Havenhouse - Least Used Station in Lincolnshire

[@Synnystershy]

I love how the Skegness line has 3 least used stations.

[@hesky10]

Do you know what the other two ones were?

[@Synnystershy]

@@hesky10 Elton & Orston and Bottesford. Fun fact both are least used stations and also right next to eachother.

[@Rockthecasbah3535]

Thorp Culvert Is One.

[@pennydoye3391]

Rockthecasbah3535 vi c

[@ErAvUlGaRiS-gv9wi]

Hi Geoff, I see you caught my signalling handiwork at Wainfleet. I was a bit surprised to see you on the platform and at the level crossing. Should have invited you up for an "off the record " chat but as you know, that can be troublesome. Happy travels

[@geofftech2]

we saw you looking our way, and i did wonder ... ! ;)

[@jontownsend6451]

This railway is known locally as the Poacher line, named by the community rail partnership that supports it. I use the line fairly frequently from Boston and Skegness, but never got off here at Havenhouse. The last time i used the line 3 weeks ago was, on one of my international rail journeys, coming back to Boston from Prague, CZ. This is a lovely line with its old skool charm of semaphore signalling and jointed track along some stretches.

[@matthewb6916]

Heckington is the only 8-sailed windmill* (not 7!). My grandparents live just 2 minutes down the road from the station at Heckington, I know it so well! I live right in the middle of the huge void of railway lines in East Lincolnshire. The nearest station is half an hour away which makes being a railway geek extremely difficult, and being a tube geek even harder. It feels very strange seeing you in my part of the world! Edit: amazing video as always Geoff!

[@davidstretch5614]

I used to deliver newspapers all down the road from Heckington to Great Hale, where I lived, from around 1966 to 1971

[@BlargMeister]

as for the biggest drop in passengers between two adjacent stations, I'd guess it's probably Manchester Piccadilly and Ardwick (23,558,364 and 324 respectively). I always wonder every time I pass Ardwick on the way to Piccadilly if the station ever made any sense existing considering how close it is to the second biggest station in the north.

[@dickjohnson4447]

Penalty for improper use £200

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

I doubt anyone has ever actually been fined for that. it's probably just a deterrent.

[@Vokabre]

Besides, i'd imagine that "improper usage" is more about falsely calling emergency and not just about asking why is it raining.

[@LemoncloudGT]

Hi

[@johnswimcat]

I don't really know why I watch these "least used station" videos but they are great! My smile gets wider and I start chuckling, can't beat that...

[@DoubleDeckerAnton]

I love to see cooling towers...!!! 1:10 😁👌 Miss them on the M1 at Sheffield...!!! 😢☹👎

[@Redheisenberg]

Please come to london

[@crazysharkgaming8947]

@@Redheisenberg He works in London. Or are you just joking around?

[@Thegoldenemerald]

Yayy bus guy

[@leventevas9343]

I once spent a night at East Midlands parkway 😂. It was a midnight after Download Festival and I was sleeping on the floor because there were no trains until the morning.

[@Geotpf]

@@Redheisenberg Say hi to Little Boy for me. Or the Lone Wanderer, either way...

[@davekirwin]

Nice to see Pete again. Cooling towers always impressive. Heckington is very nice! RHTT - tick. Trains passing water feature - tick. Lovely drone shot - tick. Bin function failure - lol. Nice little vid :)

[@petermiller6895]

Thanks David!

[@dixgun]

These are all so pleasing to experience and this one about Havenhouse is no exception.

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

I use East Midlands Parkway a lot because of Megabus, which is coach/train mix that can cost as little as £5 for Bradford to Londons StP's. I love the combination of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station with the loud cascade of water inside the cooling towers, and the areas of developing scrubland on the other side of the road, where earlier this year I saw the most grasshoppers I've in one place.

[@shaunaisaJellyBean]

That’s the first time I’ve seen a help point work in one of these videos

[@n1thmusic229]

I love how the train you took bypassed the least used station in both Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire

[@MrGreatplum]

I think this my favourite one yet - beautifully filmed!

