I have a dream of living in a former railway station. While most of the stations on the line between North Walsham and Yarmouth are long gone, Stalham Station building remains in railway use as the NNR's Holt Station.
When I was in the Met Offace at Hemsby in 1968, if one went to the cinema in Yarmouth and stayed to the end of the film, one missed the last bus so it was a dash rounf to Yarmouth Beach station to take the train.
Also, how many people using the roads in Norfolk realise they are travelling on former rail routes as is exampled by Sutton Bridge?.. This being part of the old M&GN route. Nice memory refresher from someone who holidayed at Caistor holiday camp in 1957 and 58 arriving by train from Nottingham. Thank you.
It enters into the realms of conspiracy theory to me, that it was a deliberate move by government to replace rails with roads. But, many railway routes found themselves with tarmac where rails and ballast once were. The A149 pretty much follows the route of the M&GN to the Norfolk Coast. Short sighted choice, leaving our road network overcrowded and a railway network with no room for expansion.
Exactly, short sighted by a long way. With present day thinking and wishing to put back railway routes ripped up during the early 1960s in the Beeching plan@@AdventuresWithTrains
@Exparcelman I travelled over it many times as a child, thinking it was far too grand to have been built just to carry road vehicles. It wasn't until years later I learnt that it at one time carried both trains and road vehicles. The Ivatt Standard Class 4MT 2-6-0s dwarves road vehicles of the time.
@@AdventuresWithTrains M&GN more scenic than GER. M&GN ran through the highest and most attractive countryside in Norfolk. Thursford was highest station in Norfolk followed by Melton Constable.
@adamsfamily4060 compared to the GER route, the M&GN was seen as a rural winding byway that went from nowhere to somewhere. British Railways saw it as unprofitable to keep open, yet it's winding nature, meant it linked many rural villages and Hamlets with the wider railway network, that the GER had avoided by going for the direct routes between large towns and cities. The people of Yarmouth had a direct link to Lowestoft before the closure of the Breydon Swing bridge.
@AdventuresWithTrains I lived at Briston. From Melton we travelled to Yarmouth Lynn Sheringham Cromer and Norwich. With up to 80 passenger trains between South Lynn and Yarmouth on summer Saturdays, we considered the M&GN, a main line. I believe the M&GN provided a better service to the Midlands than GER.
The M&GN was a largely unnecessary network catering for only locan traffic and, strategically, midland and GN access to GER territory. But, wouldn't it be LOVELY to have the M&GN, in its entirety, today.
Class 31s were considered ugly when they were replacing elegant steam locomotives that had been considered ugly when they replaced the pre grouping steam locomotives. Hindsight is always in 20/20!
@@AdventuresWithTrains Well then let's have a steam locomotive. Like today I'm going from Poole to Corfe Castle to get on the Swanage railway for free. I've bought a life time pass, plus I've got a free bus pass.
Don't forget to subscribe, it will really help my channel to grow!
I tried that on my channel, rare get a sub then 2 go off, no comments
Interesting video, thanks for posting. Our railway losses are tragic and when all the old buildings have also gone
I have a dream of living in a former railway station. While most of the stations on the line between North Walsham and Yarmouth are long gone, Stalham Station building remains in railway use as the NNR's Holt Station.
Thanks for posting this. Brings back memories.
Glad you enjoyed it, if time travel were a thing, I would love to go back and travel the full length of the M&GN to Yarmouth and back again.
I wonder how many people realise their coastal walk on Caister Beach takes them along a former track bed?
Good question, I didn't realise it was there until I started looking into making this video.
Good job
When I was in the Met Offace at Hemsby in 1968, if one went to the cinema in Yarmouth and stayed to the end of the film, one missed the last bus so it was a dash rounf to Yarmouth Beach station to take the train.
Also, how many people using the roads in Norfolk realise they are travelling on former rail routes as is exampled by Sutton Bridge?.. This being part of the old M&GN route. Nice memory refresher from someone who holidayed at Caistor holiday camp in 1957 and 58 arriving by train from Nottingham. Thank you.
It enters into the realms of conspiracy theory to me, that it was a deliberate move by government to replace rails with roads. But, many railway routes found themselves with tarmac where rails and ballast once were. The A149 pretty much follows the route of the M&GN to the Norfolk Coast. Short sighted choice, leaving our road network overcrowded and a railway network with no room for expansion.
Exactly, short sighted by a long way.
With present day thinking and wishing to put back railway routes ripped up during the early 1960s in the Beeching plan@@AdventuresWithTrains
Cross Keys Bridge at Sutton Bridge is a great piece of engineering, road one side and rail the other.
@Exparcelman I travelled over it many times as a child, thinking it was far too grand to have been built just to carry road vehicles. It wasn't until years later I learnt that it at one time carried both trains and road vehicles. The Ivatt Standard Class 4MT 2-6-0s dwarves road vehicles of the time.
How used to be, and it worked well for the most part, but time marches on, so does progress, if that's what we call it!
Travelled Derby friar gate to Yarmouth this line 1955 for summer holiday
Was it more or less scenic than going the GER route?
@@AdventuresWithTrains M&GN more scenic than GER. M&GN ran through the highest and most attractive countryside in Norfolk. Thursford was highest station in Norfolk followed by Melton Constable.
@adamsfamily4060 compared to the GER route, the M&GN was seen as a rural winding byway that went from nowhere to somewhere. British Railways saw it as unprofitable to keep open, yet it's winding nature, meant it linked many rural villages and Hamlets with the wider railway network, that the GER had avoided by going for the direct routes between large towns and cities. The people of Yarmouth had a direct link to Lowestoft before the closure of the Breydon Swing bridge.
@AdventuresWithTrains I lived at Briston. From Melton we travelled to Yarmouth Lynn Sheringham Cromer and Norwich. With up to 80 passenger trains between South Lynn and Yarmouth on summer Saturdays, we considered the M&GN, a main line. I believe the M&GN provided a better service to the Midlands than GER.
The M&GN was a largely unnecessary network catering for only locan traffic and, strategically, midland and GN access to GER territory. But, wouldn't it be LOVELY to have the M&GN, in its entirety, today.
Not wrong on this. I would much prefer the M&GN route to running via Ely or using the A47 by car.
Your vid. has 1 of those ugly Stadler train. I prefer to see a class 31 nice train.
Class 31s were considered ugly when they were replacing elegant steam locomotives that had been considered ugly when they replaced the pre grouping steam locomotives. Hindsight is always in 20/20!
@@AdventuresWithTrains Well then let's have a steam locomotive. Like today I'm going from Poole to Corfe Castle to get on the Swanage railway for free. I've bought a life time pass, plus I've got a free bus pass.
@@AdventuresWithTrains 31 in BR days were rusty relics not the likes of Preserved railway