Hoe and Worthing Archive: The Railway  



 


1844 plan

A plan of 1844 proposed a railway from Thetford to Wells. It would have run a few hundred yards to the east of the route actually built. The detailed area of the map shows the junction of Ayers Lane and Hall Road. The route went through the field numbered 15, the meadow next to Spring Farm. The surveyor appears to have been confused - the direction 'To Swaffham' should presumably read 'To Swanton Morley'.

[Courtesy of Norfolk Record Office C/Scf 1/310]



1845 plan

The 1845 Wells and Dereham plan was the one built. The buildings on the map are The Angel Inn and nearby cottages.

[Courtesy of Norfolk Record Office C/Scf 1/244]
 


1850 engine

This is an engine from 1850.

© National Railway Museum and SSPL    http://www.nrm.org.uk/ourcollection/photo?group=Horwich&objid=1997-7059_HOR_F_1141C


railway mystery
The report of the mysterious death of an unknown woman on the railway at Hoe, March 1908. The inquest was held in The Angel Inn.



Baldwin family
    John Baldwin, platelayer with the Great
    Eastern Railway, his wife Elizabeth
    (née Ringer) and their daughter Alice
    lived at Hoe Gatehouse at the time of
    the 1911 census.
















































Bottomley-Eglen wedding

May Bottomley lived at Hoe crossing Gatehouse. August Bank Holiday 1935.



Miller – Syder wedding

April 1948.



train from bridge

A passenger service heading south towards Dereham photographed from the road bridge, Hoe, October 1951. Villagers remember walking the line to collect coal fallen from the trains.




Hoe gatehouse

A still from a film of a train journey from Dereham to Fakenham in the 1960s. The northbound train has stopped at Hoe Gatehouse for the gates to be opened. The Gatehouse, built in 1851 and demolished in 1977, was still lived in when this was taken.

[Courtesy of Transport Video Publishing from the film Pick Up Freight]   http://www.transportvideo.com/
 


crossing

The crossing in June 2008 before the road was widened.



Mervyn Lambert

In July the road was closed and work began to widen the crossing.

flatbed

tracklaying


tracklaying

Relaying the track with new sleepers.



mending the bridge

The road bridge was strengthened with a new concrete deck in August 2008.



railcar

The line closed to passengers in1964 and to freight in1989. In 2008 the Mid Norfolk Railway Trust's work to re-open the line saw the first train crawl along from Dereham.
By May 2013 the restoration of the track to passenger-carrying standard reached as far as Hoe.



HST

An excursion from London St Pancras for rail enthusiasts in the high-speed train 'Sheffield Star' in May 2013 – a first for Hoe.



crewe train

In March 2014 an excursion came from Crewe.



hunt

The hunt was out that day too.



crewe

The limit of the restored track, where the hunt crossed the bridge and the excursion stopped before returning to Crewe.



crewe3


ballast

March 2015 – repairing the track north of Hoe crossing – new sleepers and new ballast.


track clearing

January 2016 – clearing the sides of the cutting north of Hoe crossing.



Demolishing the footbridge, September 2021.

footbridge

cracked bridge

The underside of the bridge was in a dangerous state, dropping concrete onto the track.

closure notice

The footpath over the bridge was closed in 2020 and the route diverted along the adjacent field margin up to the road bridge.

demolition

demolition in progress

reinforcing

Some of the steel reinforcing was made from railway line.

bridge cleared

A new footbridge is to be installed on the old abutments.

footpath

The path from the pillbox to the bridge – a drastic clearance of the blackthorn, crabapple and scrubby hedges. The clearance may be to give access for building the new bridge, otherwise it appears to have been unnecessary.

pillbox exposed

field levelled

The adjacent ground where the bike jumps were was also levelled. The scrubby vegetation was home to slow-worms and lizards.

bike
                                    jumps

An intrepid biker airborne in 2011.