The Lost Cambridge to Mildenhall Railway
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
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Exploring the rise, fall and what remains of the Cambridge to Mildenhall railway. Might you consider supporting my channel even more? www.buymeacoff...
rediscoveringlostrailways@protonmail.com
Particular thanks to Coral Hatley for granting me permission to employ the archive footage featured in this film. Please visit: lode.ccan.co.uk/
Beautifully written, researched and edited. The recreation of the bomber attack on the train using the drone was a great idea. Thank you.
Thank you so much! If you could 'like' this film that would really help spread the word. That was about the only drone footage I got that day - it was so windy!
yes it was
I loved that bit.
A lovely insightful film! I feel it is worth mentioning for those interested, that the locomotive shown in this film regularly worked the Mildenhall branch (E4 class no.62785) and was preserved as the last of her type. She is on display at Bressingham Steam Museum restored to the original Great Eastern Railway livery.
I didn't know that - I will look out for it when I next find myself there!
Superb film as always!
The archive footage is remarkable! 👏👍🙂
Well, my own personal view is that closing any railway is the wrong decision!!
Thanks Ian! Very lucky to have been allowed to use that footage. Do like the film if you can as it helps to spread the word!
hear hear
It is beyond the intelligence of British politicians to retain railway routes after closure as strategic reserves. The wasteful selling off of parts of a formation to a private house or a radio telescope exemplifies this mindset; and of course, should, in future, a restoration be contemplated with a suitable detour, out will come the NIMBYs with placards throughout their villages.
I've been waiting for you to do this one. I grew up very close to the dismantled railway in one of the villages it passes by. Ever since I was young I've been fascinated by the old cuttings and bridges. I was sad when they demolished the bridge just outside Fordham about 15 years ago, it was great fun to go over on the school bus. Just like our very own rollercoaster!
I'm so glad that you were looking forward to the film. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Still so much to see along this fine railway!
A wonderful film, and lovely to have the archive footage spliced in to help me imagine what it was like. Excellent work, thank you for bothering.
My pleasure - and I was so grateful to be permitted use of this remarkable footage!
yes top bloke
Thank you for another great video and your time to make it.
Just one small point I'd like to make, the oil terminal near to Barnwell junction is anything but defunct, I can only think you refilmd it when Certas was spending £1.5 million on its referb and upgrade. 😁
Other than that small point, another brilliant film. Thank you.
Really very kind of you to say so, thank you... And I stand corrected! Many thanks indeed 🙂
Fantastic video as always. Beautifully edited and thoughtful presentation.
As for the decision to close it. Of course it was wise. Look at the resources required to to run it day to day, Then the maintenance. If were reopened today it would not pay for itself.
unfortunately nostalgia is not a currency but it is a marketable product that keeps many such lines operating as preserved railways and alike but only as non profit organisations.
Thank you very much! Yes, the writing was on the wall for this one - sparsely populated areas, stations at a distance from the population etc. Today, perhaps, it would have made for a very useful connection to Burwell - but not sure beyond that. Many thanks for your thoughts!
Great job!!! What amazing footage you found! I love love old railways and what they meant in history! Have you ever gotten in trouble for filming on private land? Great work!
Thanks so much! RE private land - I try to avoid this where I can, but where unavoidable I'm discrete. Once I have been approached I apologise and leave immediately, though when I explain what I'm doing, people are very accommodating. I wouldn't dream of going into gardens and the like, but open fields with no one about seems worth the risk!
Don't forget to subscribe, share, like and follow! Might you consider supporting my channel even more? www.buymeacoffee.com/rediscovering
I know it was closed on economic grounds but for some it is priceless, Aherns had it for sale and if i was fortunate enough to have that sort of money, i would buy it, memories are priceless
I wish they hadn't closed it as it would have provided a more pleasant journey to Burwell and Fordham. I understand they closed it due to the line not being very profitable but I do wish it had been partially preserved so that the preserved T26 No. 490 could run along her old stomping grounds again. Thank you for the great video on a much beloved and forgotten branch.
