Old Norfolk Railways and Tunnels

Tony Harper mentioned railway tunnels to me last week, so these articles are going to be focused on railways of the past and even if you aren’t interested in railways you may find the old maps of the Norfolk railways interesting.  Here is a link to a map of the railways in Norfolk before the 1950s.  The lines in yellow are the current Heritage Railways but who would have believed there was a railway line linking Wymondham, Dereham, Fakenham and Wells-Next-The-Sea?  And there was a railway line through Overstrand and Sidestrand?  To find out more please select the following link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railways_in_Norfolk#/media/File:Norfolk_railways.pn

Norfolk Railway Tunnels - Barsham

Tony is particularly interested in the Barsham tunnel so here is an article on it from the excellent Norfolk, Tales, Myths and More! website (please take time to explore this website).  There were only two standard gauge railway tunnels in Norfolk, Barsham was one and Cromer was the other, neither are in use now.  So where is Barsham and what line was it on?  The plans were approved in 1838 but why was the roof of the tunnel removed in 1892?  There is a railway tunnel in use today in Norfolk - but where is it?  To find out the answers to these questions and more information please select the following link:

https://norfolktalesmyths.com/2020/01/18/norfolk-railway-tunnels-barsham/

Cromer Tunnel and East Runton Viaduct

For those that like the films, here is a film about the above.  Did you know that Cromer had three stations?  But where were they - there is an excellent map just after one minute 40 seconds that shows the three stations.  Cromer golf course had its own railway station!  Where is the old Cromer railway tunnel situated and how long is it?  Have you seen the two viaducts at East Runton? If you are more interested in this then you need to move the red bar to 14 minutes.  They are a wonderful engineering achievements whether you like railways or not.  To find out the answers to these questions and more information, please select the following link, you may need to move the red bar back to the start and you can always give the film a thumbs up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_vuoGtipRg

 

History of North Norfolk

Tony Robinson provides an insight into North Norfolk and in particular the Victorian influence.  The link to the film is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aYnVPxhHCY

The following are links to interesting written articles on Hunstanton and Cromer:

Hunstanton:

https://www.visitwestnorfolk.com/places/hunstanton/history-of-hunstanton/

Cromer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromer

 

Norwich Steam Boat Explosion - 1817

This film has recently been issued as part of the Little Bit of History series.  I had never heard of this story so hopefully you will find it interesting.  It happened at a time when steam powered boats were being introduced to carry passengers and cargo to compete with horse drawn transport.  It all happened at Foundry Bridge on Riverside on 4th April 1817 with 22 passengers onboard heading out on the 27 mile trip to Great Yarmouth.  But where did the boat explode?  How many were killed and how many survived?  Who owned the steam packet that exploded and what was his penance?  What do they think caused the explosion and what action was taken by the House of Commons?  To answer these questions and find out more information, please select the following link and press play, you may need to move the red bar back to the start and you can always give the film a thumbs up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1yh0Qtw0hw&t=5s

Here is a written article to supplement the above film.  

https://norfolktalesmyths.com/2019/04/07/norwich-steam-packet-explosion-1817/