These are just a small selection of books from my library of reference material I've always had an interest in the history of my home town of Boston, Lincolnshire even though I left there in 1969 I still have a couple of relatives in town. I've also had a fondness for looking at pictorial volumes of railway lines, stations et.al.
You will notice, on the left hand side, a small booklet entitled "The Railways of Boston", by one Neil Wright. This was published a long time ago as part of the "History of Boston" project, which involved local authors and historians writing small books on differing aspects of the town. In this title the author covered the railway infrastructure, and one chapter considered the various options considered for a line to Frieston* Shore, to the east of town at the mouth of the River Witham.
Map from "The Railways of Boston"
The story behind the proposals is that the original port facilities of the town were alongside a number of small riverside quays near the town centre, and as ships became larger and the river became more unnavigable the Council looked for an alternative means of keeping the port going. The Great Northern Railway was a force in town and were approached about building a new docks at the end of the river, with a railway link to their main line (the Lincolnshire Loop) and from there to the midlands and London. They were already heavily involved in the new docks at Grimsby, so declined. The local council, over a number of years, then looked at these various proposals for a line joining facilities at Frieston Shore the main line. More about these lines next time.
*I have seen it spelt in various ways in different publications.
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