Civic Pride: Rail has played huge part in growth of the city

Harold, hitherto a solid Labour voter, cemented his new job as a white-collar office clerk at Peterborough North railway station by demonstrating his new, improved status by voting Conservative for the rest of his life.

When I was a child, railways played a big part in my life. One of the first Christmas presents I can remember was a Hornby trainset, complete with steam locomotive, goods trucks and a guard’s van.

Too many times the train was derailed as it crossed points a little too fast. I remember in the late 1950s, on 31st December, train drivers would return to the 34E New England railway sheds where they blew their engine’s whistles to bring in the new year. I remember standing in my back garden at midnight hearing what sounded like dozens of steam whistles.

It’s worth remembering how important the railways were to the development of Peterborough, which was developed largely because local landowners like Lord Exeter refused railway lines being built through nearby Stamford.

A downside to the many steam locomotives here in Peterborough was the filthy smoke that emanated from the locos’ smoke stacks, polluting buildings and washing on the line.

In the early 1960s we would use trains to travel on holiday to Cromer, starting from Peterborough’s East station. Very soon Dr Beeching largely destroyed the railway network but not before I spent many a long day with my friends at Sages Lane, Walton trainspotting and recording what hurtled by in my Ian Allan trainspotting books.

This was an exciting time, the cusp between steam and diesel locomotives, so my teenage trainspotting years were not only filled with Mallard, Flying Scotsman, Sir Nigel Gresley and Dominion of Canada but also Deltics with names such as The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Tulyar and The Green Howards.

Railways continued to play an important part in Peterborough life. In 2023/24, over a million journeys were made from the city to London and, in the same period, there were nearly five million recorded entries and exits through the station. These figures were approximately 20% higher pre-Covid-19. So it’s no wonder that over £47 million has been allocated to regenerate the city’s so-called Station Quarter although it remains to be seen exactly what we get for that amount of money. Let’s hope that, at the very least, passengers receive better access to and from the station, and into the city centre.

So let’s get bang up to date. This year sees Railway 200, a celebration of two hundred years since the opening of the world’s first railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825. As part of these celebrations I took part in a poetry train on 1st October. Local poets from Peterborough, March and Ely travelled to together from Peterborough to Ely and back, reciting poetry on the train and at Ely itself. The event attracted 40 passengers who travelled from Peterborough, Whittlesea (or Whittlesey) and March. The evening event was organised by Hereward Community Rail Partnership and Fenland District Council (Peterborough City Council take note). Take a look at their excellent website – https://herewardcrp.org

One final thought. Over the past few months my wife and I have travelled by rail to north Wales, Cornwall, London and more locally. I have fallen in love with the railways again. Our next day trips might be to Norwich, Lincoln or Nottingham. Why not take a journey yourself? I’ll look out for you on the train.

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On Monday 10 November the Civic Society’s monthly talks is ‘From Teaching to Battle Rapping and Performance’ by Mark Grist who is Peterborough-born and a multi-award-winning poet, battle rapper, and children’s author, having first been a teacher locally. His ‘Don’t Flop’ rap battle against MC Blizzard became the UK’s most viewed, with over 60 million online views for his work. We are at our usual venue of St Marks Church Hall, Lincoln Road, Peterborough, PE1 2SN, starting at 7.30pm. Non- members are welcome but we rely totally on subscriptions and donations, therefore we request that a donation of £5.00 is made, unless they become members of the Society on the night. Membership forms will be available. All welcome – see you there!