Memories of Stepney Station, and more plans to regenerate Beverley Road
DEPARTURE: The refurbished Stepney Station, the start of many seaside journeys before its closure in 1964
By Simon Bristow
Residents have been sharing their memories of Stepney Station following completion of the refurbishment of one of the last surviving parts of Hull’s suburban railway network.
The station, off Beverley Road in west Hull, has had its Station House restored to its traditional brown and buff paint colour scheme, giving locals a taste of how the building would have looked back in the 1850s when it was operated by the North Eastern Railway company.
The project is part of the Beverley Road Townscape Heritage Scheme, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Hull City Council, which saw a grant was awarded to Summit Education Society to support essential repair works and the restoration of traditional historic features.
The programme included repairs to roofing, windows, chimneys and stonework, ensure the building will be used as an educational and community hub by Summit Education Society for many years to come.
Stepney Station, which closed in 1964, connected Hull residents to East Yorkshire and the rest of the UK for more than a hundred years. At the height of its popularity in the early 1900s, trains arrived and departed every few minutes and Stepney issued more than 45,000 tickets per year.
It was for many the starting point for seaside trips to Withernsea and Hornsea. To celebrate its refurbishment residents have been recalling the part it played in their lives.
Valerie said: “My mother would walk down to Stepney Station with me walking holding on to the pram, my sister in the tansad [pram] and dog Tippy tied to the handles of the pram.
“We were catching the train to Hornsea to stay in our caravan. As a five-year-old in 1955 waiting on the station platform was always very exciting.”
Others have shared stories of standing on the pedestrian footbridge to watch the trains pass through.
Another local resident, Carol, said: “We lived down Laurel Grove on Park Road which faced directly onto the railway and my father was a guard, on the steam trains initially, so the railway was part of our lives.
“Every Monday morning my mum would peg the washing out and at 10.55am we had to rush out to bring it all in before the 11 o’clock train covered everything in steam.
“Us kids would sometimes wait for a slow train to pass Park Road and run down Terry Street as fast as we could, and attempt to get to Stepney Station before the train. Not sure if we ever managed it!"
Councillor Paul Drake-Davis, the council’s portfolio holder for regeneration, said: “Stepney Station is a key landmark on Beverley Road and an important part of Hull’s transport and social history.
“Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players, the building will continue to play a role for local people and the heritage of one of Hull’s most important historic gateways will be protected for the future.”
Zeki Tasdemir, from Summit Education Society, said: “Summit Education Society is proud to see the renovation works at Stepney Station have been successfully completed.
“The Beverley Road TH scheme and this funding represent a significant milestone in our journey to better serve our community. This is indeed an exciting time for us.
“We are incredibly grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Hull City Council for their support which has allowed us to transform our community centre into a more welcoming and safe place for everyone.”
The work at Stepney Station is the latest completed project in a wide-ranging programme in the Beverley Road Conservation Area, including grants for restoration work, public realm improvements, and an activity programme delivered with the local community.
People are encouraged to find out more and share their own memories of Stepney Station on X and Facebook @BevroadTH.
The regeneration of the Stepney area received a further boost on Tuesday when it was named as part of a national scheme by the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities as one of ten pilots for “high street accelerator status”.
A community partnership will be created to drive change in the area with around £250,000 of revenue funding being granted in support. There will also be opportunities to bid for further capital funding for green infrastructure.
Local businesses and stakeholders will be involved at an early stage in the programme and residents will be invited to engage with the partnership to help define a vision for change.
The council’s bid highlighted “challenges and opportunities in the area”, which includes the Central and Avenue wards, where more than two-thirds of households are in the top 20 per cent most deprived nationally.
It also revealed that:
Both wards are in the lowest fifth for life expectancy at birth in the UK.
Shop vacancy rates are 9.6 per cent with an average vacancy term of 25 months.
The area still has high volumes of foot traffic and significant opportunities exist to improve the local environment.