P UBLISHED BY R OTHAY H OUSE , M AYFIELD R OAD , E ASTREA .
Eastrea Village News N UMBER 15
F EBRUARY 2008
H ORSE -R ACE N IGHTS AND F UNDRAISING E VENTS AT OUR V ILLAGE P UB The recent fund-raising horse-race night at the Nag’s Head raised £505 for charity, a remarkable result for a small village. Confident that an even better result can be obtained next time, the pub has more in the pipeline — and these are the dates for your diaries. Next on the list is booked for 23rd May and is in aid of Peterborough Ambulance Station Endowment Fund. That will be followed by another racing night on 27 June, to provide funds for a Christmas party for the senior citizens of the village. The Eastrea Dumplings, our village lunch club, is now meeting at the Nag’s Head on alternate Tuesdays. The picture below was taken at the recent lunch on 26th February, and the next dates are 11th and 25th March. You can book by ringing the pub on 203333.
V ILLAGE S TATION U PDATE
The Eastrea Dumplings in session on 26th February. Residents now meet at the Nag’s Head for the fortnightly lunches. Date of the next lunch is 11th March. To book ring Peterborough 203333.
EASTER LUNCH FOR SENIORS
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The Storers will be arranging the annual lunch for senior citizens this year on the Tuesday and Wednesday following Easter. The lunches will be early this year, on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th March. An invitation letter will be sent to everyone on our list. Others are now retiring, and we’d now like to add your name and address to the list. This isn’t just for the lunch, but for any other events or invitations that may occur during the year. Please let us know of anyone else who should be included as we don’t want to miss people out.
More on the village railway station, this time from writer and broadcaster David Self who is something of a railway enthusiast! He finds that Measom’s Guide to the GER (dated 1865) says: ‘After the West Junction at March the first station was Eastree.’ Measom said that ‘it need not detain us’ and he thought that Whittlesea was more important, because it had Roman remains and a mention in the Domesday Book. David finds that The Ely [North] Junction-Peterborough line was opened by the Eastern Counties Railway ASTREA to passengers on 14TUDENTS January 1847.
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The Directory of Railway Stations by R. V. J. Butt (published by Patrick Stephens Ltd) confirms that Eastrea station opened 14 January 1847 and it closed on 1 August 1866. ‘This railway line opened with stations at Chettisham, Manea, March, Whittlesea and Peterborough,’ David says. Eastrea station first appeared in timetables in October 1847, apparently for passengers only. According to information lodged at the National Archives relating to S. M. Peto, who built the line, the total construction cost of our station was £2672.3.9d, compared with Chettisham £2265.14.7d and Manea £3088.3.7d. David finds a reference in minutes for 29 September 1858 about a request by Mr Sturton of Peterborough for the station to be opened also for goods traffic, but this was turned down. ‘As the initial costs included a goods shed, we can infer that it probably opened for goods at about the same time as it opened to passengers, or earlier, and had closed to goods by the middle of 1858, carrying on in passenger use until 1 August 1866.’