FROM THE ARCHIVES
locomotives with an unmistakeable smell of coal dust . Carriages that did not have corridors seemed to be the centre of much amusement amongst the boys . John Harper ( 55-64 ) commented : “ When we had a non-corridor compartment we used to pile the cushions up on top of each other , grab the luggage rack and sway from side to side as the train rushed through the countryside . On the station , however , we were well behaved , for if we were not , somebody would inform the headmaster who would pronounce the fateful words , ‘ It has come to my notice …’ at the next day ’ s assembly !”
John added : “ Going to school by train was wonderful . Apart from the excitement and interest of rushing through the beautiful East Yorkshire countryside , I had Michael Keating ( 55-64 ) who would help me with my Maths homework and some kindly prefect who would check and heavily correct my Latin . The train journey was great , unforgettable and most memorable .”
Many of the boys used to travel on the train from Driffield , changing at Market Weighton , which afforded time to have a game of football ( with a tennis ball !) in the goods yard , whilst waiting for the connecting train to Pocklington . Tim Hawkins ( 61-68 ) can remember how the return journey home could sometimes be anxiety-inducing , saying : “ We sometimes used to catch the 4pm train from Pocklington . This took us home via Beverley and got us back earlier than the 5pm bus from Pocklington to Driffield . The only problem was that our travel pass didn ’ t permit us to take the train home so the journey was always clouded with anxiety that a ticket collector might catch us out !”
The service was rarely affected by bad weather , although quite a few OPs remember the winter of 1962 when the train home from school became stuck in a snowdrift at Kiplingcoates . Peter Watson ( 54-64 ) said : “ We had to be evacuated onto another train which then took us back to York , Selby , Hull and Beverley which must have taken about two hours . Our parents were very anxious as we had no means of contacting them and they were all waiting and very concerned at Beverley Station .”
By the early 1960s , the services were provided by diesel multiple units , which although gave good views out of their large windows , they jolted about quite a lot making for an uncomfortable journey . They also did not offer as much appeal to those boys who were avid train spotters , which apparently was quite an obsession amongst some of the boys . Douglas Hunter ( 57-66 ) remembers how the classrooms of 2X and 2Y had a good view of the track so it became imperative to obtain a window seat to get the best view for keen spotters . Teaching staff had a constant battle trying to retain the attention of their students if an interesting locomotive went past . Stephen English ( 59-69 ) said : “ I and others used to note the train numbers as they came past when we were sitting in class in the lower level of the classrooms facing the playing field !”
There are many notable anecdotes , like the time the crossing gates froze and the train had to wait a good hour or so , allowing Daryl Richardson ( 62-70 ) to complete a history assignment for the late Mr A J Maltby . A few remember passing the Queen ’ s Royal Train parked in the sidings at Cherry Burton Station with the train creeping past at walking pace so as not to disturb Her Majesty . Philip Hawkins ( 59-67 ) caught the train at Driffield on Saturday 23 November 1963 , and remembers watching most of the adults reading newspapers , which reported on President Kennedy ’ s assassination .
So many happy memories and yet , these good times were to be brought to a halt . Andrew Beckett ( 62-69 ) commented : “ It seemed perfectly natural that Pocklington should be connected by railway , even though the population was much smaller than it is today , so it was a considerable shock when the Headmaster , Robert St John Pitts-Tucker , announced one morning in assembly that it was to close . He was clearly angry and upset about it – though in his usual restrained way .” Pitts-Tucker mounted a campaign against the closure because of the many pupils who used the train service . He arranged for television news coverage to film pupils emerging from the station on the day that the railway line closed .
Nigel Yeadon ( 61-68 ) explains : “ Mr Pitts-Tucker solemnly advised us at assembly that the filming was scheduled and that all Beverley dayboys were at liberty to take time out of lessons to be present for the filming . He paused quietly and added that there would be no questioning of pupils status or non-status as dayboys .” As the filming took place and the boys filed past the camera , some of them reportedly managed to find a way back round onto the platform and reappear at the back of the stream of children , so making it look like that the whole school used the train , rather than the usual twenty or so Beverley dayboys !
However , the campaign was to no avail . On 27 November 1965 , boys with an interest in railways had the opportunity to travel on the last train and others mustered on the platforms to see the last stopping train on the Hull to York line pull in . Eric Robinson ( 60-70 ) and Chris Kneeshaw ( 63-70 ) were lucky enough to ride on the last train . Chris recalls a crowd of people in Pocklington Station singing ‘ Auld Lang Syne ’ and detonators being set off , which he says gave him quite a shock ! Douglas Hunter was Head Boy at the time and had the responsibility of reading a poem to the driver and Pocklington School . He is unable to recall the composer or name of the poem but can remember the final line – ‘ Outreaching Lord Beeching again .’ Andrew Beckett , a boarder , recalls the last train passing the boarding house as the boys were going to bed . He remembers : “ At that time , I was in a dormitory high in Dolman House in the original building which overlooked the rail line . We all looked out of the window at the train on its lamented last journey as it went past on the line below . Fittingly , it was steam-hauled , so we could see glimpses of the flames in the firebox and rays of this reflected in the exhaust steam .”
The line closure meant a bus trip to school from that day forward , which brought with it its own problems – and adventures . Daryl Richardson remarked : “ The train was certainly more reliable than the bus , which had trouble on the hills . Once , the driver decided the weather was too bad to continue with the journey and rang up the school to say he was returning . On another occasion , we got off the bus and walked up the hill – we had an impromptu assembly at the top !” Graham Holmes ( 54- 61 ) particularly remembers the downsides of bus travel as he suffered from motion sickness , saying : “ It was rigueur to ride on the upper deck of the double-decker bus , which made the motion sickness worse . I was not able to read or do homework and the bus schedule meant that on some days of the week I did not get home until after seven o ’ clock in the evening .”
Factors like this led to some of the boys becoming boarders . One such boy was Howard Clarke ( 63-70 ) who reflected on the line closure philosophically : “ Looking back , I can see that this was probably the greatest ‘ Sliding Doors ’ point in my entire life : one path led to the ‘ me ’ that I became ; had Beeching not wielded his axe then I am sure I should have become an entirely different person , growing up in a conventional domestic environment – and I really have no idea how that other me might have turned out …”
Thank you to all those who contributed their stories and reminiscences of the railway .
The series ‘ Walking Yorkshire ’ s Lost Railways ’ is on Channel 5 or via catch up on MY5 .
18