Lifetime achievers
PAUL STEPHEN meets SIGGY CRAGWELL, the 81-year-old National Rail Awards Lifetime Achievement Award winner who has his own fan club at Elstree & Borehamwood station
RAIL turns the spotlight on the two winners of the 2020 National Rail Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
Starting a new job can often require a great deal of adjustment. But imagine doing this having just left your homeland more than 4,000 miles away.
That’s exactly what confronted Siggy Cragwell on March 7 1962, when he turned up for his first shift as a cleaner at Marylebone station.
The 23-year-old had docked at
Southampton only a few hours earlier, after completing an 11-day crossing from Barbados.
Arriving as part of the Windrush generation to fill labour shortages for the British Government, Cragwell had little in the way of possessions and readily admits to being illprepared for the considerable change in climate.
“It was very strange, and I thought I was on a different planet,” he tells RAIL.
“I walked about in only shirt and trousers, and then it snowed at about 2pm.
“After work I had to wait for a bus and could scarcely speak as I was so cold. It was a good experience, though, as you never got that sort of thing in the Caribbean.”
Fifty-eight years later and Cragwell is not only still here in the UK, he also remains employed on the railway.
It is this remarkable feat of long service and dedication that has earned him a special Lifetime Achievement Award at RAIL’s 2020 National Rail Awards.
Although humble and optimistic by nature, the 81-year-old award winner does not mind thanking the panel for recognising him at a time when there seemed little else to celebrate.
He says: “I feel very proud to be a winner, but the bottom line is that I like my job. This year has been pretty tough on everyone, so it was a nice surprise.
“The pandemic has been really tough, and things have not gone well, but that’s the way life goes sometimes. I still enjoy my work, and the surprise was good for me and put a spring in my step. I feel honoured.
“I never thought I’d be on the railway for nearly six decades, but I feel very comfortable and like doing it. I like to be out and about and meet people, and to share a little happiness.”
It’s this glass-half-full attitude towards life and sociability that provides a glimpse of how Cragwell endeared himself to the NRA judging panel.
It also illustrates why he is so well liked and respected by his colleagues from Govia Thameslink Railway, who nominated him for the award in the first place.
A platform supervisor at Elstree & Borehamwood station, he has acquired legendary status among passengers and is said to have a ‘Siggy fan club’ of people who are keen to say ‘hello’.
Station manager Marc Asamoah described him to the judging panel as “a wonderful colleague to manage” and “the definition of exceeding expectations for customer service”.
Cragwell replies: “Lots of people come looking for me on the platform and sometimes we make jokes about my fan club, but I try and keep the passengers happy - especially when trains are running late.
“Laughter is the best medicine, and some people think I’m a bit silly, but it’s a good way to get people to change their attitude when they are angry, frustrated or unhappy.
“That’s my way of doing things and it perhaps doesn’t work for everyone, but it seems to have worked for me for the last 60 years. I love people and like to see them happy and expressing themselves.”
As to be expected from a 58-year career, Cragwell’s journey from Marylebone to Elstree & Borehamwood is long and varied.
From 1962, he spent a further 17 years at Marylebone working as a Fireman and a Chargeman, before being promoted to Supervisor at nearby Cricklewood Yard - where he also shunted trains.
After spells at Bedford and then Luton as stores manager, he was poached to become Platform Manager at St Albans in 1990, before switching to his current position in 2002.
Cragwell did retire once in 2004, at the age of 65, but returned just four weeks later. “I was never a pub man, a smoker or a betting shop man, so there was nothing for me to do,” he explains.
However, he has since reduced his hours and can now be found dispatching trains at
They had a retirement party for me and said that I could come back, so I did. I wouldn’t really know what to do all day at home, and work keeps my mind and body fit.
Elstree & Borehamwood from 0600 to 1100.
His longevity and boundless energy stems not just from his sunny disposition, but also a lifelong enthusiasm for playing sport and physical exercise.
The accomplished cricketer started playing for the British Railways League in the 1960s, before joining the BRSA Enfield Club - which is now known as Holtwhites & Trinibis.
Cragwell has also previously represented London University and Thames TV, and he has 14 international caps to his name with the England Over-70s side, for which he continues to bat and bowl.
He also practises Tai Chi and Taekwondo, and until recently would head straight to the gym after finishing his shifts at work.
He adds: “They had a retirement party for me and said that I could come back, so I did. I wouldn’t really know what to do all day at home, and work keeps my mind and body fit. I’m still fit enough and was playing cricket three times a week last season, which means I should still be able to come into work.
“Playing sports is very good for you and I have managed to look after myself. I don’t eat a lot of meat or drink alcohol, and I once smoked a cigar in 1962 but never again. I still play cricket for the over-70s team, where they don’t believe my age when I tell them.
“COVID-19 has made things a bit more difficult, but I have a mini-gym here in my flat with a bicycle, stair climber and work bench.”
In addition to his NRA, Cragwell has also won a Gold Excellence Award from GTR. But he says the proudest moment of his career was winning the Transport Cricket Cup in the late 1980s.
He was also honoured by the Holtwhites & Trinibis Cricket Club in 2019, when it held a testimonial match and named an end of the ground after the octogenarian all-rounder.
Despite being GTR’s oldest member of staff, Cragwell says he has no intention of either leaving his post or giving retirement another go any time soon.
This will no doubt come as a great relief to his colleagues and fan club members, who can always rely on Cragwell to brighten up their day (if sadly not the weather).
He concludes: “I don’t really worry about anything. I just know that when the morning comes it’s time to go to work, and long may that continue.”
A documentary video filmed in 2018 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Elstree & Borehamwood station and featuring an interview with Siggy Cragwell can be viewed online at: https://vimeo.com/257750424