Delightful, nostalgic but rather sad. Thank you.
Thank you - bittersweet, perhaps?
I love footage like this of the old railways and stations, routes and bridges. I guess there is a bit of an anorak in us all!
Ok maybe its only me😁
We 'suffer' under the same illness - and thankfully there's no cure!
Thank you for posting. Thanks too for the inclusion of the archive footage.
My pleasure - I was lucky to be granted permission to use it - sadly this isn't always possible!
simply wonderful and beautiful , oh how i wish i could go to those simpler times , thanks to to you at least we can get a real glimpse , god bless from wigan lancashire , full of lost railways too
Thanks for your kind words and ongoing support!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways the pleasure was mine
My Great-Grandfather witnessed the German attack on the train. He was farming on a field right next to the track at watched the plane circle above the track until the pilot went in for the attack. My Grandad still works the land there and he told me the story about his dad watching the plane this morning ironically.
Quite remarkable! I really hoped there might've been some pictures of the aftermath, but alas, it wasn't to be. Thank you for sharing your memories 🙂
That happened, I think on the new Romney branch, except that this time the boiler blew up and brought down the German strafer!
I walked part of this when I was aged about 7, to Lode. So interesting to see the whole line and how it now looks some 35 years later. Thank you!
My absolute pleasure, thank you!
Very interesting! Great job!
Thank you! Cheers!
Each documentary you make shines with terrific presentation, narration and photography, Permit me to remark on the music. Sounds like the style of Steve Reich or Phillip Glass but to me it sounds really unsuitable to the content. When you put Vaughan-Williams (I think it was him) the aptness blended with the content and it became part of the film. Here it doesn't.
Thanks for your thoughts. Ah yes, the music - something different this time - believe me I love the Vaughan Williams etc, but the trouble is that this imposes restrictions on the films, including adverts popping up mid-film or audiences restricted to certain countries. For this reason I've had to go down the route of a royalty free music service. I always value the criticism of my long term subscribers and hope that it doesn't put you off watching future films 🙂
Thanks again for this brilliant documentary film. Thank you, you should have your own TV slot.
Thanks so much! Do please 'like' it and share widely - that would be much appreciated!
Just about remember travelling on this line with my parents and as a very young child; alighting Worlington Halt to stay with my Great Aunt & Uncle who owned a small farm in Worlington. Then my Father bought his first second hand car in 1953 - so no more train journeys!
What wonderful memories! A different time altogether, no doubt!
Another excellent film of another forgotten line, thank you for posting! 😃👍
Thanks ever so much Andy!
That was simply wonderful. Thank you for sharing such a well made film. I'm of an age where I often find 'What was', far more likeable than 'What is'. Thanks again.
My pleasure - it was a delight to make and I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the result 🙂
How did I miss this one!. Excellent film yet again. Thank you.
I'm just glad you found it - can't have a long-term subscriber such as yourself missing an episode!
I've always had an interest in railroads have any kind. I grew up on the New York centrals East west road from Chicago to Detroit. About 100 meters from the main tracks. Still remember the steam engine why I was a little boy. I really enjoy Great discovering last rare ways. Although it has no relevance to me directly I find it Quite nice for the folks who live in Great Britain. I am subscribed to your channel.
Forgive the Typographical errors. I use google voice for typing
Thanks so much for your kind words and your subscription. I share your enthusiasm - railways are a secret word operating in plain sight 🙂
Excellent work! 👌
Many thanks indeed!
Thoroughly enjoyed this new chapter in your work
I'm so glad, most kind of you to say so!
So much research has gone into this, great history of this line. Really enjoyed this.
It has indeed - I get quite carried away! So glad you enjoyed the film 🙂
Another interesting video, you certainly did your homework on this line. The archive footage shows so much that was lost.
Nowadays, maybe a Parry People Mover or light rail would have kept it open.
The drone footage about the train being shot at was a great idea too.
