Your favourite seaside terminus UK station (and town)

[railfan99]

Last year I stayed in Lowestoft for two nights.

The station is probably a shadow of its former self as presumably it once had a trainshed, but I was impressed by it, the town and a pleasant enough beach plus reasonably priced spotless accommodation. (It was September, so not your peak season).

I didn't perceive Lowestoft as a 'dump', but struggled to remember how to pronounce it. (Ignorant Australians!)

Managed to visit Clacton-on-Sea but not Walton-on-the-Naze or Great Yarmouth. The latter (especially) is on the 'to do' list. I've been to a small number of other UK seaside terminii over the years.

Do you have a favourite English seaside rail terminus and why?

 

[ac6000cw]

Scarborough, Looe, Southport, Felixstowe, Sheringham, St. Ives are some of my favourites that have terminal stations (but some of those have very basic stations). As a good combination of station plus town, I'd put Scarborough at the top of the list.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Do you have a favourite English seaside rail terminus and why?

Vote for Whitby. Delightful North Yorkshire coastal town. Tidy terminus station. Always a fascinating place to visit.

 

[yorksrob]

Weymouth is a good one, good train service and excellent seaside harbour.

My favourite would be Penzance. A grand terminus befitting the end of the line and a lovely town.

 

[zwk500]

Would agree with Whitby. Brighton and Eastbourne are also very nice, Brighton with the slightly nicer town and Eastbourne with the slightly nicer station.

 

[bramling]

Last year I stayed in Lowestoft for two nights.

The station is probably a shadow of its former self as presumably it once had a trainshed, but I was impressed by it, the town and a pleasant enough beach plus reasonably priced spotless accommodation. (It was September, so not your peak season).

I didn't perceive Lowestoft as a 'dump', but struggled to remember how to pronounce it. (Ignorant Australians!)

Managed to visit Clacton-on-Sea but not Walton-on-the-Naze or Great Yarmouth. The latter (especially) is on the 'to do' list. I've been to a small number of other UK seaside terminii over the years.

Do you have a favourite English seaside rail terminus and why?

Another vote for Whitby, though Aberystwyth is okay as well.

Should mention Tynemouth, though of course not a terminus as such. And possibly Ramsgate falls into same category.

 

[jammmmmsssssss]

Sheringham

 

[Doctor Fegg]

I didn't perceive Lowestoft as a 'dump', but struggled to remember how to pronounce it.

Ah. I won’t suggest Pwllheli then.

(Yes, I know you said English!)

 

[norbitonflyer]

Penzance, with Whitby a close second. (Opposite way round when the wind is coming off the sea though!)

 

[AgeoftheTrain7]

Not on the UK mainline but the lovely heritage terminus at Minehead has to be up there!

 

[fishwomp]

This looks like a list of every seaside termini in England now! So, which ones are not on someone on here's favourite terminus - everyone has a veto..

Anyone want to veto Sheerness?

 

[yorksrob]

This looks like a list of every seaside termini in England now! So, which ones are not on someone on here's favourite terminus - everyone has a veto..

Anyone want to veto Sheerness?

Thing is, I've had a couple of good railtours along that branch.

 

[spyinthesky]

Penzance, with Whitby a close second. (Opposite way round when the wind is coming off the sea though!)

With the wind at Whitby, The Waiting Room is quite favourable.

 

[geoffk]

Exmouth not mentioned yet. Trains always busy on a fine weekend.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

This looks like a list of every seaside termini in England now! So, which ones are not on someone on here's favourite terminus - everyone has a veto..

Blackpool South and Blackpool North are unlikely to be on anyone's list of favourite terminii. Harwich is an interesting enough little place but the Town station itself isn't that attractive. And end-of-the-line stations like Severn Beach are possibly as basic as they come.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Exmouth not mentioned yet. Trains always busy on a fine weekend.

Memories of v. early 1980s summer holidays in Exmouth, to see my maternal grandmother. Hunting for crabs & limpets, on Exmouth's beach.
Trips to Dawlish; and wide youthful eyes at those blue diesels thundering past the beach, seemingly so close.
1983, early teens and entrusted to watch over my brother; so a train taken from Exmouth to Exeter St David's & sometimes pausing at Central on our return. I took a grainy '110' photo of blue 47484 (I.K. Brunel) being banked by a 33 up the gradient into Central. If only I could remember their noise as well!

(As per post #2) St Ives, Cornwall, is another favourite: such a picturesque village at the end of the captivating branch line.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd say first choice Brighton (it's just quite cool having what is essentially a full-scale London terminus that feels like a mini replica of Victoria in a far smaller place). Second choice Llandudno, it's smaller, but just nice now they've done it up (though it was grim for years). Then probably third choice Southport (which is a similarly to Brighton big, mainline feeling station). Honourable mention for West Kirby which has quite a nice building though in a typical Merseyrail way it's not in the best state of repair and isn't used to anything like its potential.

