RETURNING RAILS TO SOUTHWOLD!
On the north Suffolk coast sits the town of Southwold. Bordered on all sides by water, with the North Sea to the east and the River Blyth and Buss Creek circling together inland, there is only one road in and out of this picturesque seaside town. Boasting a charming pier that was built in 1900 for tourist steamers, Southwold is a popular destination.
The town also has the added visitor incentive for those who enjoy a malted and hopped beverage – the Adnam’s Brewery has been based there since the 19th century producing award-winning ales and, more recently, spirits. One thing the town is currently lacking to heighten its seaside resort status is a running railway, though this was not always the case.
In the 1850s, the East Suffolk Railway (ESR) took an inland course from Lowestoft to Ipswich, forsaking coastal towns such as Southwold. Nine miles from the nearest station at Halesworth and served only once a day by an inadequate horse-drawn omnibus, the people of Southwold petitioned the ESR for a branch line. Alas, their pleas were refused and, by 1875, the locals had had enough of being ignored and decided to take matters into their own hands.
Despite some stumbling blocks and a rather stuttering start – with more than one intermediate station not completed in time – the Southwold Railway opened on September 24, 1879. Using 3ft gauge, the line ran for 8¾ miles from the edge of Southwold to Halesworth station, connecting to the adjacent standard gauge GER main line by a footbridge.
“The first section of 3ft gauge permanent track on the new Steamworks site was laid in 2017, in what would eventually become the engine shed. The track has since been extended a little way out of the shed, to allow wagons and other rolling stock to sit on display outside. Further steps were taken this year on January 18&19, when 26 army reservists descended on the Steamworks site to lay the first Southwold
