Today we are off on a train journey…from Melton Constable to Yarmouth Beach…calling at Corpusty & Saxthorpe, Aylsham, Felmingham, North Walsham and Horning.

Then we arrive at Stalham, Catfield, Potter Heigham, Martham, Hemsby,  Great Ormsby – there are halts at Scratby, California and Caister Camp, Newtown before our destination at Yarmouth Beach,

Our fellow passengers are likely to be, in summer months, locals and holidaymakers looking forward to arriving in good old Norfolk.

Many of the lines and stations across East Anglia which have been long gone would have been forgotten about if it hadn’t been for two railway enthusiasts  Richard Adderson and the late Graham Kenworthy.

(Image: Middleton Press)

Together they produced many books published by the brilliant and world-famous Middleton Press series, looking at the railways of Norfolk and Suffolk over the years.

As time moves on they become more important as memory fades of the large network of railway lines and stations which criss-crossed East Anglia.

The Melton Constable to Yarmouth Beach route initially followed the River Bure until Corpusty where river and railway parted company and the line carried on through typical Broadland scenery.

Being part of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway for many years, this route had many unusual characteristic.

Ambling through peaceful rural landscapes, the trains had charming rural backdrops, mostly now long forgotten, but recorded in the Middleton Press album first published in 2007.

(Image: M&GNR, R.J.Adderson collection)

Stations and lines opened in the 1870s and 80s with various changes and improvements being made on the 40-mile route.

The July service of 1938 indicates the efforts made to cater for holidaymakers heading our way.

Whereas there were only six through trains from Melton to Yarmouth, four of which served all stations, the “seaside” end of the line saw eight trains shuttling between Potter Heigham and Yarmouth calling at all stations plus halts.

Nationalisation of the whole railway system followed on January 1, 1948, and, on February 28, 1959, the route became part of the largest single closure in railway history when, at one stroke, passenger services on the former M&GN system were withdrawn from nearly 180 miles of railway.

*Melton Constable to Yarmouth Beach by Richard Adderson and Graham Kenworthy was published by Middleton Press in 2007 and are available from the publishers and it is worth having a look for this and others in the series at City Books in Norwich.

Next time… we are off heading off from Wymondham to travel to Wells on the picturesque Mid-Norfolk Railway.

(Image: Supplied)

 

(Image: Supplied)

 

(Image: M&GN Trust).)

(Image: Philip Standley Collection)

Thank you Edna

Following my stories about the old city centre livestock market I heard from Edna Stevenson, aged 97.

She was born in a yard off Timber Hill and spent a lot of time at the old cattle market.

“One day an old farmer got me and my sister under each arm and took us home, afraid the cattle would stamp on us,” she said.

“We used to climb on the pens and then follow them down to Trowse where they put them in a field.

“My parents then got a new council house up Mile Cross. I lost my sister and I am the only one left in my family,” she added.

Lovely to hear from you Edna.