It reminded me of the Kilmarnock incident, where a German bomber saw the light from the firebox of a locomotive and tried to bomb the train, luckily they missed, but destroyed a house adjacent to the line. Today, the more modern house can still be seen. The other bombs landed in the nearby cemetery.
That was at Kay Park Junction, where the Riccarton branch came off the Nith Valley GSWR line.
Your videos should be on TV, they are certainly good enough.
That's a great story - sounds like the plane attack was not an isolated incident! Really glad you liked the film. Today I think there would be demand for a railway between Burwell and Cambridge, or at least some light rail system 🙂
All your videos are an absolute delight, and the work you put into them is much appreciated. It always seems the sixties were just a few years ago until you count back. Thank you so much for this wonderful footage.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my films. I do so enjoy making them! Many more to come. Thanks for your support!
I enjoyed this, thank you very much. Nice to see the archive footage too.
What a treat it was to be given permission to use it. I've secured the use of archive footage for my film concerning the Oxford, Witney and Fairford railway which I'm making this summer 🙂
The contemporary views were well enhanced by the historic footage. The boy on the platform at Mildenhall could still be amongst us.
He could be, yes! I was delighted to be allowed permission to use this footage 🙂
Thanks for the documentary of the lovely line through Cambs.
Just one thing...there's no 'w' in Quy - think Kai when pronouncing! Lovely place though!
My pleasure - and thanks for the tip!
Considerable research has been done prior to the uploads on this channel. It would be of great interest to students of archeology and survey. 👍👍
Thank you indeed - yes I try and research as much as I can - it is well worth doing!
Does everything have to be about money? How many lives have been lost on the A14 in the fogs of winter? I have fond memories of travelling on this line in my childhood. On seeing the engine driver, my brother said 'look at that dirty old man!" He replied that it was a dirty job. Nowadays people would PAY to do it if it meant driving the 'Mildenhall Flyer'!
Great memories, thanks for sharing!
Living in Exeter now but brought up in Bury St Eds. in the 50s so had the good fortune to travel on some of the lines that are now gone; Bury to Thetford for example. Fascinated in history and archaeology..
Some fine lost railways in Devon! I wonder of the nostalgic view so many of us have for the railways of the past actually meets up with reality - only people such as yourself who travelled these lines can tell us! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Another good video thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it! You can help ever so much by giving it a 'like'!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Always mate 😃
A very enjoyable and nostalgic film from a beautiful bygone age. So sad to see all those branch lines gone forever but at least the memories will live on. Thank you for all the work that went into the making of this film it is much appreciated.
Glad you enjoyed it, do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films!
Lovely! Thank you
Thank you for saying so!
My grandparents lied and worked at Swaffham Prior station and I spent most of my childhood there. They told me about the King visiting. They had to keep very quiet about it at the time.
Thank you for this excellent video.
My pleasure, thank you for your kind words about my film!
How peaceful it is to watch, and learn from your considerable talent and efforts. Once more you make a video of pure class........thank you.
Very kind of you to say so my friend, so glad you enjoyed the film!
Cant praise these films highly enough, wouldn’t be the least bit out of place on the BBC
Thank you so much for saying so!
Great Video lots of work around Cambridge and lots of new houses around the areas covered. If railway could have lasted another 10 years it could have been still be in use
I think this is especially true of the Cambridge - Burwell portion!
Another very interesting video. I remember visiting Anglesey Abbey as a child and had no idea a former railway was so close.
Glad you enjoyed it
On our social cycle ride on Friday night, we were talking about your channel as we looked at the trackbed that's going to be part of the Chisholm Trail. And lo, you give us this! Good timing!
My Mum used to use this line between Cambridge and her home town of Mildenhall in the 50s.
That was good timing indeed! It seems like it might still be a useful railway today!
An exceptionally skilful mix of archive footage with what remains. A very sad loss. Thanks must go, particularly, to the cameraman who recorded the line during its last days of operation.