[@TheHeath50]

Fun to see a Pittsburgh Steelers hat over the pond! My hometown!

[@stephenrgow]

Love the camera work in this one - you've captured rural Lincolnshire very effectively. Re largest drop-off between passenger numbers at consecutive stations, Manchester Piccadilly and Ardwick is going to take some beating.

[@edwardLongman]

I'd be surprised if there's anything better than that! Good suggestion

[@rosiefay7283]

Stockport & Reddish South? MAN/ADK=27.807m/860=32334 but SPT/RDS=3.782m/94=40234. I looked at Shippea Hill and Pilning, but it seems that they won't be good examples for this question, because their 2016/17 usage is a lot higher than in 2015/16. Clearly your videos have popularised them! Good work, Geoff!

[@geofftech2]

Am thinking also Derby to Peartree?

[@edwardLongman]

correction. Manchester Piccadilly and Ardwick have a ratio of 32325 which is beaten by Stockport Reddish

[@stephenrgow]

Ooh good spot Rosie - I didn't realise Stockport's usage was so high. As for Bordesley, its figures are propped up by Birmingham City football fans so it does well enough not to be a factor here.

[@bluevan12]

There used to be another station between Havenhouse and Skegness called Seacroft which closed in the 1960's. All that remains is the level crossing.

[@andrewwilson6240]

I have been on the "skeggy special" HST on a number of occasions. It is a fine day trip for ~£20! The best thing is the 1st class is declassified!

[@AngelWebby10]

I live in Skegness! Glad to see Lincolnshire getting some attention

[@johnmasters504]

Do you know Amanda Lee? She lived in Skegness....her mum and dad still do...

[@benkerry2006]

I live in Sydney Australia I’m 15 I was born in Lincolnshire and lived there for 18 months Very close to havenhouse, thank you for this video as it gives me more of an understanding of the place in a way

[@dolmio247]

Failed high five at 6:10 😭😂😭😭

[@jack2719]

the biggest percentage drop between passenger numbers is probably ely (over 2 million) and shippea hill (around 100)

[@norbitonflyer5625]

99.3%, pretty good, but neaten by Manchester Picadilly/Ardwick (99.7%)

[@benws8246]

So happy to see you visit the village I grew up in and see the windmill. I caught a train to London from there last Friday. The gate is still manually opened and closed. Wonder if that is something that you don't see much of anymore?

[@HenrysAdventures]

Another enjoyable to watch least used station! Heckington Station is a favourite of mine, I'll have to visit Havenhouse one day. Is there a village called Havenhouse, from what I could see it looked like just a station on a country lane!

[@emmettbyrne9835]

I love the scenery in Lincolnshire. It reminds me The Netherlands with the canals and flat land.

[@norbitonflyer5625]

That area of Lincolnshire is even called Holland

[@norbitonflyer5625]

I know - but SE Lincolnshire isn't called Netherlands

[@gymnasiast90]

As Norbiton Flyer already pointed out, the area of Lincolnshire is called Holland nevertheless, but also of note is that the landscape of Holland (the two provinces) is indeed mostly flat, with canals and polders all round, so there is nothing wrong with comparing an area to Holland, in the same way you could compare an area with Lincolnshire. Heck, The Netherlands contain a lot of terrain that isn't flat with polders - just take a look at De Kempen or the provinces of Gelderland and Limburg.

[@Nooticus]

I have actually been to this least used station and got a train from there about a year ago!

[@Nooticus]

To visit the least used station in Lincolnshire of course!!!

[@IainG81]

This is fantastic Geoff. Remember it well from All The Stations.

[@funfamilyoutdooradventurei4059]

What a gorgeous little station!

