1957 Saxmundham to Aldeburgh Railway line, with Flanders & Swann, the slow train

[GeorgeBrooks09]

I can see my house at 1:24!

[APublicDomain]

0.35... Chorlton cum Hardy, my home town, The new tram line opens this April, along the same line they closed all those years ago at a cost of untold millions. Short sighted bureaucrats and money grubbers, swinging the axe and catching the cash.

Great video and song, ta very much,

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

I just found out last night that the only person who can authorise closure of a line is the Secretary of State for Transport, so techincally it's incorrect to say that Beeching closed all these lines! He would've only recommended the closures as Chairman of the British Railways Board.

[TrevsMum]

Wonderful - thank you - but oh! how sad :(

[Fidodog08]

What I nice bit of video/cine married up well to a sound track!

[cleckheatoncentral]

Yes, the branch is still there, it goes through Leiston and terminates near Sizewell. I once thought would it by great if the line got restored as a heritage attraction. Sadly Aldeburgh station is history and I'm not a multi-millionare!!!

[dkbmaestrorules]

@cleckheatoncentral Well don't give up hope just yet. I don't know if you've heard that the Long Shop Museum in Leiston (the former Garret works) have just restored a funny little loco called Sirapite that used to work there. Anyway, they have plans to rebuild the 'tramway' through Leiston to the old station, and there has even been talk of running on a bit of the branch from time to time - since there's only about one train a week it shouldn't be difficult fitting it in...

[casselsjoe]

I often walk on the footpath alongside the start of this line. I'd love to be able to catch a train to Aldeburgh.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

I believe there is still a branch line near Saxmundham that's still open for freight - it wouldn't be part of this line, by any chance?

[bridgelangley]

I beleive the line to sizewell power station is still open.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@bridgelangley Yes, that's the one! Is it part of this line?

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

I've just noticed the text at the end - it is indeed part of this line!

[gusgorilla76]

Wow! That was emotional. I know this area well as my grandparents were both from Saxmundham area. I just about remember seeing passenger trains moving along this line, when Sizewell power station was being built. Aldeburgh was one of our summer holiday haunts (sadly not on the train, but in Grandad's dove-grey Morris 1100, reg. no. KEV 885C).

[bridgelangley]

Glad you enjoyed it! I trust you've had a look at the lifeboat carnival one's as well for a nostalic look back at Aldeburgh. sadly i don't hink i have any cine of Sax though

[JimTLonW6]

Very enjoyable video; am I correct that this line actually merited two units? If so, I'm amazed!

I wonder if Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears ever used this line?

[xxxChrist]

That was fabulous, so sad these lines have gone but we're so lucky that the technology was available to record them, and that now we are able to see them via YouTube.

[bridgelangley]

Glad you enjoyed it

[johnopone]

That Must Have bin my Dad in the white Van at Thorpe Halt. Funny eh?? Buttermere Kid. XX

[soundnicetome]

Such apt music !!

[johnopone]

i think that was my uncle directing the traffic on this oll fated line. STILL SMILIN!!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

There was actually no such station as Formby Four Crosses. What they did was take two stations that were alphabetically next to each other in the list of ones proposed for closure - Formby and Four Crosses - and put them together. (Formby is very much still open of course!)

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

The same goes for Armley Moor Arram - they were two separate stations that were next to each other in the list (Arram is also still open)

[SteffanLlwyd]

Blimey... a half-timbered car too!

[rogerbrenton]

What a marvellous film. I now live near Aldeburgh and it's wonderful to see what the old railway looked like. A fabulous dose of nostalgia - thank you.

[johnopone]

bye the bye who is the pretty girl with the winning smile? she must be approaching sixty by now. Do you still run as fast?

[bridgelangley]

the speed never increased! and she has definately worn better. and a woman never reveals her age so I wont say!!

[johnopone]

WOULD THAT THE SONG WERE JUST MAKE BELEIVE

AND ALL THOSE HISTORIC LINES WERE STILL WITH US. OH ME! I HOPE DR BEECHING IS TURNING ON HIS RIVETS. gOOD VERY GOOD VIDEO LOVELY

BALLAD. JOHN HARVEY

[josephdrew87]

No more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe, On the slow train from Midsummer Norton and Mumby Road, No churns, no porter, No cat on a seat, At Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Chester-le-Street We won't be meeting again on the slow train. I'll travel no more from Littleton Badsey to Openshaw, At Long Stanton I'll stand well clear of the doors no more, No whitewashed pebbles, No up and no down, From Formby Four Crosses to Dunstable Town, I won't be going again on the slow train.

