STATION ROAD
Part Six
The Railway Station
“Product of the Railway Mania”
By Stephen J. Bull

Travelling the final stretch of Station Road the unwary traveller could be forgiven for not noticing the remains of a once important railway station. Unfortunately the “Station Road” road sign disappeared some years ago. [Presumably there is someone who enjoys collecting Swavesey memorabilia!!!] The give-away signs are, of course, the one remaining railway crossing gate and the railways lines embedded in tarmac crossing the road. Further investigation, however, reveals two slightly curved platforms, now covered in saplings, bushes, briars and weeds, on each side of the original Cambridge to St Ives double track.

In this “motorcar age” the younger reader will have difficulty in appreciating the impact the railway would have had for the village of Swavesey, and upon other localities, trades and interests. Prior to the advent of railways very few people travelled and even fewer did so in any degree of comfort. People soon saw the advantages of better communications and so it’s no wonder that the arrival of the railways was bitterly opposed by stage coach operators, road and canal carriers, canal owners and even shipping companies, for many early journeys involved river or canal vessels.

The railway was to play an important role for Swavesey, and the surrounding villages, during its 123 years’ history and well into the mid-1900s when rail ruled supreme. The railway was the first transport system capable of sustaining a modern civilisation. The invention of the steam locomotive in the early nineteenth century, followed by the rapid expansion of railway networks formed an essential and fascinating part of the history of modern man.

Benefits of the railway
Rail transport served the local community in a number of ways. Early morning “workmans’ trains” started the day at around six-thirty in the morning. Commuters including office and shop worker, nurses and school teachers, and school children and college students were catered for an hour or so later. Families travelled by train to shop in market towns and cities, and visit friends and relatives. Trips were made possible to places of interest and ‘specials’ were put on for important occasions and school trips, etc. Summer holidays were taken in far off resorts in the country and ‘Day Excursions’ to seaside towns on the East Coast were very popular. [One could leave Swavesey at about 8.30am and be on the beach at Hunstanton before 10.30!]

The railway companies’ main revenue, however, was made not in the transport of passengers but through the transportation of goods - and lots of it.

“Railway Mania”: 1845-47
The line between Cambridge and St Ives was a product of the 1845-47 “Railway Mania” which gripped the nation and saw the huge expansion of the railway network from 1840 onwards.

Swavesey became a ‘railhead’ when the line was built by the Eastern Counties Railway and opened on 17th August, 1847. It joined up with the Ely Huntingdon Railway line from St Ives to Godmanchester and Huntingdon - both of which became Great Eastern property in due course - and were opened on the same day. [Surprisingly, although a large proportion of the population of Swavesey, together with Over and villagers from further afield, would have gathered to witness the arrival of the first train in Swavesey station no report appears in the Swavesey Chronicle and of course there were no cameras or videos at that time to record the event!!! Also one of the features of the Cambridge-St Ives Line was that, except for Histon, it didn’t pass through any of the villages it served.]

Within a year the St Ives, Chatteris to March branch constructed by the Wisbech, St Ives Cambridge Junction Railway was opened (1st February 1848) and some years later the St Ives, Sutton and Ely branch. Constructed by the Ely, Haddenham Sutton Railway it was opened in two stages in 1866 and 1867 and known as the “Pork and Lard Line” after the navvies who built it.

The Swavesey station building, unusually, on the north side of the line, was away from the village it served.*¹ The goods yard shared that side too. On the opposite side there was a short siding often frequented by goods trains in order for passenger trains to pass. The signal box was originally situated at the far end of the platform and would have entailed a long walk for the signalman when opening and closing the level crossing gates! At some stage the signal box was moved next to the crossing gates on the same side as the station building and goods yard. The platform lighting was provided by gas-lamps before conversion to electricity late in the day.*²

Just the ticket for a railway enthusiast!
The station building was typical of the former Great Eastern territory with long eaves and rather austere style. Not only did it include the Station Master’s living accommodation but the ticket office, waiting room and ladies’ and men's toilets. It also boasted a fine canopy - which was removed some years prior to the closure of the line. Following the lines closure*³ the building was demolished and the goods yard used as a coal depot by Mr Harlow, coal merchant of Over, the storage of wrecked cars and also huge blocks of stone, before development by the MG Owners’ Club for its headquarters. Had the Swavesey station building survived it would have made an excellent luxury home for a railway enthusiast!