Many thanks indeed 🙏 and agreed RE the cameraman!
In the late 1950s, as a very small boy, I travelled by train from London to Burwell accompanied by my paternal grandparents, my grandmother originating from Exning, about halfway to Newmarket, to stay with a grand uncle and aunt in a former convent in Burwell. There was a substantial vegetable garden and beyond that chickens scratched amongst ruined stone walls while providing eggs and dinner. What the ruins were I know not. My uncle had not long since given up keeping pigs. One of the ground floor rooms was a huge kitchen with a cast iron range from which my aunt produced the most fantastic dinners.
I don't recall much about the journey other than boarding what seemed to be a very peculiar train at Cambridge which, I've since learnt was an AC railcar.
Wonderful memories, thank you for sharing. My better half comes from Exning so I know the area quite well!
I was waiting for the next one!!! What an interesting intro. I love these videos. Thank you again.
So glad it didn't disappoint - always value the feedback from my long-term subscribers!
I think they should have kept the route and used it ad part of the Cambridge guided busway that way the route would still exist and Cambridge wouldn't be quite so busy.
Certainly some sort of public transport option would've been good, especially between Burwell and Cambridge!
"The engine would be orientated to the direction of travel". So much better than "turned around"
I try to raise the game a bit! 😁
Brilliant program, always look forward to the latest release, fascinating content
Thanks ever so much indeed!
What a fantastic video.I live locally and it brings it to life as things once were.well Done!!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, always good to get the approval of someone in the locality! 🙂
i think you're the only channel i am subscribed to where i don't even need to watch your video; it automatically gets a like
great work, as usual! loved the addition of the archive footage and the drone footage!
Thanks so much for your kind words about my film and for supporting my channel. Much appreciated 🙂
Superb as always my good man , i never understood why this branch closed esp' with the massive USAF bases at Mildo; and Lakenheath with connections to London
Thanks so much! One of the articles I read gave some fascinating reasons as to why the line closed - chief among them was that it was just run badly!
Can we have more from around Suffolk Norfolk and Essex
I can certainly look into it!
Did enjoy that 👏🏻
Thank you ever so much! If you are able to like the film it would really help spread the word!
Yet another beautifully researched and presented video. Thank you, we appreciate the time these videos must take to produce.
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film. Making them is my very great pleasure 🙂
yes we very much do , what a smashin bloke
Thank you for creating a wonderfully informative video. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and am glad that some of the beautiful old stations continue to be well kept and loved.
Me too - remarkable that only one station building has been demolished (Burwell). The halts had no buildings to destroy!
Fantastic, lovely too see the Mildenhall Branch some justice. Have you considered or heard of the Kelvedon & Tollesbury Railway, another very interesting little railway which I highly recommend you look into.
Thank you for your kind words about my film and for your recommendation!
Excellent, a well researched and presented video, enjoyed this very much, looking forward to more of your videos.
Thank you very much indeed! Many more films to come 🙂
We had two old railway lines in Long Melford from Sudbury. One closed before Beeching and the other from his report. Walked it many many times. Shame it closed 😕
One of my early films concerned itself with the Cambridge to Sudbury line - still so much to see - thanks for your comment!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I have watched that film a couple of times, thats how I found your channel. The line to Bury St Edmunds has very little left, most of it was filled in after closure.
Brilliant ! Dumpman Films is a big fan of this and your other productions, great stuff.
Thank you very much indeed! Very kind of you to say so.
Loved that! thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it! Do 'like' it if you can and share as this really helps others to find this channel!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I always click your like button no worries!
Thank you for another excellent video. To answer your question though. While it would obviously be great if the line had been maintained, these things were not run as a charitable enterprise and economic forces clearly came to the fore. It would be interesting however to consider if it had survived what usage it would see today?
Thank you for your kind words about my film. Agreed RE closure. I think a service between Burwell and Cambridge would perhaps be of more use to today's commuters over and above a service between Cambridge and Mildenhall... But I stand to be corrected!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways oh I think I would agree with that too 🙂
What a fantastic video. The link to the vintage film with your own journey along the line was superb and brought everything back to life again.
