[Source: Darren Kitson]
Barnwell Junction Gallery 1: May 1957 - c1960
old1.jpg) View from a down train as it departs Barnwell Junction in May 1957. The position of the shadows tells us it is early in the morning, so the train will be the 6.28am from Cambridge. This train did not call at the halts and by June the following year it ran non-stop to Fordham and then called only at Isleham on its way to Mildenhall. At the time of the photograph, BR Eastern Region signage had yet to appear. The small building behind the running-in board is recorded as being a store and was the only part of the station not to survive, signal box excepted. Similar store buildings appeared at other stations along the branch. The white cylindrical objects on the platform were planters.
Copyright photo by RM Casserley   1888 1:2,500 OS map. This map shows Barnwell Junction station in the form in which it was to remain for its entire career as a passenger station. The double-track junction with the main line was also to remain until withdrawal of passenger services. To the west of the station and on the other side of the main line is Barnwell goods yard with its two 440ft loop sidings, headshunt and single-ended 510ft siding (the so-called Back Road) via a trailing connection with the down main. The single-ended siding served the Brick & Tile Works (not to be confused with the similar works at Coldham's Lane) while the loop sidings seem to have dealt primarily with coal and coke. What is now Newmarket Road curves across the bottom of the map while the road heading north-east from the Globe Inn is today Ditton Walk. Note that at this time the Borough boundary was just east of the station; to the east of the boundary was the parish of Fen Ditton and this remained the case until 1928. The tramway serving the Brick & Tile works was, in all probability, a horse -or man- powered narrow gauge effort.
 1909:2,500 OS map. The slightly more detailed map shows little has changed since 1888 other than some residential development on Ditton Walk. At top right we can see the malthouse, better known as the Commercial Brewery, with its sidings and connection to the Mildenhall branch. The malthouse still stands today, albeit long since put to other uses.
 1927 1:2,500 OS map. Still nothing has changed on the railway with the exception of an additional trap siding on the spur to the malthouse. The spur was gated and reached via a ground frame in a hut positioned on the down side of the Mildenhall branch. The ground frame was unlocked by Annett's Key obtained from Barnwell Junction. By 1927 there had been further development along Ditton Walk and Newmarket Road. This part of Cambridge was quite industrial; apart from the Brick & Tile works there were once further quarries and gravel pits, the gasworks, the sewage pumping station and, marked on the map, a creamery and the paper mills. The latter gave rise to the now all-but-forgotten name Paper Mills Road and the railway companies referred to Newmarket Road bridge as 'Paper Mills Road Bridge' for a long time after the name became defunct. At some point after 1926 there was a curious addition to the sidings west of the main line, although no maps have yet come to light showing it. In the space immediately north of the bridge on the down side another siding appeared; it was not connected to any of the other sidings and was entered via a trailing connection from the down main just north of the bridge. A ground frame unlocked electrically by Coldham Lane Junction signal box allowed access. We know of its existence owing to surviving signal box diagrams but it seems to have been removed by, or soon after, 1935.
 1964 1:2,500 OS map. A number of changes are apparent. The Mildenhall branch had closed to passengers two years previously; the down platform road through the station had been lifted; the junction with the main line simplified while the Brick & Tile Works had gone and its siding used for coal traffic. At the bottom of the map what is generally known as the Leper Chapel is shown with its proper title. A couple of builders’ yards have appeared on the left; this was a time of a boom in construction but unfortunately many 1960s creations were quite ghastly and, perhaps fortunately, did not
stand the test of time. old2.jpg) The date of the above image is not recorded but it was almost certainly taken around the same time as the previous view. On the down platform the waiting room is seen and behind it the signal box. The Ely line ran directly behind the down platform (see next image). The fence post in the right foreground is curious. There is a tale which says these posts were made from sections of rail used by the contractors building the line. However, given that contractors’ rail was through necessity usually of a lightweight flat-bottom type and that these fence posts were extremely common throughout East Anglia, the tale would seem rather unlikely. If the posts were once rail, it is more likely they were an early type of Bullhead rail which had been discarded by the Great Eastern Railway.
