Railway heritage is there for all to benefit
Iwas delighted to attend the delayed official opening ceremony for Doncaster's new Rail Heritage Centre in Danum Gallery, Library and Museum and inspect the exhibits, many of which are on public display for the first time. As reported in Headline News, pages 6 and 7, the current centrepieces of the museum are Doncaster-built V2 Green Arrow and C1 Atlantic No. 251, but finally we now have a chance to view unseen items from the legendary Doncaster Grammar School Railway Collection.
However, what impressed me most was the huge degree of civic pride rightly being shown in the town's world-shaping railway history by the leaders of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, which begged the question – why was such a museum not set up long ago?
For me, the idea of Doncaster, which derived much of its prosperity from the Plant, the great LNER workshops which turned out the likes of Mallard and Flying Scotsman, being without a railway museum to showcase its transport treasures is very much like having Stratford-upon-Avon without Shakespeare's birthplace or its theatre.
General public awareness of local railway heritage, and the immense contribution it makes towards completing the identity of any town transcends our particular sector. It is not there just for us enthusiasts but for all of its residents and visitors alike. Railways shaped the modern world we have inherited – to lose sight of an integral and essential part of our past is a step towards losing sight of who we are.
After the ceremony, I boarded the train to Grantham and attended a meeting of South Kesteven District Council's planning committee, where members were asked to decide on the future of plans to build 373 new homes in Bourne. The Lincolnshire town was once a four-way railway junction but lost its passenger services in 1959 when the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway lines became the first complete system within the nationalised railway to be closed – sending shockwaves through the industry two years before Dr Richard Beeching was appointed as British Railways chairman.
These plans controversially include the demolition of Bourne's last surviving and publicly accessible major railway-built structure – a classic and in many ways unique three-arch Victorian overbridge, which in its day would have been seen by rail travellers as a trademark gateway to the town. Unlike other examples of railway infrastructure in Bourne, it survived simply by being forgotten, entombed for decades in a mass of vegetation that became an unofficial wildlife haven.
The developer does not need to demolish it to free up space. Instead, it has earmarked the bridge site as part of a ‘pocket park' and children's play area, both of which could easily be located elsewhere on the planned estate. Thanks to Bourne History Group, townsfolk not only have been made aware of the existence of Bridge 234 and its historical importance, but have been adding their support to a campaign to save it (News, page 14).
At that committee meeting, a near-unanimous majority of councillors voted in favour of a motion which could yet (and should) prevent the demolition of the bridge. Yes, it is small fry when considered alongside Doncaster's vast array of steel-wheeled treasures, but Bridge 234 is an irreplaceable part of another town's rich pageant of history, and those enlightened South Kesteven councillors deserve widespread acclaim for their hugely commendable stand and far-sightedness. Robin Jones Editor