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.

Life in a Village

The following article appeared in the Cambridge New published on Friday, April 30, 1965.  A scan of the original article appears at the end of this post but to aid viewing some pictures and text are published separately.  

Some extra detail has been added to the pictures which hopefully enhances your read.  Certainly it's interesting to contrast the description of the village from nearly early 60 years ago with current day.  

Dullingham is one of the clean-cut and attractive villages which surround Newmarket.  Motorists from Cambridge have found that a tour of these villages makes a peaceful Sunday afternoon trip.

Some of the characters of the village are Miss F Hurst, the sub-postmistress, Mr Kitchening, station master, and 94 year old Mr J.Misson.

Derek Breen, who is not yet two years old, is a hard taskmaster to his dog Tiny.  Young Patrick Drake is one of many friends of the road sweeper, Mr W.Piper.

As Dullingham is primarily a farming village - there is also one stud - it is unlikely that there will be any extensive development.  It is a village in which the residents take considerable pride and to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, two chestnut trees were planted on the village green  - and to commemorate the Festival of Britain wooden seats were placed at several convenient points.

The Guild Hall looks much the same although it had two entrances on Station Road in 1965. In the centre distance is Ainsley House, and on the right in front of Cable Farm is a Ford Zephyr Mk III hiding a Mk I Mini (such trivia is supplied free of charge)

Miss Freda Hurst was the sub-postmistress when the post office was situated in Malting Cottage, Church Lane where she was also housekeeper to Mr George Benstead.  Both had worked at Dullingham House prior to the death in 1939 of Mrs Robinson, where Freda was her assistant and George her chauffeur.   

Young Derrick Breen & Tiny

Mr John Misson - the article says he's 94, yet he appears aged 93 is an EADT newspaper article ten years later.  Time stands still in Dullingham.

Young Patrick talking to William (?) Piper.  Young Patrick can still be seen cycling through the village nowadays.

Mr G.Kitching was appointed stationmaster for both Dullingham and Six Mile Bottom in 1961.  Three months after this article was published he appeared in the Newmarket Journal lamenting the imminent closure of both stations.

Is this setting at the bend by Cross Green?  The names of the horses is also unknown. 

Below is the original article in its original layout.

The Gate House

Nowadays the Gate House is often referred to as the Pink House and is one long residence.  This series of pictures show that, like many houses of its period, it was a several cottages which have been merges into one.

To be honest dating this photograph has proved to be a head-scratcher.  It's my guess that this is oldest of the set and was taken about 1910.  Looking west along Station the two cottages on the right form the basis what we know as the Gate House today. To the left of these is the Post Office (today called Black Penny cottage) and then you can see the apex of the public house The Royal Oak.

In this second photograph the cottage right-most in the first picture looks to have extended and so my assumption is that it's taken later. Of course it is possible the right-most cottage in the second photo fell down that this is an earlier photograph.  Having said that there were a series of photographs taken in 1931 and so this may be part of them.  But is the childrens' style of clothing of an earlier period?

In this photograph taken in 2020 the former Royal Oak and Post Office buildings look just the same as in the earlier photographers.  Whilst the basic shape of the Gate House is similar in all three, it does seem to have change a lot of the years.

Gamekeeper's Cottage

Looking west along Station Road in ca.1931 the Gamekeeper's Cottage is on the right, adjacent to Dullingham House at Old Maid's corner.  The wall on the left is in front of Chestnut Cottage.  Several children are looking towards the photographer who was standing in the road, no doubt in the safe knowledge that he or she would not be run down.

The same view in December 2023 shows that the Gamekeeper's cottage has been extended although the original building is clearly still discernible.  The wall on the left in front of Chestnut Cottage is now much lower and has been replaced by a lovely woven wooden fence.  The road, as modern times seem to indicate, is potholed in multiple places.

A view of the cottage taken in 1984.

Source: Dullingham Collection

Chestnut Cottage, Old Maid's Corner

Chestnut Cottage stands adjacent to Old Maid’s Corner.  The high wall seen in the Gamekeeper’s cottage pictures is now much lower.  

This photo was taken in 1971 and features Tim Piper cutting the grass. At this time the building comprised two dwelling and had three doors.  Tim lived in the left hand cottage and was the Dullingham road-man who kept all the footpaths clean.

The date for this photograph is uncertain but given the set it appears with in the Dullingham Archives it was likely to have been taken in 1974.  Certainly it was after the 1971 photo above as a flue/vent now emerges through the thatch and, with the removal of one of the front doors, is now a single dwelling. 

