The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway has received a £24,250 grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to build a new station and interpretation centre at its southern terminus.
The railway is located in the Skegness Water Leisure Park, and the station and interpretation centre is designed to boost the town's economy and encourage more people to find out more about the coast's heritage.
East Lindsey District Council made the grant as it administers the UK Shared Prosperity and Rural Prosperity Funding scheme in the area., and £8,000 match funding is being provided by Ellis Bros. Ltd., owners of Skegness Water Leisure Park.
Work will be carried out from September this year until the start of next year's operating season, and be completed after services stop running in early autumn next year. Volunteers from the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust will carry out some of the work.
The railway originally opened in 1960 to provide public transport between the local bus terminus, beach, and holiday camp Humberston, south of Cleethorpes using surplus rails, wagons, and equipment from the Nocton Estates Railway that had been built using surplus equipment from the trench railways of World War One battlefields. In 1992 it relocated to Skegness Water Leisure Park and after rebuilding, reopened in 2009.
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 around 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”.
