Thanks for your kind remarks
Wow ..thats me ,nice to see I haven't changed a bit
My Son was amazed that I was ever that young
Ps are you Mick Hayles relation ?
@@johnbell-yn5xe Hi John nice to hear from you. Did you not recognise me on the film.
Of course I did , you haven't changed a bit , as I haven't either, at least in my head...lol
@@johnbell-yn5xe All the best John
Great video, brings back some good memories
Are you the Chris Lee that worked at Immingham Admin. If so you will be more interested in the next film about Immingham.
Yes, thats me - looking forward to the next video!
Great video, thanks
No problem 👍
Interesting to see this as my late father's side of the family came from Grimsby - how things have changed.
Amazing- thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
A lot of changes from 1990, with middle road removed, signals upgraded, dock traffic still piloted into West Marsh and final old DMU appearances.
Thanks for the reply
But still in terminal decline nationally. Today it's all gone.
The sister ship Tattershall Castle is moored on the Thames on Embankment near Hungerford Bridge and is also a bar. I remember my Grandfather taking me to see the engine room when I was a kid, sad to see the state the railways have fallen into and the destruction of the East Lincolnshire Railway from Grimsby to Peterbro'
This is gold. I’m strangely attracted to GY and it’s trains. No idea why.
I live in GY and struggle to see why it’s become the place it has.
If you compare any city we could spank it with, infostructure , open space ,workforce.
But we too far north of the London bubble.
Great work to have the insight to the future in the past !👍
Just missing the beloved Blundell park to get on Oscar 😄
Blundell Park is the same now as it was then
Funny seeing this, as I get on the modern day equivalents of these routes to go to and from university.
excellent video
Thanks for the kind remarks.
Wow amazing length of train at 41.40 pullby 08
Left Grimsby in early 70s……..amazing how the railways changed in such a short time. My father worked out of Central Market delivering goods to GY and Clips, driving firstly for BR (A scammell scarab) then National Carriers (A Karrier) until he retired.
Hello Paul,
Yes the railways at Grimsby lost almost all of its freight traffic during the 1970s. I started working on the railways in 1959, and it was down hill from then. When I was writing my books I was always on the lookout for scammell's working in the goods yard. Do you have any photographs from your dad?
Sadly, no but I can remember as a very young lad going to work with him. Bloody tough work particularly in cold wet weather having to constantly sheet and unsheet the open flat bed trailer, climbing on and off it often carrying heavy boxes….no tail lifts then!
I go to Cleethorpes nearly every year for a day out from Cleethorpes. I come from Sheffield where I get a Transpennine Express Class 185 down to Cleethorpes. I think Platform 4 has just been reopened very recently. Although I’m not 100% sure. I’m going to research this
brilliant
Fascinating
Thanks
That's not bad footage for VHS, I've seen a lot worse. I never bought a VHS camera as they were very expensive. I had a Bolex 16mm camera, but that too was expensive to feed with film, and it didn't last long.
21:59
New Clee station is still open.
Thanks for sharing. Curious as to what sort of impact the closure at the very tail end of the Beeching cuts of the line through Louth down to the south had on the Grimsby area......and whether there's any chance of it being rebuilt and reopened.
The biggest effect the line closure was the passenger service to London, with passengers having to go via Lincoln. Another was the re-routing of iron ore and steel trains between March and Scunthorpe.
That European van at Pyewipe was still there in 1991.
Thanks for the reply. Ciba got a weekly supply of continental wagons, however, it could be the same one returning.
My gosh the 08s are powerful aren't they
Watching the video I was surprised how physical a job and how much responsibility the signalman had.
Can you imagine getting the snowflakes to operate them nowadays 😊
Why did they use that tractor to shunt and not 08? Weight/space issue?
A tractor was used instead of capstans, to place wagons under the crane on the quayside. The 08 shunting engine was used to trip wagons between West Marsh Yard, Brick Pit Sidings and the quayside, and to form trains for departure.
My lords
@13:53 Ted Lovesy / top bloke
🚂👍
Y were they using a tractor to push the wagon's
They did not use capstans anymore and it was very costly to use a locomotive. So it was the cheapest option.
Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Can something sound more English?
I remember the old departure boards at Cleethorpes.
The railway was falling apart. It was managed decline for eventual privatisation. It needs to be back in government hands and run as a service and not as a profit at all costs, service be damned.