Was the decision to close the line correct? Probably if looking at it in a pure monitary way. As a lifline for all the people who lived in the villages and towns along the line, it should have been kept open.
Thanks so much for your kind words about my film. I agree with your assessment - financially it was a no brainer... Socially however...
Your videos have been a great help for me in rekinding my childhood's love of trains, that now have mix with my love for history.
I have been inspired by you to try do this kind of videos for the railway of my country ( Denmark). Could you give a novice like me some trips on how you do the logistics behind those videos?
I'm delighted that you have enjoyed my films and feel inspired to make your own. First, find a map and choose your selected route - choose a well known one with plenty of remaining infrastructure. Use your map to see to what extent you can access it. Use a video camera to film your work. Then download some editing software - I use Lightworks - and experiment with your film making. I would advise that you don't try and make your best film first - just experiment and see what happens. Let me know how you get on!
thanks for the tips. the first line, I will work with is a small one, so I can use it as a testing ground for what works.
I have two small questions to ask.
What kind of video camera would work with this kind of filming?
what kind of transport do you use for those videos? do you walk/hiking or use a bicycle?
@@kiankier7330 Glad to help! I use a Sony camcorder as I like to be able to do slow zoom outs. As for walking/driving/cycling, I usually do a mixture, but it really depends on where the railway was and how much access there is to it 🙂
Enjoyed walking this line a couple of months ago great video loved seeing it as it was great work thanks
It is a fine one to walk. Still so much to see!
A brilliant video I really enjoyed this loving in central beds these lines are not too far from me. It is odd to think our way of life today and the closure of certain things today which we mostly ignore will maybe be seen with the same nostalgia as the ways of life back then.
Thank Connar - I agree with your remarks. And I'm in the same county too - my nearest lost railway is the Cambridge to Oxford Varsity Line.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways ahhh that’s cool my nearest line is the old hitchin to Bedford line which you did a wonderful video on.
A beautiful video (as always) and made especially effective by the use of the archive footage, well done and many thanks for your efforts in the making of these videos.
My pleasure, thank you. I was delighted to be given permission to use the footage, a real treat!
Farcinating footage and beautifully composed footage. Your research is such a credit to you. One of my best loved RUclips channels. As for the sustainability of this line I guess economics necessarily have to play out and unfortunately the lines demise inevitably concluded with its closure.
Thanks ever so much for your kind words about my film. I agree with your assessment - howls of 'it should never have closed' are all very well, but if the service is not paying for itself...
Being local, this is a fascinating slice of history.
Thank you indeed. I used to live in Cambridge and my wife's family is from Exning, so I understand your sense of connection - do feel free to share the film and give it a like 🙂
A really great video. But can I be allowed one gripe? The background 'music' is irritating and drowns out the narrative. T.v programmes are guilty of this which is why I generally prefer RUclips. Please do t feel the need to go down that same 'track' .
Thank-you and comment taken on board. It is something I'm conscious of in my film making and I don't always get it right. It sounds different on different devices. But yes, point taken.
so much history witin a line a lost line waiting to be rediscovered years after abandonment,,,, excellent vid as always and the journey footage mad this vid extra special.... i cant wait to see which line you feature next time!
Thanks for your comment and kind words about my film. Stay tuned as there's so much more on its way! And you're absolutely right - so much history in such a short stretch of line!
Lived in Fen Ditton in 1957 to 1959. Often used this train nicknamed the "Ditton Dilly" to travel to Cambridge. I loved the E4s, great little engines. They were later replaced by a railbus in 1958.
Great memories, thanks for sharing 👍
I'd love to know how much more passenger traffic there was from the RAF base at Mildenhall, particularly during WW11. I believe Americans were also based there back then.
Another cracking video BTW. 👍
Yes, I wonder? Really glad you enjoyed the film 🎥
Indeed a lovely simpler time.