[bridgelangley]

The full text starts with: Millers Dale for Tideswell Kirby Muxloe Mow Cop and Scholar Green And ends with: On the slow train. Cockermouth for Buttermere On the slow train. Armley Moor Arram Pye Hill and Somercotes On the slow train. Windmill End..

[bridgelangley]

The last verse: On the main line and the goods siding, The grass grows high, At Dog Dyke, Tumby Woodside, and Troublehouse Halt. The sleepers sleep at Audlem and Ambergate, No passenger waits on Chittening platform or Cheslyn Hay, No-one departs, no-one arrives, From Selby to Goole, From St. Erth to St. Ives, They all passed out of our lives, On the slow train,

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

St Erth to St Ives is in fact still open. Some branch lines managed to survive the Beeching Axe on the grounds that the roads in the areas they served weren't great - the Sotuh West of England is littered with them.

[kernowfem]

It is indeed still open, and by all accounts is used a great deal, perhaps one of the most popular of the cornish branches, (followed secondly by truro-falmouth) Although prodominantly used by tourists for the park and ride scheme, it is to me, still a beautiful route.

The liskeard to looe branch is also very popular in the summer, and is equally as scenic...

Thankgod the formidable and sadly short sighted Dr beeching, didn't get his way all the time!!!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Yeah - if his second report had gone ahead then only the major intercity routes would have remained and the network would've been reduced to just 3,000 miles! (Surprisingly, the entire Cornish Main Line from Plymouth to Penzance would've closed!)

Now, while the system did need to be rationalised, that would simply have been too much and the whole network could've collapsed - much the same as it could've done if we hadn't done anything at all!

[kernowfem]

That would have been a tragedy. Its an amazing line, the construction, viaducts, curves etc are a engineering marvel, including brunells bridge. sadly our railway heritage is slowly rotting away. Re open closed lines and watch the traffic diminish all over the country. especially in cornwall, it would free up the a30/a390, which are hell in summer. Beeching was a hatchet man of that im convinced, he ruined our railways!!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

You do have to remember that at the end of the Second World War we were virtually bankrupt and we couldn't afford to run a network the size of what we had, which was the idea behind closing certain lines that simply weren't sustainable. Contrary to popular belief, Beeching didn't start the closures - the network was at its peak at the start of the 20th century at around 23,000 miles, but it had already been reduced down to 18,000 by the time Beeching came along.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Nevertheless, some lines really shouldn't have closed. There was an article in the Railway Magazine a few moths ago about potential reopneing schemes and it mentioned that the number of people travelling by rail each year in Britain is now higher than it was at the end of the war, yet because the network is so much smaller than then a lot of it is at or near capacity.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Obviously, they couldn't have predicted that 40 years ago, so we shouldn't be too hard on Beeching. The article said that it's a classic example of decisions being taken because they seemed 'a good idea at the time' and even now there isn't a closed line that 'someone somewhere' doesn't want to see open, so it wasn't possible to list all of them. However, it listed the ones with a reasonable chance.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

One line in particular is the ex-LSWR route from Exeter to Plymouth via Tavistock. The ex-GWR route via Dawlish, as a lot of people know, is very prone to flooding as it runs along the coast, so reopening the inland route would provide a useful alternative. In fact, being a faster route, it could even become the main line, leaving the Dawlish route for stopping services.

[kernowfem]

Im hoping that old lines can be re opened. i live on the outskirts of sheffield, and i already know of three local lines recently surveyed for potential re opening. I fully appreciate resources and cash was scarce after ww2 (even though im only 31!)and maybe it is quite possible beeching was made a scapegoat, however could it be he went in a little gung ho, and simply went too far in the amount of cuts made. After all i believe the dr was an accountant not a railwayman, a knowledge lack perhaps?

