A Train Journey through Dullingham

Edward Thorp, known as ‘Chib’, an undertaker from Leigh on Sea, spent his weekends throughout the year visiting the rural railway lines in East Anglia with wife Edna and their dog Micky. Chib always took along his 8mm camera, a good supply of Kodachrome film, and a tape recorder, to document their trips. He would edit the film himself at home, and sometimes record a commentary. 

From Colleges to Courses is a film held in the East Anglian Film Archive and shows a journey from Cambridge, through Dullingham, to Kennett.  It's my assumption that Enda is the lady in the red dress who features several times.

The journey was undertaken in 1967 shows how things have changed - particularly on the railways.  For example the line from Cambridge to the Newmarket tunnel was duelled then.  Today we only have the passing loop at Dullingham.  

Unfortunately there isn't any narration for this 12 minute film so I've added the timings (mm:ss) to the salient parts.

01:07 - note how open the curve at Coldham's Lane is compared with today's hedges

03:53 - Six Mile Bottom.  Note the level crossing comprises 4 half-gates operated from the signal box 

04:04 - the train passing through SMB station is a Derby Lightweight DMU

05:28 - Dullingham Station

06:14 - signalman Larry McDonnell (father of Maureen Baldwin who made me aware of this film)

07:56 - Woodditton level crossing on the Dullingham Road

08:08 - Newmarket Station (opened in 1902 to passengers)

08:38 - The old Newmarket Station (closed completely in April 1967 just before this film was ) and taking the token for the tunnel

09:19 - Newmarket's third station Warren Hill (1885 to 1945) on the Bury Road

10:09 - joining the line Ely-Ipswich line at Chippenham Junction and returning of the token 

11:48 - Kennett Station

For more details and pictures on the all these stations have a look at the website disused-stations.org.uk

• Cambridge Station
• Six Mile Bottom
• Dullingham Station (although not disused it has been included for completeness)
• Newmarket Station

Sources:

• British Film Institute 
• Disused Station

Station Garden Award

 An Award for Station Garden

As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the railways in the UK - indeed the world - here's an article which appeared on the front page of the Newmarket Journal on 31st August 1961.

The gardens running along the platforms won an award in the Eastern Region Gardens competition.  An extract from a subsequent article on the station garden, published in the Journal on 18th January 1962 reported:

The staffs of Newmarket and Dullingham Railway stations can pat themselves on the back and call their stations the cleanest in the Eastern Region.

They have received first class awards in the annual regional competition for cleanliness and tidiness.  

British Railways officials visit stations at any time during the year and inspect the platforms, waiting rooms, entrance halls, offices, toilets and signal boxes.  

They look for dust and dirt cobwebs in general and untidiness and award points to each station.

Station Masters and staff never know when officials are likely to call so they have to be on their toes all the time.

Each station receives a £5 cheque and a certificate signed by the general manager, Mr H.C.Johnson.

At Dullingham Mr J Kitchen told us that he thought Dullingham station was particularly hard to keep clean because of its open platform.   

Mr Kitchen, who was not the station master when the competition was in progress, thought it a great feat for the two leading porter-signalmen who kept the station clean and tidy during the year.

They are Mr Winston Reeve and Mr Dennis Jarrold, of Dullingham.

At a guess Winston & Dennis are on the left in the picture above.

The Maltings at the Station

The Dullingham has had two "maltings" and both have had a rather dramatic end.  The maltings which stood next to the village pond was blown down by a tornado in November 1991.  The granary maltings which stood on next to the railway station was destroyed by fire in 1979.

The exact date that the station maltings was built is uncertain but they do appear on the First Edition Ordnance Survey plan so we know they existed in 1886.  

On 18 September 1979 the Maltings caught fire.  Newspapers reported:

"...thousands of pounds worth of malting barley was destroyed when a huge blaze gutted the storehouse. The maltings are owned by Clark and Butcher, a firm of Soham corn merchants, and leased to a Newmarket firm who said that top quality malting barley had been destroyed that would have been used to make whisky. Firemen had to travel more than a mile to obtain water because a nearby hydrant had dried out but further disaster was averted when they prevented a 1,500-gallon tank full of diesel from exploding. Two pensioners were evacuated from their homes and police set up road blocks when Station Road became impassable."

In the "now and then" photos below there is little evidence of the old Maltings in 2022.  The site is dominated by fir trees and there is little point in showing a "now" photo for some of the "then" photos.

View from the signal box ca.1961

Opposite the station entrance in 1974/5

More or less the same view in 2022

The Maltings dominate the view from Basin Bridge in 1974/75, 

In 2022 and now the adjacent cottages dominate the picture. 

View from the railway line in 1974/5

The Maltings in 1974/5

The Maltings and an Austin/Morris 1100 MkIII 

Firefighters tackle the blaze on 18 September 1979 

Fireman stands over Dullingham!

The roof sends up plumes of smoke in 1979

The wall on the bend is the only visual clue in 2022

Sources:

- Kevin McDonnell Collection

- Dullingham Scrapbook 1897 to 1990 - Mike Petty 

Dullingham Railway Station

The first sod for the The Great Chesterford & Newmarket Railway was turned on 30th September, 1846.  The Chronicle newspaper reported that 10 year old Master Jeaffreson from Dullingham Hall 

"...gave a few hearty digs into the earth, and having partially filled his barrow wheeled it along and tilted its contents amid the cheers of spectators...".

The line was opened for goods traffic on 3rd January, 1848 when, at the opening ceremony the railway was renamed "The Newmarket Railway".

By the 2nd January 1967 the station became an un-staffed halt although a signalman still operates the crossing to this day.  However, this isn't going to last as the gates are due to be replaced by automated barriers in the next couple of years as part of the Cambridge re-signalling project.

By 1971 the station buildings were demolished and other than the signal box the only building remaining today is the lamp hut.  The video below goes back in time to give a glimpse of the past.

Sources:

- Along the Line by David Occomore
- Disused Stations website