Britain’s newest railway station, Seathorne Bank, being completed on what was the world’s first heritage line to be built by enthusiasts 65 years ago in Lincolnshire, has won a major award even before the first passenger sets foot on its platform on Saturday 28th June 2025.
The whole station project on the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, which moved from its original site in North Sea Lane, Humberston to the Skegness Water Leisure Park to reopen in 2009, has been made possible by a grant from the UK Prosperity Fund, made jointly by East Lindsey District Council, South Holland District Council and Boston Borough Council, who administer it (and Rural Prosperity Funding) in this area on behalf of the UK Government.
The grant of £24,250 to the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway has made the new station possible, to boost the economy of Skegness and encourage more people to explore the coast’s heritage. “Match funding” by the railway’s hosts and owners of the Skegness Water Leisure Park, Ellis Bros (Contractors) Ltd., of £8,000, provided £32,250 for the project, with labour provided by LCLR volunteers, contractors, Ellis Bros’ employees and the running-in board (station name board) painted by traditional signwriter Tim Fry of Martin Dales, Woodhall Spa. Wainfleet joiner Mark Eldin, who has previously helped convert the line’s award-winning World War One trench railway wagon into a disabled access carriage completed the woodwork on the rescued building, part of which had been cut away to enable it to be attached to a brick building. Some of the volunteers have been making round trips of nearly a hundred miles to work on the project.
Seathorne Bank station, incorporating the old Great Northern Railway’s 1887-vintage coal office from Skegness Station, which Ellis Bros bought from the London & North Eastern Railway in 1947 as the base for their business, which grew to create much of modern Skegness, will create a destination, only accessible by rail, at the end of the LCLR’s line from Walls Lane station, with picnic tables and other facilities adjacent to Skegness Airfield.
The construction of the station, incorporating the historic building, with a platform, access ramps, traditional lamps, benches and views across the fields to the Lincolnshire Wolds, has been announced as the winner of the Federation of Master Builders’ Small Renovation Project award in their Yorkshire & Trent Region and will be entered for the Association’s national awards.
The opening of the new station will be accompanied by music from Swineshead Silver Band and dancing from Alford Morris.
LCLR Company Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Ellis Bros (Contractors) Ltd, John Chappell, said: “The award is a remarkable accolade for the foresight, ingenuity, hard work and skill of so many people, organisations and volunteers who have come together to conserve a historic part of the railway which built Skegness and to develop the heritage railway which each year attracts more and more people to the benefit of the local economy”.
Richard Shepherd, Chairman of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust explained: “Seathorne Bank station will give our passengers a ‘destination’ when travelling on our trains instead of just an out-and-back run. We were the first heritage railway in the whole world* to be built by enthusiasts on a greenfield site. Three of our passenger carriages celebrate their centenary this year, our steam locomotive Jurassic dates back to 1903; one of our Simplex diesel locos goes back to 1920 and another to 1926. Many of our historic railway vehicles date to the trench railways of the World War One battlefields, including the last surviving railway ambulance van in the UK which was used to transfer wounded soldiers from the battlefields to field hospitals for repatriation to Britain.
*(After the LCLR’s opening on 27th August 1960, enthusiasts in New Zealand built the Ocean Beach Railway in 1963 at Dunedin and ten years later, Japanese enthusiasts built the Rass Railway not far from Narita International Airport. The LCLR maintains friendly relations with both).
“We are creating a unique centre of the heritage of rural light railways here in Skegness which passengers can enjoy at just £2 for a return ticket, £5 for families – the best value of any heritage railway in the UK. We offer schools in the locality subsided visits at just £1 a pupil, thanks to grants from local East Lindsey District Councillors to help children learn about the heritage of these narrow gauge railways, which helped agriculture, industry and tourism develop in Lincolnshire.
“The prolonged wet weather of 2023 and the harsh wet winter of 2024/25 halted work when the ground was too wet for machinery and some supplies had to be moved by rail. We will continue to develop the site as an interpretation centre for the history of the LCLR and Ellis Bros – there are interesting and unique stories to tell”.
The wooden building was first moved to Ellis Brothers’ site in Lansdowne Road, Skegness in 1947 by the company’s founders and acted as the company’s offices until 2023, when the scheme for the new station at South Loop terminus was developed. The firm’s founder, the late Mr Fred Ellis, had a keen interest in the history and heritage of Lincolnshire and of Skegness in particular and wanted the building to be conserved and made available for public use – hence it forming the centrepiece of the new station on the LCLR.
