RAILWAY PERSONEL

Station Masters

Census, BMD etc.Returns - railway personel

John William Leadill died 12 January 1950 aged 72.
Ann Caroline Leadill died 7 November 1942 aged 70.

Henry Elsworth - Station Master 1939 to 1956 (based from memories of his son Michael born in 1932)

Henry came from Husthwaite. After fighting in the First World War (WW1) he worked at various stations as far North as Durham, including Whitby and Pillmoor Junction and was working in Ripon in 1932 when his son, Michael was born. In 1934 he moved Harrogate when he got a promotion to the station there and remained until the Second War broke out.

The family home in Harrogate was a rather nice semi detached so it must have been a shock when he came to the primitive accommodation at Warthill in 1939. At that time the house had not changed much since it had been built, there was no indoor toilets, there were two buckets side by side, one serving the Gents on the Station and the other one was serving the 'Station House'. Washing had to be done in a copper in one of the outhouses. There was also a scullery outside in the backyard where the washing up was done. There was a kitchen range in our kitchen and a sort of Pantry with a stone slab on There was the living room which had shutters on for the winter with coal fires. It is believed there was a bath upstairs, but there was no 'Downstairs' water, it was all upstairs and if there any hot water it came from the kitchen range there certainly was not anything else.

He planted some fruit trees and turning a whole section of the Garden into a Vegetable garden and grew vegetables through the war. Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, Black Currants, Red Currants, Strawberries, Raspberries. The garden disappeared in John Newton's time.

Henry bought his first car in 1937 when his father died, but when he came to Warthill it had to be 'Laid Up' most of the time on blocks because of the war. It was a square fronted Morris Ten with the Running Boards and the Blind you pulled down at the back and the ash tray in the middle. Henry put down a concrete floor in the 'Sleeper Shed,', bashing away at the bricks and laying the concrete floor by hand to house his car there during the war, and for a year or about 18 Months it was 'Laid Up'. The car was used occasionally when it was run on a mixture of petrol and paraffin, like the time in 1945 or 46 when he took a 'Black Market Ham' wrapped in a sheet to relatives in Lancashire. Henry still had the car in 1948 when his son Michael learnt to drive by driving it up and down the station yard.

"I remember playing in the Horse Boxes which used to be parked on the 'Dock', and then had a field where all those houses are now, there was a big field where I played Football and Rugby, with Michael Andrews who still lives in the village we used to spend hours and hours playing football down there and then in the Winter time we too would skate on the field which is still there behind the 'Weigh Bridge', that is now Kerrison's field behind 'Snowball' and we played football in the other field, and in the summer we played cricket in the yard, Herbert Stones would come in between trains and fling a few down. At one time we had the Italians (Prisoners of War) working at the station, and they were wonderful people to be around, we used to play football with them in the snow, The Houses of Anderson's and Drury's were basically our playground and the Goods Yard."

For ten years with three or four others from York Michael travelled to school in Pocklington. Through the war years it was sometimes very difficult especially when they had to wait for up to an hour on a very cold evening on Pocklington Station and get home at whatever time, but at least he didn't have far to go to get inside and get a meal. The snow plough to his despair ensured that he got there in even the worst falls of snow.

During war/mid 40's lumps of coal seemed to be disappearing rather fast from the Cells, so Henry and Herbert Stones stayed up one night and they discovered that Mr. Jim Simms, a 'Head Ganger' from the Cottages next door to where Johnny Elmer lived was stealing the coal so he did not stay there much longer. Johnny Elmer had come by 1946 or 47 but this incident may have been before then.

Henry was the Chief of the 'Home Guard' a kind of 'Dads Army' outfit, and their 'Dug Out' was if you look out from the station about 25 metres off the line of the road about 15 Degrees, there was a little path running round past the 'Dug Out' and then down to his garage.

Henry had no real interest in the church being brought up by a very Methodist family, but he did become a Church Warden and take the Plate for the collection as did Herbert Stones.

Mrs. Elsworth was in the 'Women's Institute' and Henry had been secretary of the 'Cricket Team' when it started up again after the war, in the old field, which is just an open field now, but you can still see where the Pavilion used to be. Son Michael went into it as a boy and looked after all the bats and balls whilst all the fellows were out fighting in Italy, Germany or wherever.

Other railway personel

John Elmer was a platelayer on the railway, from end of war/1948 until the line was closed, they used to go out every day on a little buggy that they took out of a hut and placed on the Main Line. He moved into one of the railway cottages, nearest the line. They have made few alterations to the house, only porches and a door. As a railway employee he had free travel.
 

Three-wheeled velocipedes were issued to permanent way staff on branch lines, and something similar will have been used by Mr Elmer. This taken near Malton in 1930s.

Ken Collinson was the final resident of the other staff house arriving some time after Mr Elmer. Ken had previously been a gateman at Huttons Ambo.

Ken Collinson and John Elmer, signalmen were in residence when the line closed. As a result they were able to buy their homes and both are still with their families.

In 1891 Harry Bowling the son of the Post Office owner was a signalman.

During the war years (WWII) there were Two Signalmen, Herbert Stones and Bill Clark. At one time the Italians, from the nearby Prisoners of War camp were working at the station.

Herbert Stones the Signalman was quite a character on the cricket field, he was the only man who hit a cricket ball for six into Swann's pond right over the road and into the pond, he was a big man, and it was said that the automatic barrier gates were put in because he used to forget the last train.

Herbert Stone

The Railway crossing keeper used to close the gates early, 5 minutes before he should have done if he saw you were coming, one day in a sandstorm, that comer of the field near to Hazelbush the sand would pile up to about two feet deep and if Herbert saw you coming and he did not like you, sandstorm or not he made you wait. He lived in the village rather than the adjacent cottages.

1960s Mr Finny worked on the railway engines and Mrs Finny used to walk her children Neill, David and Philip, down Barr Lane to wave to him.

Ted Brighton worked as a platelayer on the railway and was based at the village station. He lived at Bar Close, Barr Lane and Netherfield

Wages

The average yearly wage paid to Railway staff in1895 was

ticket inspectors £60;
stationmasters £75;
booking clerks £60;
inspectors £80;
signalmen £65;
guards £60;
porters £45;
platelayers £52;
firemen £65
drivers £130.

1926 poster