The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
This week marked the end of an era for Spalding railway station as the last of the original British Rail staff David Bradley left.
David (64), of Holbeach, doesn’t officially retire until August, but worked his last day on Tuesday ahead of a block of owing leave.
He said: “I started in August 1967, a few days prior to my 15th birthday. My brother Richard worked for the railway and put in a word for me but said ‘It’s only temporary!’
“A lad had broken his leg in a motorcycle accident. I was taken on to fill in for him but he never came back and I was made full time.”
Richard, who notched up four decades before his own retirement, started off as a lamp lighter – dealing with the oil paraffin signals, whilst David was a “Lad Porter”. As well as assisting passengers, David’s role included collecting message slips from the station’s telegraph office and delivering them to the signal boxes and yard.
He said: “When I started it was in the transition from steam into diesel. There were seven platforms at Spalding and probably 20 to 25 people working here. It’s a different world now. We used to have the trains from Cleethorpes to King’s Cross pull in and you could smell the breakfast on the train.
“The mail train came in at 3am. It used to arrive at Platform 5 with the mail and the newspapers. This time of year was particularly busy because of all the holidaymakers at Butlins. The smell of the papers was beautiful.
“Retirement feels scary. The railways are in our blood really, but it’s a new chapter in my life”
In the early days, the first job of David’s day was to individually turn off the gas lights, at Green Lane footbridge and the station and the last job of the day was to turn them on again.
He recalls the days of Geest lorries pulling up at the station with piles of parcels he used to help load onto the train; uncoupling and shunting in the yard and when standard practice was to run across the lines on foot to get between platforms quickly.
During his career he saw proposals to knock down Spalding station and, later, the building listed; the Peterborough line undergo a period of closure before the arrival of Queensgate shopping centre and staff numbers dwindle to just him.
He has worked for the procession of operators in charge of the station culminating today with East Midlands Trains.
In 1988, he began working in the ticket office and gradually took sole charge of the station. He has handed over to new boy Spalding man Gary Fox (43), who has worked on the railways for a mere 27 years!
Gary said: “David used to sell me tickets when I was a little boy. I’m nervous but excited about taking over. They’re big shoes to fill.”
Father-of-two David, who is married to Bakkkavor worker Jane, doesn’t plan to cut all ties though. He will still return to see special trains pass through, as he did on his day off the weekend before last with the Flying Scotsman. He’ll also continue to look after the station’s flower basket display, which he starts off in one of his three greenhouses at home and when he’s not at the station he still won’t be far from a reminder or two. As a retirement gift, East Coast Trains, are letting him take one of the final remnants of his early days at the station – an original station bench. And he has a growing model railway set at home too!