Chief Executive Officer for Ellis Bros (Contractors) Ltd. and Company Secretary of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, John Chappell, said: “We are delighted to be able to conserve for the future this remarkable survival of Skegness’ railway and industrial heritage. As well as enabling us to show the contribution to the economy and infrastructure of Skegness, the new role for the Old Coal Office helps us ensure the long term future for the railway and to enhance the existing achievements of the volunteers’ work.
“This contribution from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will enable Skegness to escape from the widely held perception that the town is some sort of ‘cultural vacuum’. Anything which does that by adding to the appeal of the heritage attractions of the Skegness district will benefit all of the town.
“Skegness, as we know it, was only brought about because of the railways – before they reached the area, Skegness was a fishing hamlet of just six houses. Everything we have is down to the railways and the LCLR contributes towards that heritage.”
The Chairman of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust, Richard Shepherd, said: “Rebuilding of the Old Coal Office at our new station enables us to create a ‘destination’ at the end of our line and let people learn about its unique history and heritage – until now, trains have terminated beside Skegness Airfield, but passengers could not disembark. We are extremely grateful to the local authority. to the Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, to Ellis Bros. (Contractors) Ltd and especially to our steadfast team of volunteers for making this development possible. Almost every one of our volunteers has been actively involved with the detailed finishing of the building, painting, fitting out and working in often very inclement weather.
“Some idea of the economic benefits the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway brings to the area can be gauged from the distances people travel from to enjoy the railway and experience our unique collection of historic locomotives, carriages and wagons, many of which date from the First World War battlefields and even earlier.”
When the LCLR ceased running its line at Humberston in 1985, most of its supporters thought that was the end – but after a period in store at Burgh-le-Marsh it moved to the developing Skegness Water Leisure Park in Ingoldmells in 1992. There a handful of volunteers rebuilt the line which reopened in 2009, since when achievements have included operating a Royal Train for the visit of HRH The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) in 2017, the restoration to steam thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant for Jurassic, the rebuilding of a First World War battlefield wagon to a disabled access carriage, thanks to a grant from winning a televised competition, a Heritage Railway Association award for restoration of the only Nocton Estates Railway carriage and other awards.
John Chappell provides this background to Ellis Bros (Contractors) Ltd to the latest award: “We have come a long way since Kenneth Snr., Brian, Ron and Doug set up the company in 1947, helping the country catch up with a huge backlog of building repairs on homes and businesses, suspended in 1939 on the outbreak of World War 2. When Britain boomed in the 1950’s, the brothers were there helping Skegness to grow, building new houses, shops and factories. Many buildings that you are familiar with in the area built from the 1950’s to the 1970’s were built by the four original Ellis Brothers and their highly professional workforce.
“In the early 1970’s, Fred Ellis came into the firm and rapidly expanded the new house building side of the company but also bought older properties to renovate, repair and rent out – making us one of the very first “Buy-to-Let” landlords before the term became popular. We now rent out around 250 residential and commercial properties, mainly in Skegness but also Burgh, Wainfleet, Chapel and Horncastle.
“In 1983, Fred ‘dipped a toe’ in the holiday industry by buying Greenacres in Ingoldmells. In fact, we enjoyed working in tourism so much that in 1989, we bought 133 acres of farmland in Winthorpe and developed Skegness Water Leisure Park, the largest and we think, one of the best holiday parks in the area.
“We may not do building contracting for other people any more but we still build new homes and business buildings, we still re-furbish properties for rent and we still do landscape gardening. The re-location of our former Head Office (the former GNR Coal Office) and conversion to a railway station at the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway at Skegness Water Leisure Park provided a real test for our skilled operatives, supported by the railway’s dedicated volunteers. A building 145 years old, steeped in railway history and the recent history of Skegness is now ready to be part of this pioneering railway. To put icing on the cake, we’ve just been notified that for this project, we’ve just won the Federation of Master Builders’ Regional (Yorkshire & Trent) Award 2025 for small scale restoration projects, a long way since four brothers got together after being de-mobbed after World War 2 and wondered what they could do to earn a living !
“Whilst nowadays, it is all done on our own properties, that many people enjoy, whether living, working or holidaying in them, we still enjoy building with our highly skilled and professional staff. Indeed, we are even now planning the next 70 years and who knows what they will bring.”