Most disappointing has to be between Blackpool South, Newquay (though it does set the tone for the rest of the Blackpool-in-Cornwall nature of the place) and Morecambe. With the Eden Project coming, the latter really does need improving, even if they don't take it back to the old site (which would probably be no bad thing as it's much nearer Eden, though the present station is much nearer most of the rest of the town so it's a bit of a tradeoff).

 

[60159]

Memories of v. early 1980s summer holidays in Exmouth, to see my maternal grandmother. Hunting for crabs & limpets, on Exmouth's beach.
Trips to Dawlish; and wide youthful eyes at those blue diesels thundering past the beach, seemingly so close.
1983, early teens and entrusted to watch over my brother; so a train taken from Exmouth to Exeter St David's & sometimes pausing at Central on our return. I took a grainy '110' photo of blue 47484 (I.K. Brunel) being banked by a 33 up the gradient into Central. If only I could remember their noise as well!

St Ives, Cornwall, is another favourite: picturesque village at the end of the captivating railway branch.

Slightly different but riverside stations near the sea can be lovely such as Gourock and the magnificent Wemyss Bay.
And for a station that’s never had trains what about Dartmouth with Kingswear on the other side.
We’ll leave Stranraer Harbour out!

 

[Howardh]

Brighton. Although a couple of issues, the station could be better (indoors seating area for starters) and it's still some way off the sea, but always feels nice arriving there, usually met by a friendly seagull.

On the other hand Southport station is horrid and doesn't do the resort justice.

 

[Bletchleyite]

On the other hand Southport station is horrid and doesn't do the resort justice.

The 1960s Brutalist bit needs pulling down forthwith, but I love the trainshed so I rated it quite high.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Weymouth and Scarborough for me - mainly because of happy youth and childhood memories.

 

[peterblue]

I've been to them all (unfortunately in some cases!). My favourite seaside towns would likely be:
-Southport
-Whitby
-Weymouth
-Brighton

There are a few other nice places on the south coast, though rather small so not 'worth' the visit unless already in the area.

The less said about Blackpool and Blackpool North the better!

If you're specifically looking for a grand station building, then Brighton comes to mind for that.

 

[HST43257]

Whitby, Tynemouth (if it counts) and St Ives would be mine. Lovely places and lovely railways to reach them (even if the Esk valley does take years)

 

[peterblue]

The 1960s Brutalist bit needs pulling down forthwith, but I love the trainshed so I rated it quite high.

I agree the station isn't fantastic, but the town is nice. It's a shame the pier is closed currently.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Weymouth and Scarborough for me - mainly because of happy youth and childhood memories.

I suppose Southport has that for me too. Weymouth station on the other hand is miserable and needs knocking down and starting again.

I missed "and town"...though it would probably be the same three, to be honest, though for different reasons - Brighton is quite exciting as a place, Southport is genteel and nice (bar the Wetherspoons and the shopping area near the station which are a bit miserable), Llandudno probably similar to Southport in nature though it's got a lot nicer of late, it did have a bit of a scruffy nadir in the late 1990s.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Small station in small town: Whitby (both the station and the town)
Large station in larger city: Brighton (both the station and the city)

Walton-on-the-Naze has a pleasant enough station and is a pleasant enough small town. Nice how these three match up, really: Clacton's station is nicer than the town, Great Yarmouth's as grotty as the town, I'd say. Harwich Town probably has a similar level of not uncharming grotty decay as the town, though.

 

[birchesgreen]

New Brighton or Southend.

 

[Rescars]

Last year I stayed in Lowestoft for two nights.

The station is probably a shadow of its former self as presumably it once had a trainshed, but I was impressed by it, the town and a pleasant enough beach plus reasonably priced spotless accommodation. (It was September, so not your peak season).

I didn't perceive Lowestoft as a 'dump', but struggled to remember how to pronounce it. (Ignorant Australians!)

Managed to visit Clacton-on-Sea but not Walton-on-the-Naze or Great Yarmouth. The latter (especially) is on the 'to do' list. I've been to a small number of other UK seaside terminii over the years.

Do you have a favourite English seaside rail terminus and why?

Slightly different but riverside stations near the sea can be lovely such as Gourock and the magnificent Wemyss Bay.
And for a station that’s never had trains what about Dartmouth with Kingswear on the other side.
We’ll leave Stranraer Harbour out!

If we are allowed to include Scotland, then there are some attractive additions to be added to the list. How about Wick and Thurso?

 

[mrcheek]

cant believe nobody has mentioned my favourite seaside town of Paignton yet.

My second favourite would be Cleethorpes.
Although in both cases, this is largely due to the beautiful journey to get there!
Southport and Saltburn are both nice places to visit too

As for stations, it just depends on whether or not you count Wemyss bay....

 

[John Webb]

Bexhill West - alas, closed in 1964 - would be my favourite seaside terminus if the trains still ran there, due to memories of several family holidays there. The building still stands but is now an antiques centre and auction room with cafe.
See http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/b/bexhill_west/index.shtml for some pictures and history.