Barrow Boys

[mike57]

Following on from the thread about Quilling, in Bridlington we had Barrow Boys. These were youngsters who would wait outside the station and carry cases to the guesthouses on a barrow for a few pennies, usually these barrows were home made based on an old pram or pushchair frame in a lot of cases. There is a statue celbrating them on the station concourse.

I dont remember them, my association with the area only started in the mid 80s, I did travel by train to other seaside destinations as a youngster, in the 60s, and dont remember seeing any, so how common were they? was it just a local thing?

 

[bishdunster]

There were barrow boys in Minehead too, transporting passengers luggage from the station to Butlins, over half a mile away !

 

[Bradford PA]

They also operated in connection with a holiday camp from one of the stations on the Lowestoft to Yarmouth line.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

I seem to recall seeing boys with home-made barrows hanging around Weymouth station on one or two summer Saturdays in the early 1960s, and being told they were "barrow boys" exactly as described as #1. I don't know whether it's from that conversation or something else, but I've always had the impression it was common practice at seaside resorts at that time and earlier.

This raises an obvious question - so obvious it's taken me 60 years to think of it: did the barrow boys provide a return service carrying bags to the station for departing guests? It would seem an equally good business opportunity, just a bit more difficult to organize - and might have justified a higher fee in places like Brighton or Ilfracombe where getting to the station was significantly uphill!

 

[AndrewE]

This raises an obvious question - so obvious it's taken me 60 years to think of it: did the barrow boys provide a return service carrying bags to the station for departing guests? It would seem an equally good business opportunity, just a bit more difficult to organize - and might have justified a higher fee in places like Brighton or Ilfracombe where getting to the station was significantly uphill!

I'll bet they did... going round the guest houses might have been a good investment of their time on a Friday night. It's a no-brainer, in modern parlance, unless they just patrolled the roads of guest houses with their trolleys on Saturday mornings...

 

[Merthyr Imp]

I remember them at Mablethorpe in the early 1960s.

 

[Taunton]

An older generation would hang around stations, and when more wealthy passengers departed in horse-drawn cabs, having been seen to load large trunks by a station porter and get a tip, to adjacent hotels or mansions, would run alongside in the hope of being engaged at the destination to carry the bags inside. Of course, sometimes they would hop onto the back step of the cab , to the annoyance of the cab driver.

 

[WesternLancer]

Following on from the thread about Quilling, in Bridlington we had Barrow Boys. These were youngsters who would wait outside the station and carry cases to the guesthouses on a barrow for a few pennies, usually these barrows were home made based on an old pram or pushchair frame in a lot of cases. There is a statue celbrating them on the station concourse.

I dont remember them, my association with the area only started in the mid 80s, I did travel by train to other seaside destinations as a youngster, in the 60s, and dont remember seeing any, so how common were they? was it just a local thing?

i am assuming these were not railway employees?

 

[mike57]

This raises an obvious question - so obvious it's taken me 60 years to think of it: did the barrow boys provide a return service carrying bags to the station for departing guests? It would seem an equally good business opportunity, just a bit more difficult to organize - and might have justified a higher fee in places like Brighton or Ilfracombe where getting to the station was significantly uphill!

I am going to ask around locally, we have a local FB group looking at the history of our local line, a lot of post war 'memories' through the 50s will be lost soon, and I know there are various projects to capture them. My only thought is would the families be 'spent up' at the end of their week and not want to (or even have money left) to pay them.

i am assuming these were not railway employees?

No they were not, probably too young anyway, and according to local stories their relationship with the station staff and taxi owners could be 'interesting' as obviously a family would save a bit of money using a barrow boy against using a taxi.

 

[Denidunn]

A new book is coming out on this very subject. It's being launched on Fri, 3 October, at Bridlington Station, 11am, please come along if you can. The book is all about the Barrow Boys and Girls of the Yorkshire Coast Line and their stories, the title is 'Carry Your Case, Sir?' and it will be available to buy at the event, and also on Amazon. Hopefully some former Barrow Boys and Girls will be there.

 

[WesternLancer]

No they were not, probably too young anyway, and according to local stories their relationship with the station staff and taxi owners could be 'interesting' as obviously a family would save a bit of money using a barrow boy against using a taxi.

Thanks for this - I thought that was probably the case (if you will forgive the pun!), independent entrepreneurs as it were.

 

[mike57]

A new book is coming out on this very subject. It's being launched on Fri, 3 October, at Bridlington Station, 11am, please come along if you can. The book is all about the Barrow Boys and Girls of the Yorkshire Coast Line and their stories, the title is 'Carry Your Case, Sir?' and it will be available to buy at the event, and also on Amazon. Hopefully some former Barrow Boys and Girls will be there.

Unfortunately I will be working, will you be publicising it with the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership and are you aware of the Facebook group "The Hull to Scarborough line, past and present" where it might be worth posting about it. (Its a private group, so if you dont want join message me here and I will put up a post for you if you word it for me)

 

[47296lastduff]

A slight variation was in Cork, where young boys would be at the entrance of Glanmire Road station offering to carry luggage to the bus station (quite a distance), but without any barrows or carts. Sometimes the cases seemed to be as large as the boys.

 

[david1212]

Numerous links about Great Yarmouth here

https://www.ourgreatyarmouth.org.uk/category/work/seaside-holiday-industry

( Adding quotes as forum requests really is not workable )

 

[6Gman]

Similar youngsters operated at the coach park (as in motor road coaches) in Rhyl until at least the mid-1970s.