 Taken from the same spot but in 2023, 52 years after the first of this set.

Dullingham victors in Ladies' Cricket

The following is a report from the Newmarket Journal, 22 Jun 1967.  Just a mere couple of years ago.  The ladies cricket team from the Royal Oak pub on Station Road took on, and defeated, the ladies team from the Three Tuns at Cowlinge.

Perhaps the reporting might not be what you'd read today in 2023 - even the word 'got' was used and my English teacher would be turning in his/her/its grave to read that.  Nonetheless the Dullingham Ladies had a great match.

 

ANYONE who moans about cricket being a slow, dull game, and this is a criticism often levelled at it, should have visited Kirtling cricket ground on Friday evening, where they would have seen a fast-moving and hard fought - if somewhat amusing - game. 

From the interest and enthustasm of the crowd, a stranger might think he had unknowingly stumbled upon a Test match - but a closer inspection would show that this was far from true and he was in fact watching a match between two ladies' teams - from Royal Dullingham Oak and Cowlinge Three Tuns.

Changed picture

Perhaps the bowlers were not all "Freddie Truemans" and the batsmen "Bradmans" not in all the making - but nevertheless they certainly enjoyed their game and provided a very entertaining evening for the large crowd who came to watch.

Dullingham went in to bat first, and the first three wickets fell for only 15 runs and at one point Dullingham were 16 for five; but then P Baldwin changed the picture considerably.

In an innings of about 20 minutes she scored 29 runs including four fours - and when she retired the score stood at over 50. The time for each innings was limited to minutes about 40 and the last batsmen, M.McDonnell and S.Graham were just settling down when it was Cowlinge's turn to bat. Dullingham scoring 65.

Cowlinge were not really at home fielding - dropping several easy looking catches, and at one point the bail was thrown past the wicket four times before being fielded - meanwhile Dullingham got four runs.

Best bowler

Cowlinge's best bowler was M.Jolly, who in ten overs took five wickets for 31 runs. L.Pettitt bowled six overs and took two for 18, and S.Bitten bowled 3 and took one for 12.

Dullingham's fielding was very good. with some accurate bowling and good catching.

Cowlinge's opening batsmen. F.Wade and M.Jolly made 27 runs, before M.Jolly was out for 19 runs, including three fours. After this the batting got slowly worse until the score was 39 for six.

With the last ball of the match came quite the most spectacular part, when M.McDonnell, playing wicket keeper dived to catch a ball from J. Sharpe and held it In one hand to make Cowlinge’s final score 47.

Two each

Each member of the Dullingham team had bowled two overs, the best performance being that of T.Misson who took two wickets for only one run. P. Baldwin took two for four and P. McDonnell one for three.

Umpires were Mr. G. Pettitt and Mr. D.Bailey, and scorers were Mrs. D. Bailey and Mrs. B. Marks.

After the match one jubilant Dullingham supporter remarked that if the English Test selectors wanted "brighter cricket" they only had to come to Dullingham to find the 'right players!’

Teams were:
Dullingham Royal Oak: S.Baldwin, D.Buckle, G.Raeburn. P.Baldwin, R. Algar, C.McDonnell, P.McDonnell, T.Misson, M.Day. M.McDonnell, and S. Graham.

Cowlinge. Three Tuns: F.Wade, M.Jolly. R.Smith, T.Farrow, Mrs Bannister. Mrs Sharpe. C Stubbings. L.Pettitt, K.Sharpe, J.Sharpe and S. Bitten.

The Guildhall

Taken probably circa 1910 you can see a family posing in the middle of the Station Road with the Guildhall in the background.  The clothes worn by the lady and children look - to me - to be Edwardian hence the suggested date of 1910-ish.  The pram looks rather splendid as well. 

In contrast this photograph from the new Carolean era shows world is more colourful. Amazingly for 2023  Station Road was as quiet as it had been in the 1900s, but this was simply due to the recent road closure.

Walking towards the crossroads we can see the Guildhall as it was 1931.  The building is grade II listed and was built before 1495 as a guildhall to the St James' guild.  During the 18th century it was used as a poor house.

Almost taken from the same spot in 2023 the Guildhall looks much the same.  The same cannot be said for the trees.  

Standing on the village green looking back along Station Road we see a hunt with the horses & hounds solving the problem of speeding traffic along the Brinkley Road. Taken in the 1960s the Guildhall looks a little brighter than it had in 1931.

The sign on the far left of this picture from 1971 says "New Homes are For Sale".  These would be the houses in Elm Close.

