The railway

Categories: general-nonsense

Date: 18 August 2010 09:21:31

There was a train crash yesterday on the Sudbury to Marks Tey line, which the BBC and others have reported on. It is a train line which runs through the small village of Bures and I have very many happy memories of.

I thought today, as I continue to pray for the injured, I would share a little about the line. Some of the  history of the line can be found on the Sudbury Line website and more is to be added, it appears.

The line itself was opened on 2nd July 1849, going between Marks Tey and Sudbury. Over the years it expanded and joined with other lines, before shrinking back to the original 11 miles again. During the 1860's a line to Melford and eventually Bury St. Edmunds was opened, and my great, great (think I have got the number right), grandfather was the station master at Melford station. A bit of history can be found on this site, (which looks at interesting lettering in and around Ipswich).

The line goes through some stunning countryside in what is now largely commuter country. The crash happened on the part of the line which goes out past the Stour Valley  water meddows. When I was a child it was under a constant threat of closure, because Beeching had earmarked it but somehow it never quite got chopped and I know my grandparents were amongst those who fought for its retention. In time what happened was that they stopped trains going straight through to Colchester St. Botolphs and instead terminated the service at Marks Tey to connect with trains going to London in one direction and Ipswich or Clacton (both via Colchester) in the other. This site shows some pictures and talks about the axe of the line to Cambridge.

The line goes through  Chappel and Wakes Colne station which houses the East Anglian Railway Museum. Just beyond the station is the viadduct. Looking down onto Chappel from it was always a thrill as a kid as it really was like looking down onto toy town.