[@maplady572]

Stonking! Nice guest appearance from the cooling towers 😍😍😍😍

[@ruairidhmunro]

Nice capture of the RHTT ... Rail Head Treatment Train

[@pintpullinggeek]

Rail 👇 Head 👇 Treatment 👇 Train 👇 (FTFY)

[@thomascoulton]

jealous of the train stations there. jealous of the views you get and the photography opportunities at these stations i probably will never see/get.

[@westparade4366]

Geoff I absolutely love these videos!

[@send2gl]

Heckington, the windmill was interesting but so was the manually operated level crossing.

[@ur2c8]

Wow! Geoff was in Nottingham. Wish I had known.Those HST trains to Skegness are tempting - if you do not mind being stuck on a train with a million screaming kids for two hours.

[@TheBritFromOz008]

Havenhouse reminds me of Burradoo Station here in Australia. Two platforms, a tiny waiting shelter (bit bigger than Havenhouse’s admittedly), leafy surroundings and also near some large fields. Differences are Burradoo has no station buildings at all (bar the shelter obviously) and the service is hourly (on weekdays at least). Its passenger stats are 10 daily (as of 2014).

[@LJC94512]

I have to wonder, when is Geoff gonna do a series of Most-used station?

[@gwyneddboom2579]

Least used London Waterloo

[@Nikkilovesgils]

The Railhead Cleaning Thing is the RHTT which is the Rail Head Treatment Train

[@Autzthewitch]

Heckington is lovely it has an amazing show I lived their a while but I just moved house still local to heckington I do miss it though

[@jamesburdass2100]

Hi Geoff did you realise it is possible to do this ‘least used’ station by travelling to and from the station? Saturday take the 13:06 KGX to Grantham arrive 14:15. Get the 14:28 to Skegness arrive 15:52. Dep Skegness 16:15, downtown Havenhouse at 16:21! Return journey: HVN 17:49 arr: Skegness 17:58 Skegness to Grantham dep: 18:15 arriving 19:47 Grantham dep 20:20 arr London Kings Cross 21:31! Try it!!

[@iangascoigne8231]

A lot of people from Sheffield and Nottingham visit Skegness and the surrounding seaside towns and villages.

[@norbitonflyer5625]

Yes, but Havenhouse is not near a town (the nearest is Wainfleet, a couple of miles away, which has its own station) and Havenhouse is a good three miles from the sea (and the nearest point on the coast to Havenhouse is actually nearer Skegness station)

[@BenGoldsmith0]

It was a Rail Head Treatment Train, RHTT for short!

[@killcar5nbike2]

My friends live just up the road, the train line is in their back garden. it's a very nice area of Lincolnshire. I saw some children get off their and walk down the road once.

[@Lynxfan2]

You saw a RHTT - Rail Head Treatment Train Plus the rail type is CWR - Continuously Welded Rail Kind regards, Peter Skuce, St. Albans. Hertfordshire.

[@LtKernelPanic]

Pretty sure the average jail cell is bigger than that waiting room. And was anyone else hoping the special guest was going to be one the guys from the Periodic Videos/Numberphile/etc series of videos?

[@alextopley2657]

Should have gone for a pint at the Batemans when you got off at Wainfleet. Can't believe you walked to Haven house either! We'll done!

[@HenrysAdventures]

I was on a railtour to Skegness hauled by 60103 Flying Scotsman in September and Havenhouse was packed!

[@norbitonflyer5625]

Ratio of Quiet next to busy stations suggested so far: Waterloo/ Vauxhall 4.4, Clapham Junction/ Queenstown Road 17, Surbiton/Berrylands 25, Berwick/Chathill 195, Birmingham MS/ Bordesley 451, Birmingham NS/Adderley Park 514, Newcastle/Dunston 794, Manchester Apt/Styal 889, Newcastle /manors 896, Derby/Peartree 959, Skegness/Havenhouse 3293, Ely/Shippea Hill 14163, Mancheter Pic / Ardwick 32334, Stockport/Reddish South 40231 (or a 99.998% reduction).