The same scene in 2002 but the two entrances on Station Road have disappeared and the Guildhall is now a single dwelling.  In the background Elm Close is well established.

 

Cows & Sheep at the Crossroads

These photographs came from Maureen Baldwin's collection and show cows and sheep being moved through the village.  Evidently this was a common sight in the village 50 years back.  The photos were taken by Maureen's mother-in-law Cora Baldwin who, at that time. lived in Cable Farm. 

Cows walking along Stetchworth Road to the crossroads and following the Highway Code walking on the right and facing the oncoming traffic.

The same orderly cows as they walk along Station Road past the Guildhall.

The sheep, on the other hand, are all over the road and oblivious to any highway code.  Whilst woolly they were never members of the Tufty Club.

The next two of Cora's photos were taken from the same vantage point as the previous ones.  

As regards dating these photographs it looks like they were all taken during the same period.  Certainly the Kings' Head and Aynsley house looked much the same.  There was some thought the cows & sheep photos were taken in the mid 1960s.  However vehicle registration on the back of the white van in photo immediately above looks (on the original photo) to end in a V year, suggesting it was taken in 1980 onwards. Even if this 'blurred' V plate is incorrect, the earliest this is likely to be is 1973 when the use of the reflective registrations plates was introduced. 

If you can provide any corrections or updates please leave a comment or send Richard an email.

In 1915 Dullingham was twinned with the town of Borington in North America.

The two communities had intended on having numerous exchanges visits, but no one except the village mayor could be bothered to book passage. The mayor's trip didn't end too well as on 15 April 1915, a couple weeks after the official twinning, his ship hit an iceberg.

When the village was discovered in 1066 it was recognised to be such a lovely location the founding fathers and mothers decided to give it a name which belied its character and would keep the crowds away, a fate suffered by Brighton. A close contender in the naming stakes at that time was Eggingham, as the village is sandwiched between two other villages.

To commemorate the twinning a pair of crosses were to be ejected in the middle of Camping Close - that's what we refer to as the village green nowadays.  Alas these never appeared as there was concern the village would become two X sited and so not be in keeping with either location.

The picture of the village sign above not only provides evidence the twinning but also show the first of the April daffodils.

The Post Office

The Dullingham Post Office sat next to The Royal Oak until it closed in...well I'm not sure.  

It's most likely photograph above was taken in the early 1930s as it seems to be part a series of similar pictures taken in the village around this time. The people in the foreground are almost certainly the postmistress Catherine Reeves and her husband Alfred 'Johnnie' Reeves.

Catherine was the daughter of Joseph Chittock who had been the station master for Dullingham for at least 32 years.  The Post Office directory shows he was in place in 1879 and he appears in the 1911 Census in the same role.  Although Joseph retired and had moved away when he died in 1924 he was buried in St Mary's.  

It would appear that Catherine was the driving force of the post office.  Johnnie, on the other hand, was a bit of a character.  In their memoirs both Joe Moore and Dennis Algar mention that Johnnie, when meant to be working, would actually be in The Royal Oak next door.  There would often a beer sitting on the wall outside whilst Johnnie was working indoors in the post office.  It seems public houses were never too distant from Johnnie as he and Catherine appear in the 1911 Census as inn keepers of The Lion Inn in Stoke by Clare.  

The 1939 Register  - a mini census taken at the outbreak of the Second World War - shows that Catherine & Johnnie were still running the post office on 29th September 1939.  Around this time Joe Moore recorded his memories that on entering the post office,

"....a bell on a spring attached to the door rang, it was very loud and seemed to ring on for ever, eventually someone appeared, usually Mrs Reeve. The inside of the shop was not very big and there was a counter on both sides with a door in front, this was always filled with official notices which every one seemed to ignore. The right-hand side was the post office, the counter was bare except for the post office stamp and pad, and a row of six jars of boiled sweets, the selection of sweets was very small and the jars were always kept to one side. Behind on a shelf stood the book of postage stamps, a pair of scales to weigh parcels (and sweets), also other bits and pieces to do with the operating of a post office. There were more official notices pinned on the wall behind which no one could read, as they were so far away and most of the printing was small anyway. Tobacco and cigarettes were also sold over this counter as well. The opposite counter had all sorts of bits and pieces, reels of cotton and thread, tape, combs, paper and envelopes, all manner of every day things needed in the average household. If you required something from this side of the shop, Mrs Reeve disappeared from the post office counter and suddenly appeared again to serve from the goods side."