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Well, yeah. Some things that were done back then by way of appointments wouldn't be allowed these days. Perhaps there might have been a case for mothballing some lines rather than closing them altogether. In fact, some potential reopening schemes such as Harrogate-Northallerton have already been successful insofar as they've managed to have the trackbed protected from development.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Although they refer to it as 'Beeching in Reverse', it doesn't mean the network will be restored to what it was pre-1960s, because even with the way passenger numbers are growing at the moment we still couldn't sustain a network of that size. In any case, it probably wouldn't be physically possible anyway because of some lines having been developed - though some, such as Penrith-Keswick, could be reopened with minor deviations where the route has been built over.

[kernowfem]

You see, maybe if more provisions had been made to protect many a track bed in the first place reopenings would more viable.The buxton to matlock line in derbyshire was recently surveyed to reopen, but the cost of replacing rowsley bridge would have been catastrophic. next up is the mansfield loop via clowne in notts.although i doubt anyone would expect our railways to be like they were pre ww2, wouldnt it be great to see certain lines being used again instead of vanashing under housing estates!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Buxton to Matlock was listed in the article and it did say that the trackbed has been protected, but the short-term economics didn't stack up.

We're members of the Llangollen Railway, and one of their long-term proposals is to reopen the section to Ruabon to get a mainline connection again, but the problem is that part of the line has been developed and it's thought that an alternative route would cost around £13m - a lot of money for a voluteer-run organisation.

[kernowfem]

The track bed has been protected, but due to rowsley bridge being removed, and i believe one industrial unit at rowsley overhanging the old track bed it did increase costs by a vast amount. I think also the viaduct at millersdale requires plenty of work. This is one line i would like to see up and running again, the scenery is amazing. im not sure if peak rail had or have plans to extend their stretch of line, but again as a voluntary organisation, cost is paramount. such a shame.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

That must be why the short-term economics weren't good.

The Harrogate-Northallerton line has been protected and could be reopened by 2015 if they get funding. Ripon currently describes itself as 'The most important place in Britain without a rail link' but reopening the line would rectify that. In fact, the new station would be closer to the city centre than the old one! Interesting...

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

I've just been thinking - maybe 'Beeching in Reverse' could do with a 'Beeching Report in Reverse'? Before publishing his first report he conducted a survey of the network to identify which lines were losing money and hence could be closed.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Perhaps now we should conduct a survey of every closed line and first of all identify which ones it would still be physically possible to reopen (either along the original trackbed or with minor deviations), then have them protected from development 'just in case'.

The next step would then be to see which ones could make out a reasonable business case for reopening, because as I said virtually every closed line has 'someone somewhere' who wants to see it reopen, so we have to be sensible.

[regentv980]

all railways lose money,talk sense,privatisation is just a damn joke

[islandtraction]

Couldn't agree more!

[regentv980]

good thinking,about much chance as pigs flying

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@kernowfem I've just finished writing a story about reopening the Woodhead and Matlock-Buxton routes! I came to realise that in many ways they're quite similar to each other, so I thought I'd write about them!

[regentv980]

you can do anything with money and proper planning,railways are so good for villages and the country,all they do is talk about reopening closed lines

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Apparently they have actually started work on the East-West Route from Oxford to Cambridge. This would run through most of the main routes out of London, and thus eliminate the need to travel into London and out again in many cases. They reckon it could be finished by 2011.

[LordGeorgeRodney]

Biscester to Bletchely is the part they need to do although there is a lot of line still there, it is of poor grade by now

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

That is the bit they're working on. The entire route west of Bedford is still in situ, but Bicester to Bletchley is disused. The section from Bedford to Sandy would need to be rebuilt, after which trains would travel down the East Coast to Hitchin and either reverse or use a new chord to access the Cambridge line.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Ideally they would've wanted to reopen the section from Sandy to Cambridge as that would provide a more direct route, but part of that is being obbliterated by the new Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. For some bizzare reason, they've decided to turn the old Cambrige-St Ives line into a guideway - at over double what it would cost to reinstate it as a conventional railway!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

The latest issue of The Railway Magazine arrived today - apparently they've now cut the first sod on the reopening of the Waverley route to Tweedbank! It seems once that happens they have to finish it!

It's a pity they're not doing the whole route, but reopening to Tweedbank is certainly a good start - maybe they might do the rest one of these days!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@kernowfem Believe it or not, Beeching actually refused to close Manea Station in Cambridgeshire because of 'the acute social hardship it would cause' - yet today it only has two trains a day in each direction, so it probably wouldn't be missed much if it WAS closed!