[@jonathancombe9991]

The strange thing about this sation is that about half a mile beyond the staiton the road it's on becomes private. So the station is essentially almost at the end of a dead-end road that serves the station building and a couple of farms. I'm surprised as many people as that do use it.

[@jamiejohnson1157]

As someone from near mablethorpe I find it amusing that it's still on the timetable despite closing in 1970 - although think I've realised it's a bus service

[@lionvillelion]

buys ticket to Havenhouse, then leaves the train without using it.

[@Ben_Clayton]

You have to come here and catch the HSTs flying through it would be amazing.

[@davemortimer3759]

Havenhouse 1974 we had more trains call as working at Boston Station summer Saturdays I worked at Skegness remember our guard turning two youths of the train no ticket well known for avoidance in buying tickets, but in 70 more trains stopped at Havenhouse and Thorpe Culvert.

[@the1gip]

Ely-Shippea Hill, Newcastle-Manors and Berwick-Chathill a few contenders for biggest dropoff between adjacent stations?

[@emjackson2289]

Bristol Temple Meads < > Bedminster and/or Lawrence Hill

[@grahamlive]

Are the Scottish council regions ever going to get the "least used" treatment?

[@VVellieMan]

Can't believe you didn't say "Skeggy" once! Coming from Lincolnshire it's called either Skeg-Vegas or Skeggy!

[@personwhotalkstomuch4898]

VVellieMan It’s definately a Lincolnshire saying. It’s always been known as Skeggy in our family. I was born in Boston & still live in the town.

[@jcl1662]

... and if you are from the place, it's usually just Skeg. :)

[@AidanMillward]

I lived in Holbeach, it was Skankness. 😂

[@Ed-Jolly]

And if you are from Leicester it’s Skeggeh!

[@bluevan12]

@@AidanMillward Why do so many people hate the place?

[@nikf3188]

Walking along that bit of the A52 is taking your life in you hands!!

[@callum1022]

I remember travelling back from Skegness on one of the High Speed Trains class 222 and haven house just looked like a blur

[@canacau1303]

2 things: Thorpe Culvert now is the least used station in Lincolnshire, I think that the difference in figures between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard is higher, at 79,000 and 1,700,000. It might be true.

[@alandixon2210]

Try Thornton Abbey (Barton Line) or Brigg/Gainsborough Central/Kirton Lindsey for least used stations in Lincolnshire!

[@JulieWallis1963]

Alan Dixon Gainsborough central isn’t used much but my daughter lives in Gainsborough and was looking up trains home, from Birmingham new street, she found some trains did arrive at Gainsborough central. She prefers to use Lea Road as it’s closer to her home.

[@Ncfc-ek8il]

I've used this line a lot. Thorpe Culvert can't be that far behind in passenger numbers! Old class 20's were used at one time in the summer to take holiday makers to Skeg.There is footage of them on the line elsewhere on You Tube.

[@johnmurray8428]

Great to see the crossing gates and red home signals. John in Canada

[@thegreateasterntrainfan3121]

4:25 By the way the freight train was an RHTT or Rail Head Treatment Train probably doing a round trip from Crewe Bass Hall

[@norbitonflyer5625]

The railhead is the top surface of the rail - the bit that makes contact with the wheels of the trains. The RHTT can do various things depending on the season - at this time of year its main job is to clear leaf mulch off the railhead, but in a few months it will be clearing ice off the rails.

[@IDeltic]

12:06 Funded by Central Trains. There's a name I haven't heard in a long time... my dad started driving for them way back when.

[@norbitonflyer5625]

They are (although those are 156s). But Central was split up in 2007, this part going to East Midland, and other parts to the Cross Country and West Midlands franchises

[@evancortez2]

I would go there just to take in the peaceful and beautiful English countryside - and that lady on the help line was really super friendly, if that was here in America it'd be more like, "yeah I'm busy, what do you want?" LOL

[@cerysfrost3215]

I can remember the Mablethorpe line, there may have been some least used stations there if it was still open

[@zogworth]

My grandad used to drive those.