Joe also mentioned that around this time the Post Office employed two postmen as well, Mr Tom Gentleman who lived in the Brinkley Road, and Mr Jim Pryke who lived in one of the thatched cottages just the other side of the Royal Oak.

For a short while after its closure the post office services moved next door to The Royal Oak.  Unfortunately this clipping is not dated so the closure date is currently unknown.  However the post office building was transformed... 

...into a charming private home (picture taken in February 2023).  Certainly Black Penny Cottage is great name for an ex-post office.  

If you can provide any corrections or updates please leave a comment or send Richard an email.

Baldwin Cricket Team

This week the Dullingham Parish Council announced in its newsletter that its has signed a 20 year contract to allow Newmarket Cricket Club to use village ground as its new home ground.  So it seems fitting to have a cricket related post.

This cutting from The Newmarket Journal - dated 5 July 1990 - tells the story of the Baldwin family from Dullingham fielding a full cricket team against a team of the staff from Bottisham Village College. Several of the players, across the generations, attended the College themselves.  Alas, the village team lost to the teachers.  

Somewhat controversially only last summer in The Boot beer garden Chris Baldwin made mention that the family had allowed the staff to win.  Clearly Chris, looking at his score, was the man who was looking to get a good school report.   ;-)  

Flint Cottage & Station Road

This series of photographs looks east along Station Road, from its junction with Eagle Lane, towards Old Maid's Corner.  Flint Cottage sits in the foreground of these pictures and, at first sight, has changed little over the years.  Dating these has proved tricky and the first may possibly be in the wrong order.

The 1910s

The first photograph appears in Dennis Algar's memoirs East Anglia to the Far East and is dated ca.1909 on the Old Newmarket Facebook Page.  If you click on the picture above to zoom in you can see the state of the roads - very rutted and perhaps not metalled - this photograph appears to be the oldest of the series. However, given the state of the roads in 2023, potholes may not be the best way to date things.

Immediately next to Flint Cottage is a thatched building of two cottages which "fell down" sometime in the late-1930/1940/50s. As a result 86 Station no longer exists and a new 88 now sits on the site of both dwellings.  

Next to 86/88, set back, is the pair of buildings which form the elegant four Victorian Cottages built in 1886.  In fact, in this picture, you only see the easterly of the pair (80/78) as the (84/82) are hidden behind (88/86).  [Keep up, there's a test at the end of this post.]

The next building along is the present day Martins Cottage.  The building which is set at right angles to Station Road is the shop called Densons.  This is adjacent to Latchetts.

Finally, in the distance, you can see the end of the cottage which stood adjacent to Nappa Cottage.  There is a future post which will focus on Nappa and this next door cottage.

The 1920s

The most obvious difference compared with the previous one is that it taken during the summer.  The horse chestnut tree is full of leaf and there are shadows cross the road.  If you look closely at the entrance to Flint Cottage there is a person standing in the doorway with - perhaps - a child sitting on the top step. 

The cyclist is walking or standing adjacent the entrance to Stony Cottage - nowadays called Tillbrook Farm Cottages - and looks to be wearing a full skirt.  Now I'm no fashionista and originally thought the style pre-dated the previous photo.  However, looking at the state of the fence in front of 88/86 - and then in the subsequent photos - leads me to think it could be the 1920s.  I'm happy to be told otherwise.

The 1930s

This photograph is dated ca.1931 and forms a baseline for the timeline for this series of photos.  That is, it's the first known date and so is useful to compare the other photos against it to determine if they are older or more recent.  

The trees which were hiding Martins Cottage in the second photo have now disappeared.  So too has the cottage which is immediately next to Nappa.  

The 1950/60s

This photo had to have taken post-1949 when electricity came to the village.  The evidence for this is the electricity pole which is more or less in the centre of the picture (removed in the late 1990s when the cables were buried).

The thatched cottage building (88/86) next to Flint Cottage has now disappeared and the plot has become an allotment.

2009

Leaping forward to the next century, indeed the next millennium, this wintery scene was taken six days before Christmas in 2009.  Bing would have been wishing for this.  The new version of 88, built by Derek Baldwin in 1983, fills the gap between Flint Cottage and the Victorian terrace.

2023

This photograph was taken in February 2013 (last week actually), approximately 114 years since the first photo in the series.

Looking West

This "fading memories" video is looking along Station Road towards the Eagle Lane corner.  In the foreground is the new 88 Station Road but if you play the video you can step back to the original thatched building.

If you have any comments, corrections or more photographs please leave a comment or send Richard an email.