[thomsonfly645k]

is the train a class 115? or another heritage DMU

[bridgelangley]

i have no idea!

[BrinklytoBrimstock]

I think it is a class 101, but I'm not sure.

[dccodring21]

Looks like a 101.

[thomsonfly645k]

OK i quite like heritage DMU S

[ColCalverley]

I was 10 years old when this film was made and have always been a great fan of Flanders and Swann. This truly brought back happy memories of 'The good old days' and actually brought a tear to my eye. Thanks so much for sharing it - Robbie

[BaxofDelights]

Thank you VERY much for this video. I would have been roughly the same age as those children on the train. I enjoy searching out old railway lines and trying to imagine the days when trains ran along them. Great song - absolutely perfect!

Gosh - I'll just have to watch it again...

[bridgelangley]

as old as the oldest but not the youngest if your age is correct!!!!!

[BaxofDelights]

I would have been 10 at the time of the video. Taking trips from Croydon down to Dunster by steam train - and getting grit in the eye from hanging out the window!

[pouk1977]

I lived just down the road from this area for about ten years and knew nothing of the old railway ine - shows how easily I ignore things! Shocking! x x x

[cleckheatoncentral]

Great song about a national tragegy. The song mentions Midsommer Norton, some group have totally restored the station. It looks great, hard to imagine, a few years ago it was waste land!

[wabbbb]

Thanks for posting this. I thought I knew most of the Flanders and Swann songs, but this one is new to me. Very nostalgic pictures of England!

[bridgelangley]

from Flanders and swann live:

clapham omnibus,reproduction,gnu,desig­n for living,je suis,making a *** in tonga, chorus,calendar,cannibal,green­sleeves,

,bindweed song,madeira m'dear, hippototamus, gasman,lost my horn,slow train

[Arramattic]

I live in Arram, another train station mentioned in the song. We too still have a working station, but the train people only see fit to have a limited stop here in Arram. Not very green, as no other public transport exists here- Thanks so very much for putting the song to the pictures, otherwise I would never have heard it. Cheers

[bridgelangley]

glad you enjoyed it. there are other flanders and swann songs out there. I'm a gnu , etc. the hippo song (mud glorious mud) well worth tracking down the songs as they were well written. wikipedia has a list and a few videos on youtube have been set to the music.

[tangotot]

In the song Slow Train the lyrics mention St Erth to St Ives, not axed as I was on that one carriage train yesterday.

[plqx2]

I believe that it was planned for closure in one of the Beeching reports. There were a lot of line closures that he recommended that never actually happened. Plus of course a fair few lines that he closed were later reopened by private enthusiasts as tourist railways.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@plqx2 Apparently there was one line he closed that reopened as a heritage line where they asked him to cut the ribbon - and he said he was delighted!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@plqx2 Do people perhaps lay a bit too much blame on Beeching? After all, the Minister of Transport who employed him just happened to own a road building company (something which wouldn't be allowed these days!), so maybe that had something to do with the approach being so heavy handed?

[Dulciethecat]

Oh, how nostalgic! Perfect choice of song, too.

[melas13]

That was worth watching !

[bridgelangley]

glad you enjoyed it

[idbarber]

What a fantastic video... I lived in Leiston and it's amazing to see how the railway use to be. What a shame it was disgarded!

[Electricfox]

I would be interested in obtaining as many clips and footage of this line on video or DVD as well if there is any way of doing so. Thank you.

[bridgelangley]

sorry not available

[DavidGoods]

What a superb piece of film. Absolutely fascinating. I was 6 years old when the line closed and used to live on a farm near Leiston and the line would run at the bottom of the field. Is there any possibility of obtaining a copy of this film on Video and do you have another clips or photographs on this line?

[Electricfox]

Brilliant!! Been looking for this video for ages! I live in Aldeburgh, it's nice to see the old line in its glory...shame it's not there today.

[bridgelangley]

at 45 seconds you can see the house in the clouds in the distance at thorpeness. Station was at the roundabout next to the railway pub as you enter Aldeburgh.

[hugorollerblader]

ok.... i live saxmundham and where the hell was the aldeburgh station :??