[@williamfall2214]

12:26 oh no, Geoff died!

[@c0rtikoZteroids1]

He was absorbed by Pete.

[@petermiller6895]

I've absorbed a few people over the years.

[@c0rtikoZteroids1]

Peter Miller Happens to us all sometimes.

[@benkai09]

nice to see you're heading north, be great to see when you hit NELincs

[@norbitonflyer5625]

He's doing traditional counties, so no NELincs, but if he did the least-used would be New Clee (1,286)

[@barbarawaterfield6840]

I was going to use this station many tears ago-about 1972 and there weren't many trains then. I walked from Skegness along the beach and then along the lane. I intended to get the train back but missed it. -actually from Michael

[@johnlladron735]

Great video, thanks very much. That's a station in urgent need of a closed level crossing (MASSIVE DANGER), plus installation of a £3m bridge with 5km of accessible ramps and lifts to avoid the horror of simply crossing the line by the boarded crossing. Hope you managed ok stepping over the hordes of dead pedestrians and mangled cars.

[@LNER_TRAINS22543]

Yesterday I was on a Thameslink and I heard you voice at Blackfriars

[@dsintel6652]

I reckon the biggest drop in passenger numbers is between Euston and South Hampstead. That's around 50 million to 300,000, an increase of 16,600%

[@adamhinds_09]

That’s weird I own a lodge in haven and I’m there right there now and you’ve done a video at haven house!!

[@WolvesAyWe3-0]

when i was going to skegness the train i got on was a sprinter it stopped at every station including havenhouse lol

[@andyrichardsvideovlogs8835]

What a charming station

[@soSAMuksUKslotchannel]

I used to get the train from wainfleet to Skegness every day to school and the train would stop at haven house everyday for the school kids only.

[@brandonmartin-moore5302]

I would have thought that Hubberts Bridge would get less use but I have been proven wrong.

[@romainsavioz5466]

Is the Sheffield one the one where the doctor crashed in

[@g.groves616]

Walkers have released a new Brussels sprouts flavour of crisps for christmas. Another big drop between stations is Manchester pic and ardwick

[@jongriffin3362]

When you’ve finished doing least used stations, can you possibly do most used in each county? Itll be interesting to see what the station would be in less populated counties

[@Trockenshampooleopard]

Might be difficult to shoot there with all the people running around who might not want to be filmed.

[@cyclingchantal]

Two passengers got the train in Havenhouse. You cranked up the average for this year. No headlines in the newspaper?

[@mrsusan5672]

I've lived in Lincolnshire for 22 years and I never even knew there was a Havenhouse.

[@sdaonline]

nice vid! this was my local station until very recently, sadly never used it!

[@k.jamescarters9557]

Not many trains left in Lincs now. The 1960s weren’t kind! Timetables are grim too. Used to live in Spalding and the trains wouldn’t allow you to work or travel anywhere as they were done so early and so infrequent. It’s a catch 22 as no one uses it due to the pointlessness but without the numbers, they won’t increase services

[@WhosPhotoTube]

Great campsite at Havenhouse, can be a bit noisy through.

[@hyperhusky7176]

I live in london, england and i love your videos

[@88jerryw88]

Was the station building now a house? It looked like it used to have more importance. Perhaps for farm workers in days gone by?

[@billfreeman1516]

Such quaint stations in the middle nowhere which I find hard to comprehend as an Australian You should see our least used stations in the middle of nowhere

[@causelaner]

Caught a train to here from Skegness earlier this year

[@Daniel-jf5fd]

Love the way that the EU and other organisations spent thousands of pounds on a station with 106 passengers a year

[@ZenosOsgorma]

Daniel Dieppe ironic funding such a station that small with a shelter made out of breeze blocks , the old guard house is very likely to be managed under the Lincolnshire heritage property programs so the eu doesn’t fund that . Otherwise its just a plaque and the odd maintenance attempt every few years. Just shows ya the eu like to put their stamp on anything they can.

