Sunday 28th September 2025
The Criterion Heritage Centre, Blue Town, Sheerness
This truly was a day to remember, celebrating the 200th anniversary of rail travel and discovering the incredible rail history of the Isle of Sheppey.
Exploring the history of rail on the Isle of Sheppey
In the morning, we gathered at The Criterion Blue Town to hear a collection of talks from rail experts and local historians about the development of rail on Sheppey.
Talks began with Martin Hawkins and Cllr Peter MacDonald sharing rare vintage photography of The Sheppey Light Railway, the original third platform at Queenborough and the many stations along the line. It was fascinating to see the crossings and station halts, and old photographs of Eastchurch Station and the Airfield it supported, with a separate sidings and over 3000 service men and women based there. Peter MacDonald shared his experiences of riding on the line and the atmosphere on the very last day of the Sheppey Light Railway’s existence on 4th December 1950.
Mark Kennedy from Queenborough History Society followed on from this talk, bringing insights into past developments to the north of Queenborough with rail track running to a wooden pier, used by high society taking a paddle steamer from Queenborough to Flushing in Holland. Known as Flushing Pier it was built in 1865, and was destroyed by fire in 1950.
After the mid-morning tea break, Graeme Gleaves shared the background to writing his book “The Railways of the Isle of Sheppey” and his connection to the island. We then had Chris Jackson from The Colonel Stephens Society share a broader picture of the development of rail by Colonel Stephens across the country in the 1910s, and his innovative and determined approach to creating practical low-cost railway lines, including The Sheppey Light Railway.
The morning talks were concluded looking ahead to the future, with a talk from Lee Jarmain from The Sheppey Light Railway Greenway Project sharing information about their vision to create a greenway across the island following the old Sheppey Light Railway route linking west to east. He shared the inspiring progress of the volunteer led initiative and their plans for the coming years. If you would like to get involved, you can find out more information here: Sheppey Light Railway Greenway
Pop-ups, Book Signings, the Railway Photography Exhibition and Buster Keaton
During the mid-morning break, we were lucky enough to have a book signing with author Graeme Gleaves, with his recently published book “The Railways of the Isle of Sheppey”. It was so popular he ran out of books to sell. He was certainly in high demand. We hope to line up another future talk with him in connection with Minster Gatehouse next year, so do keep your eyes peeled!
Alongside, there was a busy bubble of activity at the pop-up stalls, with The Colonel Stephens Society, The Sheppey Light Railway Greenway and Kent Community Rail Partnership sharing information and a wealth of resources. This occurred next to the Criterion’s Railway 200 Photography Exhibition featuring unique photography of Sheerness Station and The Sheppey Light Railway, with the vintage railway classic film of Buster Keaton in “The General” playing close by.
Another highlight was the tasty treats and refreshing cuppas coming from The Criterion Cafe. A very big thank you to Jenny, Claire and all the volunteers involved for serving up such delicious food, and if you were
The Afternoon Bus Tour
We had a splendid 1960s vintage green double decker bus for the tour from The London Bus Company. Peter O’Callaghan was our driver for the afternoon, and the bus was filled to capacity with 57 participants keen to learn more about the underlying rail history of the island.
Jonathan Fryer and Jeremy Segrove were our historian guides on the bus tour giving fascinating insights along the way. On the tour we travelled from Blue Town, passing the Flushing pier intersection, and stopping at Queenborough Station. We later journeyed onto Power Station Road, seeing the newly installed Sheppey Light Railway installation board (care of the hard work of Linda Brinklow and John Nurden) near the original Sheerness East Station site, and then walking the along the original rail track pathway to Scrapsgate.
Travelling through Minster we saw key areas, noting the original site of East Minster Station (near Costcutter and The Harps Inn) and Minster-on-Sea Station along Scocles Road currently an area of new development before turning down, before journeying along Lower Road towards Leysdown.
Passing through the beautiful landscape with fields either side, we saw the place the track crossed the road near Brambledown Farm (Brambledown Halt station), and looked across the fields, with its route still visible on aerial photographs as it made its way to Eastchurch.
We continued on the road to Leysdown, tracking the route, with it later intersecting at Harty Road and running parallel to the north, before completing at the Leysdown Terminus site, which has now be transformed into the car park behind Jimmy G’s amusement arcade.
We concluded the trip with a real highlight, visiting the Eastchurch Aviation Museum and passing the original Eastchurch Station (close to the Fire Station).
The Aviation Museum was fantastic with a wealth of archives and information on the early development of aviation, and the importance that rail had played in accessing the airfield. In addition our historian Jeremy Segrove led an outside tour of the site, adding depth and understanding to what had been present a century ago.
During the following week, the event was featured in the Sheerness Times Guardian, with journalist John Nurden from the Sheppey Scene creating a special film to capture the day.
Thank you
It was a delight to closely collaborate with The Criterion Blue Town for this event. Jenny, Claire and the volunteer team were incredibly helpful from start to finish, the cafe was in full action serving up delicious food and drinks, and participants could even get a quick tour of the Musuem above The Criterion in the break. It is a secret gem of Blue Town, so if you have a moment to spare we highly recommend you popping by. They also hold regular community cinema and entertainment events.
In organising the day, we have to say a big thank you to our Kent CRP volunteers Linda Brinklow, Jonathan Fryer and Dominic Noades, along with our resident historian for the bus tour Jeremy Segrove and superstar Kent CRP Project Officer Therese Hammond for assisting and helping it run so smoothly.
We would also like to say thank you to each one of the speakers, Martin Hawkins, Peter MacDonald, Mark Kennedy, Graeme Gleaves, Chris Jackson and Lee Jarmain for sharing their knowledge and passion for rail history. The morning talks held incredibly rich and condensed information. The experience and feedback are inspiring us to look into a series of longer evening talks.
Thanks also go to John Nurden for being on tech at The Criterion during the morning and doing photography during the afternoon.
And finally to someone who without them the bus tour would not have been possible, thank you Paul Baker for designing the itinerary, organising bus hire and being a super Bus Conductor on the day.
This event was kindly funded by Sheerness Town Council and Minster-on-Sea Parish Council.
Supported and Partnered by