A splash of colour: Early railway liveries
St Ives become an important rail junction serving four rail companies with ‘down’ trains peeling off to Huntingdon and March, and no doubt a few were destined for Ely. In 1882 both the St Ives to Huntingdon and St Ives to March branches were incorporated in the Great Northern Great Eastern Joint Railway (GNGEJtR). As a means of avoiding Ely (which at that period was greatly congested with traffic from six directions) the March, St Ives to Cambridge route had much to recommend it - as will be seen in the next article. Also the Midland Railway entered Cambridge via the Huntingdon (East) - St Ives line. This meant that Swavesey railhead, being on the Cambridge - St Ives section of the line, witnessed a splash of colour with the liveries of the various passenger locomotives and carriages passing through.

Before World War 1 Great Eastern locomotives were a ultramarine-blue (or ‘royal blue’) with varnished teak carriages and contrasted with the crimson lake (or ruby) locos and carriages of the Birmingham bound Midland passenger trains. The Great Northern and London N.W. railways also had engine sheds at Cambridge and their bright (or apple) green locos with varnished teak carriages and ‘blackberry’ black locos and purple-brown white carriages respectively would have occasional added to the hue (The Trains We Loved pages 105 107).

Following the groupings of 1923 and the creation of the ‘Big Four’ Swavesey would had its first sighting of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) locomotives. The express passenger locomotives were painted ‘apple green’, the livery was taken over the livery of the Great Northern. Although the LNER was the principal carrier in the region the newly formed London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway ran two ‘up’ and two ‘down’ Cambridge to Kettering services on weekdays. The LMS inherited the Midland colour scheme in 1923 “but as the years advanced the red seemed to lose some of its quality, the ruby lacked its old lustre somehow, then vanished altogether ....... and finally gave way to the present disgusting dowdiness of slate black and dreary maroon.” (The Trains We Loved page 23).

With the nationalisation of the railway system in 1948 the ‘old lustre’ vanished completely and most locomotives were a “disgusting dowdiness of slate black”, except for the carriages and most of the modern express engines .

Click here to view a painting of a train at Swavesey Station

The B17 4-6-0 “Sandringham” Class with their “blood and custard” Mk 1 bogies were commonly to be seen through Swavesey, although the B17s were reputed to be “rough riding and ....... rather sluggish, although in skilled hands they could put up a good performance.” (The History of the LNER Vol. 2 page 44).

By 1968, the last year of steam traction, the well-loved steam locomotives were replaced by ‘soulless’ diesels (British Steam Railways). The “British Railways” logo of a triumphal lion riding a wheel was replaced by the more symbolic logo when renamed “British Rail” in 1964.

Notes:-
1. Swavesey’s station buildings, main sidings and re-sited signalbox were on the north side of the line, away from the village, contrary to normal practice. Although closer to Swavesey the station, being built on the village of Over side, could well have been named “Over”!!!

2. In living memory the railway companies held a ‘best kept’ garden competition in the region, and the railway staff were kept busy attending the flower borders and hanging baskets, and hedges were immaculately clipped.

3. The passenger service on the Cambridge-St Ives line continued until 3rd October 1970, and the line remained open as far as Fen Drayton, to serve the gravel pits there.

Acknowledgements:-

1. “Branch Lines Around Huntingdon: Kettering to Cambridge” by Vic Mitchell, etc (1991);
2. “British Steam Railways: A history of Steam Locomotives - 1800 to the present day” by David Ross (2002);
3. “Cambridge-Kettering Line: Steam” by E.H. Sawford (1981);
4. “Early Railways” by J.B. Snell (1972);
5. “Forgotten Railways Vol. 7: East Anglia” by R.S. Joby (1985);
6. “Modern Branch Line Album” by J.A.M. Vaughan (1980);
7. “The History of the LNER Vol.2: 1934-39” by Michael R. Bonavia (1982);
8. “The Observer’s Book of Railways Locomotives of Britain” (1960);
9. “The Railway Era” by Geoffrey Body (1982);
10. “Steam in East Anglia” by Colin Shewring (1980);
11. “The Trains We Loved” by C. Hamilton Ellis (1947).