[@charitycharity3316]

Cos they love wasting our money

[@Trockenshampooleopard]

@@charitycharity3316 Do you really think someone in Brussels or Strasbourg thought "Ooo, I should spend some millions on Havenhouse station!" That didn't happen. Someone from Lincolnshire requested funding and got the EU's permission. Those are the people who wasted your money.

[@Danny-mv9qj]

I love these vids. You could do wales and Scotland as well!

[@Drdee1]

07:31 - that is the most ridiculous shelter ever! 09:27 - Here’s another example of the next station down the line having far less usage: Berrylands - 16/17 usage - 126,544 Surbiton - 16/17 usage - 9,376,696 Can anyone beat that? Congrats Geoff, this is the geekiest thing I have ever posed on YT

[@TheCatOfWarCSGO]

Okay so that's a ratio of 9,376,696/126,554 = 747, which is beaten by Derby/Peartree 3,963,000/4,132 = 959 But even in the video Skegness/Havenhouse 349,008/106 = 3,292 which is smashed ten fold by Manchester Piccadilly/Ardwick at 27,807,000/860 = 32,333 but is ultimately beaten by Stockport/Reddish South at 3,782,000/94 = 40,234 which is the biggest difference between two adjacent stations as far as we know :P

[@Drdee1]

@@TheCatOfWarCSGO Of course, Ardwick! When I worked in Manchester, I thought that it was disused, it's also one of my favourite All the Stations videos. Can anyone top Stockport/Reddish South and is there any particular reason why a densely populated area like the North West has quiet next to busy stations? Have I started something here ... ?

[@norbitonflyer5625]

Quiet next to busy stations - they are quiet because very few people will take the train to go one stop, particularly if the operator stops few trains there because they can make more money from longer distance traffic and so buses (or trams) offer a more frequent service. In many cases such stations closed decades ago - in London, Spa Road, Grosvenor Road, Bishopsgate Low Level, and Walworth Road, are examples.

[@Drdee1]

Hello @@norbitonflyer5625 - sounds like you live near me in Surbiton! I guess at some point the quiet stations had more passengers otherwise they wouldn't have been built? Maybe I'm applying too much logic to this! Corrour wouldn't have been built unless the landowner made it a condition of the railway passing through to Fort William (extreme example I know)

[@norbitonflyer5625]

I think the main point of Corrour was that it was the summit, and a passing point. That required staff, and they had to get there somehow (there being no road)

[@brumsgrub8633]

4 min 40 sec, that's a fine piece of cameramanship

[@HCHalexfan]

9:50 - is Manchester Airport - Styal in Cheshire a bigger % drop in passenger numbers? Just off the top of my head

[@norbitonflyer5625]

4241292/4772 , so an 89% drop. The Skegness/Havenhouse figure is a 97% drop

[@btuckervideos4705]

I'd say that when you decide to do Pilning as a Least Used that you also do St Andrews Road at the same time. You can tick off two Least Used Stations off at the same time

[@halcyondaystunes]

Going North was possibly the only sensible thing to do last week ;)

[@bradleyharrisYT]

Where can I find the map that Geoff uses at 0:56? Can't find it anywhere online!

[@ben.prescott]

Think it's linked off here. twitter.com/geofftech/status/844135546637225987?s=20

[@bradleyharrisYT]

Ben Prescott Haha! Stupendous! Thanks :-)

[@nielsreyngoud2870]

What’s with this nice looking small house on the side of the platform? The one with another waiting room in there. Is the rest of the house still used?

[@TheJonn69]

Addicted to these videos... 😳

[@Matthewsbuses1997]

It’s a bit like Berney arms with the vast countryside but with road access instead of no road access

[@Sim0nTrains]

Wonder which bank has those blurring contactless cards... wouldn't mind one myself :p (Don't blame you for blurring it up) but it is a great factional and entertaining video and I cannot believe people asked the help point on why is it raining. It did really made me laugh :)