Walter Nugent Sinkinson

Walter Nugent Sinkinson was born in 1909 at Tyne Dock. His family moved to Yorkshire during the First World War and Walter joined the railways at the age of fourteen, working to become a signalman, and only leaving the railways on retirement forty seven years later.

In his free time Sinkinson was a prolific, and well-respected, poet. Editions of his work were published with forwards by major figures such as Eric Treacy (Bishop of Wakefield and keen railway enthusiast) and Sir Peter Parker (Chairman of British Railways 1976-1983). He featured regularly in local newspapers and built a reputation as a friendly and charitable correspondent when it came to sharing and donating his poetry.

The Poet Laureate John Betjeman was a particular fan of his, carrying a copy of Sinkinson’s verse around in his pocket until worn through, and thoroughly recommending “The Laureate of the Lines” to those he met.

Sinkinson’s poetry was published in a series of anthologies including Flying Scotsman and other Railway Poems (1969) and Branch Line Charm (1983). Many were accompanied with sketches of machinery, people, and lines he observed on the railways.

Sinkinson’s poems describe railway work, or railway environments, in vivid detail. They describe not only his own experiences as a railwayman, but also others that would have been familiar to railway workers across Britain.

His ‘Railman’s Prayer’ sums up just how intense work could be on the railways:

God there are busy lines to cross,

And many rapid miles to run;

And laggard wheels are public loss,

And lives are precious, every one.