I find it disturbing to see that bridge covered in graffiti.
What sort of world are theses perpetrators going to endure.
Also old stations were attached by vandals and burn to the ground.
The old Great Eastern branch from Seven sisters to Palace gates springs to mind.
Sadly all gone ALL GONE!
Graffiti is such a blight!
Another superb documentary. Thank you. The juxtaposition of archive footage and modern scenes is particularly effective.
Thank you. I was very lucky to secure the archive footage for this. Do subscribe if you've not already done so as I'm trying to incorporate such footage into as many films as possible, including the Oxford, Witney and Fairford railway!
Enjoyable and well made video. Thank you for documenting the past and allowing us to enjoy it.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you - and my pleasure!
A nice touch is the sound effect of a projector at the beginning of this video.
The colour film sequences of the line as it once was, are wonderful.
A definite upgrade of the original video.
Thank you - yes, given that these films had no original sound, it pays to add some to make the fine archive footage all the more vivacious,
It's been a while since the last time I saw one of your (excellent , anyway) videos. I have to ... refill the gap!
Very beautiful images and locations. Serious and calm speaking. And of course...correct british English, so much different than that sort of (american) Enlgish spoken in the NBA-related videos that I usually watch!
Welcome back to my channel - I hope you enjoy everything you've missed! Thank you for your kind words about my film - it is much appreciated 🙂
Excellent footage as usual. Yet another east-west(ish) line from East Anglia removed. If you want to travel from the Midlands to Norfolk or Suffolk now you have to go via London (yay - not). And yes I know they're working on that East West Rail thing but that's Oxford to Cambridge; not exactly East Anglia is it?
BTW, if you require a challenge try Beccles (Suffolk) to Great Yarmouth South Town (Norfolk) - once a route 4 times as busy as Norwich station :)
Thank you for your kind words about my film and I'm so pleased that you enjoyed it. Thanks also for the recommendation - I'll look into it!
A nice opening shot of one of BR's last E4 2-4-0s (which failed to shew anything below the footplate). In my 1922 (railway Magazine) photo of Fen Ditton halt, a lady appears to be using a retractable set of steps on the carriage, as part of the 'halt' experiment.
I've seen a photo of the retractable stair arrangement - very practical! I bow to your superior knowledge of steam trains, too 🙂
Absolutely fantastic videos. So professional, well researched and filmed. Thank you
You are very kind, thank you for saying so. Next video is out on Thursday, so do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series 😀
I know the area well and it is intriguing to see how these still quite small towns and villages were once linked by rail. The archive footage is excellent, and it is wonderful to see the J15 0-6-0 locomotives going about their work. These were built by the GER at their Stratford works and thankfully a sole survivor of the class is stabled on the North Norfolk heritage railway.
I think that if the rail system had remained in place between Burwell and Cambridge, this would have been a very popular line today!
A bitter-sweet presentation, thanks. I love those E4 locos and glad that one survives in York National Railway Museum
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you very much!
A very interesting video. Having lived in Cambridge some years ago , near the fen ditton , I always did wonder about the few , but noticeable relics still visible.
Glad to be of service. So much still to see!
As always, a fascinating, but sad journey. Cutting in archive footage really brought the line alive with its smart little stations. Good to see some repurposed. Hopefully the boarded up one is getting a new lease of life too. Thank you for a lovely film!
Always glad to get the approval of a long time subscriber! Thanks so much. Yes, that archive footage is wonderful - how I'd love o be able to include such footage in all my films!
A great video!👍🙂 My dad is from Lode and remembers it all quite vividly. So sad it went along with so many other lines.I imagine most people probably wish we still had it, with parking and congestion as it is in Cambridge now.I have got the same archive film on video, a little longer,but the clarity is not quite as good case yours.
If nothing else, keeping the line from Burwell to Cambridge would've been great. It really is a fascinating line to explore.
A good documentary requires excellent research and as much evidence as can be found. This video ticks ALL the boxes....excellent work. Thank you for your time and effort.
