Sutton Bridge

Sutton Bridge and the Spalding Flower Festival

The first of these films shows scenes of Sutton Bridge. There is a shot of the River Nene. A fenland panorama precedes shots of the railway bridge. A coaster, Chartsman, makes its way along the river to the port area. There are shots of the swing bridge opening to allow the coaster through. The camera shows aircraft flying overhead. There are shots of the village of Sutton Bridge taken over a paddock. These show a hall and a Church as well as other dwellings. The effect of this film is of a bleak, Fenland scene.The second of these films shows the Spalding Flower Festival in 1966. The floats are filmed travelling along a street of older style terraced houses. People are in the street watching the procession. Floats include a decorated motor cycle, steam traction engines, vintage cars and a parade of vintage cycles. These are ridden by people in Edwardian costume. Some floats are horse drawn and one is representing the National Union of Agricultural workers. Another float is the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of a company, 1916 - 1966.The third of these films shows scenes of Narborough and Pentney Railway Station. There is a shot of the British Railways Board notice, announcing the withdrawal of goods services from the Dereham to Kings Lynn Line and a shot of the station sign. There are shots taken around the station, including the signal box and station buildings. The gates are crossed across the line. A train approaches and passes through.

Featured Events

The Spalding Flower Festival, 1966

Keywords

Railway closures; rural transport

Other Places

Narborough, Norfolk; Spalding, Lincolnshire; Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire

Background Information

The railway line between Kings Lynn and East Dereham passed through Middleton, East Winch, Narborough, Swaffham, Dunham, Fransham and Wendling. In March, 1963, a report by Dr. Richard Beeching, entitled The reshaping Of Britain's Railways, recommended the withdrawal of railway passenger services from 5,000 miles of line and the closure of 2,363 stations. A appendix listed lines that would be closed, warning that these were the most hopelessly uneconomic ones. The remaining branch lines would be dealt with after the first wave of closures. In 1967, the Secretary of State for transport, Barbara Castle, launched a further plan that reduced the Beeching cuts. This was already too late for many of East Anglia's railways, although the final effect was less drastic than the Beeching recommendations. The Castle Plan allowed for socially necessary lines to be kept open, but the bias of the Labour Party meant that these tended to be urban commuter lines. No rural lines were saved. In August of 1966 all stations between Kings Lynn and Dereham became unstaffed and goods facilities were withdrawn between 1964 and 1966. The Dereham to Kings Lynn line was closed altogether on September 9th, 1968.