Lost Lines around Yarmouth

Recollections of Sydney Rackham

Transcribed from a recorded interview (March 2001)

St.Olaves station and Belton station, the gardens, flowerbeds, etc. were immaculate. One reason for this being that the stationmaster, a Mr. Lamb, he was the stationmaster responsible for both stations and he took a keen interest in the floral aspect of the stations. There used to be a... well it's still there actually now... there was a very small wood just off the main road at St.Olaves, that belonged to the Herringfleet parish council and people used to go there. It's in a dreadful, dilapidated state now but in those days it was a place that wasn't hugely popular because there wasn't that many people who really knew about it but those that did used to go there and have a picnic and you could go over the unmanned crossing just to the North of St.Olaves station and then you came upon a rather rough gravel roadway which eventually led round on to the road through to Haddiscoe and Aldeby. You could also turn off down a small footpath which eventually takes you right down on to the marshes where you got an unrestricted view of Haddiscoe station and the Lowestoft to Norwich line. It's still in existence today, that footpath, very overgrown but you can still get down there.

And something else I'll mention now while we're talking about things being overgrown. I don't know whether you have occasion to go to Lowestoft at all from Yarmouth but when you go along what I call the back road, eventually past Corton church and into Corton village and along the promenade then if you like. If you go down the slope as you go into Lowestoft North, from the line it's so obvious still, the line from Hopton through to Corton. All overgrown of course but the embankment is still clearly visible all the way along there as you go along that coast road. Well of course the stations and things, they're... well Hopton station is still there or the stationmaster's house is, it's still there. Well, it's quite sad really to see these little pieces of railway that were once so busy and now are just derelict.


	Lost Lines around Yarmouth

	Recollections of Sydney Rackham Transcribed from a recorded interview (March 2001) St.Olaves station and Belton station, the gardens, flowerbeds, etc. were immaculate. One reason for this being that the stationmaster, a Mr. Lamb, he was the stationmaster responsible for both stations and he took a keen interest in the floral aspect of the stations. There used to be a... well it's still there actually now... there was a very small wood just off the main road at St.Olaves, that belonged to the Herringfleet parish council and people used to go there. It's in a dreadful, dilapidated state now but in those days it was a place that wasn't hugely popular because there wasn't that many people who really knew about it but those that did used to go there and have a picnic and you could go over the unmanned crossing just to the North of St.Olaves station and then you came upon a rather rough gravel roadway which eventually led round on to the road through to Haddiscoe and Aldeby. You could also turn off down a small footpath which eventually takes you right down on to the marshes where you got an unrestricted view of Haddiscoe station and the Lowestoft to Norwich line. It's still in existence today, that footpath, very overgrown but you can still get down there. And something else I'll mention now while we're talking about things being overgrown. I don't know whether you have occasion to go to Lowestoft at all from Yarmouth but when you go along what I call the back road, eventually past Corton church and into Corton village and along the promenade then if you like. If you go down the slope as you go into Lowestoft North, from the line it's so obvious still, the line from Hopton through to Corton. All overgrown of course but the embankment is still clearly visible all the way along there as you go along that coast road. Well of course the stations and things, they're... well Hopton station is still there or the stationmaster's house is, it's still there. Well, it's quite sad really to see these little pieces of railway that were once so busy and now are just derelict.