So very kind of you to say so. I try to get the balance right between satiating the interests of the enthusiast and the passing curiosity of those who chance across my films!
Curiosity got the better of me and I've answered my own question. 62785 reached preservation and was the last 2-4-0 running in Britain.
Thanks for the info - I have a thimbleful of knowledge when it comes to steam train classes and types!
Sorry I'm late too the party as I was away with hardly any wifi 🙄
Anyway I have now watched your most excellent documentary.
I will call it that rather than a video as you really do a sterling job in researching and making your films.
So once again Thank you so much for sharing my friend 👏🏻
I did intend to do the Witham to Maldon branch line walk.
Which you did sometime ago now but lockdown happend, So I'm hoping to do it one weekend soon.
All the best to you sir 🤝🏻
😀🍻👍🏻
So pleased you enjoyed the film. Always glad to get the approval of one of my long term subscribers! I hope you have the chance to undertake that walk of the Maldon lines, you won't be disappointed!
Historical/archival movie film can always stand on its own. Here, you've nicely spliced in snippets of appropriate footage to resurrect the old railway in your presentation of what remains. Doing so brings the line back to life, if only for just a few moments. Nicely done.
2:41 The main is protected by a derail in the branch line's trackage visible in the lower-right.
Little wonder you're so expert at strafing trains, RLR, given that F-35 you shot down when first practicing your drone flying.
Yes, the archive footage was a boon to this and I've been lucky enough to include similar footage in some forthcoming films. Pleased with that drone shot too - we all know my propensity for strafing transport of one kind or another!
Its great there's footage of a trip made on the line. It really adds to the video. I travelled from cambridge to colchester on the line via newmarket where it connects with the line from ely. I'm surprised that it still exists, I remember it being a single track going through the urban sprawl and the train mostly empty.
Yes, it's great footage isn't it!
In the mid/late 40's my mother would take me from Burwell to Mildenhall on this train. Apparently I would refuse to continue on foot to Barton Mills until I'd seen the engine rotated on the roundabout. In my mind I seem to remember being allowed to help in the operation but that might well be wishful thinking.
Thankyou.
Wonderful memories, thanks for sharing 👍
Most of the stations in the "in use" archival footage remind me of "The Avengers'" episode "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station" which I thought was delightful.
I'll have to check that out!
A marvellous piece of work which I've watched several times. I think your narrative style is delightful.
I'm so glad it stands up to repeat viewings, thank you for your kind words about my film 🙂
Yet another insight into a railway long gone and although the recent annoucement heralds the Great British Railways, we're probably fooling ourselves. Like all your films, it was a pleasure to watch. I look forward to others. Many thanks.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the film, there's still much to see. Alas I doubt this could've remained open owing to mismanagement and poor financial returns, but I suspect a railway between Cambridge and Burwell would, today, be most welcome! Yes, not holding my breath for great British Railways, but I look forward to seeing the new livery!
Well yes ,I did enjoy that film very much! Thankyou for producing it so expertly!
Very kind of you to say so, thank you
What a wonderfully evocative video, splendidly researched, and a nostalgic reminder of days now long gone. It's sobering to see the men who worked in the stations who made it their business day by day to ensure that all went according to plan. The pride that ordinary people were once able to take in their daily occupations is now sadly replaced by modern "improvements". Unfortunately I felt the video was marred by the unnecessary and intrusive "plonking" music and I was obliged to mute it after 9 minutes and rely on the subtitles.
Glad you enjoyed the film, thanks for saying so!
Another outstanding piece of research, so eloquently told …. Absolutely brilliant
Roll on the next episode
Thank you
Very kind of you to say so, really glad you enjoyed the film!
Very well presented, the archive film was taken by well known local historian & railway enthusiast the late Michael Gates on 8mm film shortly before closure of the branch.
Thanks for your comment and kind words about my film - moreover thank you for letting me know the provenance of the archive material, which I had not been able to determine!