Pyewipe Cottages or Railway Cottages, Skellingthorpe

[GerryS]

Hi,
My great-grandfather Julius A Hindley and his family lived from after about 1897 to about 1903 in Skellingthorpe. In the 1901 Census the address is given as Railway Cottages, Skellingthorpe. The birth certificate for his son Edward born in 1902 gives his address as Pyewipe Cottages, Skellingthorpe. Also on the 1901 census the birth location for daughter Rachel (my grandmother) is given as Pyewipe presumably also Pyewipe Cottages. Julius worked for the GC Railway, and nearly all the other residents living there in 1901 are railway workers.
I'm presuming that the Railway Cottages and Pyewipe Cottages are the same place. But I can't locate them on any maps? Can someone tell me where they once were - have they been renamed or demolished? And would anyone know if any photos exist of Pyewipe Cottages/ Railway Cottages.
Thanks
Gerard

[Geoff-E]

Hi GerryS

I think I have found their location - in which case they are no longer standing

Here is the relevant area (the village of Skellingthorpe on the left edge, once much smaller) http://tinyurl.com/3x3r5bn

Long long ago, the Romans built a canal - the FossDyke - to link Lincoln to the River Trent.  Ferry Lane runs eastwards to the canal.  There was/is a canalside pub called the Pywipe Inn.  I believe "pyewipe" is a dialect word for peewit or lapwing.  The pub can be seen in the shadow of the A46 Lincoln bypass (top right).  Incidentally, the Pyewipe Inn was inside the City boundary and part of one of the city's parishes, so I don't think that the inn was ever part of Skellingthorpe.

The railway junction at the extreme right of the scene was Pyewipe Junction, where the GN+GE Joint Railway (alongside the canal) and the LD&EC (later Great Central Railway) joined.

Now go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html and search Skellingthorpe
When you have a map, click on the right arrow below so that Map No. 4 is revealed, then click on that map.  You will now see a map of the area south of Skellingthorpe with a railway running across the map.  Follow the railway along to the east (by clicking the appropriate arrows) until eventually it crosses the "Main Drain".  Just above the railway and to the east of the drain you will see a building - surely built by the railway as they was nothing there before the railway arrived.  I think that was your Pyewipe Cottages http://tinyurl.com/2uj45xc

Re 1901 census:  Notice on the previous page-
Ferry
The Fen ... the earlier name for Ferry Lane was Fen Lane
We must be in the right area

[Redroger]

Pywipe Cottages were demolished in the 1970s I think. By the way, the Pywipe Inn was a good pub in the early 1960s, not as good as the Blue Anchor though.

[GerryS]

Thanks very much Geoff and Roger,
Your argument seems pretty conclusive, Geoff. Do you or anyone else actually remember them being there in that location? Studying the old map I do not see any road or footpath leading to these buildings so presumably the access would have been walking along the railway or perhaps there was a platform?
If they were demolished in the 1970s, were they derelict? And I would be really interested to know if anyone has any photos of these cottages - do they appear in the background of photos for the nearby Pyewipe Junction or Pyewipe Station?
Thanks again for your help
Gerard

[Redroger]

Yes Geoff, I remember them. Saw them many times travelling betwwen Boston and Doncaster in the 1960s.

[GerryS]

Thanks Roger,
So that confirms the location that Geoff found. Its a pity they are demolished now, so it would be nice to find some photographs of them......has anybody any ideas? or have some they can scan for me?
Thanks again
Gerard

[Geoff-E]

One of the problems is that of distance ... when Roger saw them, they would have been a quarter of a mile away across the fields.  Try taking a photo of a house that far away and see how small it is   with camera shake of the moving train.  Additionally, there were several sidings in the "V" of Pyewipe Junction.

Passenger train services along the Skellingthorpe line (apart from seaside specials) ended in  1955.

[Redroger]

Correct again Geoff, that's why I hesitated to make a posting wanted to be sure we were all talking about the same things.

[linnet27]

Hi Gerard

Thought you might like this photo.  It shows the signal box better than the cottage!  This is my grandmother's sister and husband, living at Ferry Lane, Skellingthorpe about mid 1930s.  Mum remembers cycling from Lincoln along the side of the canal to visit them on a Sunday afternoon.

Hope this works, I have not uploaded a photo before!

Lynne