When the bungalow opposite the Co-op was being built, and the well being prepared, they had to dig well below the rock face before striking cold water. The first lot of street lights were erected in 1956–57. Main drainage came in 1964. In 1961 St Lawrence's Church was presented with its East Window by the Bergne-Coupland family. The window was designed by Edward Payne, of Box, Gloucestershire, and depicts the Ascending Christ and his disciples. A plaque nearby explains that the disciples' faces were based on Mr Payne's friends and neighbours: "Recently, a (now elderly) man visited this church to see a picture of himself representing the disciple, Peter." From the 1940s to the 1960s a familiar sight from Ferry Lane would have been a pleasure boat on the Fossdyke called the "Mary Gordon", which took parties of passengers between Gainsborough, Lincoln and Boston. The "Mary Gordon" is currently exhibited in the grounds of the Pyewipe Inn, beside the Fossdyke on the edge of the parish of Skellingthorpe, and is remarkable for being the oldest electric powered riverboat still in existence. It was built in 1898 in London. By 1971, Skellingthorpe’s population had risen steadily to 2’593. This was more than three times what had been just forty years earlier, and thirteen times what it had been in 1801. The Community Centre and Youth Hall were built in 1973 on the site of the railway station, to address the need for a larger venue for the growing number of village events and organisations. These included the Women's Institute, the Wives Group, children's parties, proms, weddings and fund-raising events. Previously, the venue had been the Village Hall, established in 1928, although this had grown too small for its purpose by the 1970s. Skellingthorpe railway station closed to passengers in 1955, although the line continued to carry freight until 1979. A 1975 report on railway accidents by the Department of Transport observed that there had recently been a serious derailment 'at Skellingthorpe'. A loaded mineral wagon in a fully fitted freight train derailed at 40 mph, dragging nineteen other wagons into derailment and causing extensive damage to the single track. A 35 mph speed limit existed on the branch, but the driver was adamant he had not been speeding; on examination a fault was found in the speedometer, caused by water in the cable, which led to its reading 10 mph slow at 40 mph.