photo from John Mann collection old3.jpg) To complement the previous view, we have a scene taken from Barnwell Junction signal box at around the time of nationalisation. On the right the down platform can be seen with the track of the Mildenhall branch curving away towards Fen Ditton Halt. This is the section of track which, as of 2015, remains in situ disused and overgrown. A Class K3 2-6-0 approaches on the up main line with a goods train. To the left of the K3 is the down main and to the left of that are the two loop sidings of Barnwell goods yard. The track on the far left is the single-ended siding which once served the Brick & Tile works. Barnwell Junction station was gas-lit from the outset until closure, including the lamp seen adjacent to the signal at the end of the platform. Despite being within the City of Cambridge, the scene is deceptively rural. It is a pity that the above image is black and white as the staff kept the station in a quite delightful condition, as can be deduced. Sadly, few passengers sampled its delights - Cambridge station dealt with more passengers each month than Barnwell Junction did in its entire 78-year life.
Photo by John Ford from David Ford's Flickr photostream junction_old5.jpg) A view of station buildings and up platform from the country end of down platform c1959-62. On the left the Eastern Region blue running-in board can be seen; one of two, the other being on the down platform. The backboard has either been salvaged from elsewhere or made specially to suit the pre-existing mounting posts. One has to wonder why BR did not simply provide a running-in board to suit the original GER backboard onto which the name was applied in one line. BR enamel signs, including totems, were actually manufactured by contractors - close examination reveals at least two totems (possibly three) under the canopy. At the far end of the buildings is the stationmaster's house while nearest the camera is the lock-up store. Identical stores were provided at several stations on the Mildenhall branch. Note the wheelbarrow and stones around the bottom of the running-in board; evidence of efforts to keep the station neat and today. This was common at smaller stations where staff had the time to attend to such matters. In the right background the Leper Chapel can be seen; it still stands to today.
Photo from John Mann collection junction_old6.jpg) The view in the opposite direction to previous image and from London end of up platform c1958-62. The goods yard is still in use at this time but stacks of what appears to be building materials have appeared. By this time there are two builders’ yards on the down side of the main line, one of which occupies the site of the former Brick & Tile works. No totem signs can be seen on the down side so it would appear that the only totems are those under the canopy on the up side.
Photo from John Mann collection junction_old7.jpg) Looking north-east along the down platform at Barnwell Junction station c1958-62. The shadows suggest that the photograph was taken just before sunset. Photo from John Mann collection Click here for Barnwell Junction Gallery 2: 1962 - 1975
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The station was also unique in that it was the only one on the Mildenhall branch to receive BR totems, running-in boards and other signage, if we are to discount Fordham which technically was located on the Ely - Newmarket / Bury line. It is not clear how many totems were provided as the existence of two (possibly 3) is confirmed by photographs. There was also a large BR blue board immediately south of the station proclaiming 'Cambridge 1 Mile' with a large arrow pointing south, although the stated distance was a little inaccurate. Quite why Barnwell Junction was given this treatment by BR is something of a mystery, more so when considering the passenger service at the station was for its entire life woefully infrequent. Furthermore and even odder, if photographs and the dates accompanying them are to be believed Barnwell Junction did not gain BR Eastern Region blue enamel signage until after Cambridge station lost its totems. Certainly, at least one (of the two) Great Eastern Railway running-in boards was still present in 1957.
Meanwhile back at Swaffham Prior, Mr Allix remained determined to see his region provided with a railway to help revive local agriculture which was experiencing economic hardship. It is said that every cloud has a silver lining, as Allix was soon to discover. The railway north of Cambridge and onwards to Brandon had suffered problems with flooding, and during 1878 serious disruption occurred once again. This time the GER 'brass' realized that Allix's proposal could, if built, help alleviate the problems, and thus the Mildenhall branch was finally born. 
With the opening of the Fordham - Mildenhall section the following year, five return journeys travelled the full length of the line although on Thursdays one did not operate between Cambridge and Fordham, and vice versa. Tuesdays and Thursdays saw an additional Mildenhall - Fordham (and return) service but at different times on each of those days. Timetables do not indicate that these trains continued to/from Ely so they were probably connecting services. By 1890 there were additional Thursdays-only/excepted services plus one mixed train. Things then trundled on in much the same fashion until the first decade of the twentieth century. 
From November 1955 diesels made their first appearance when two brand new sets of Metropolitan-Cammell 79xxx DMUs were sent to Cambridge for timing trials: E79047+E79263 and E79051+E79278. These trials included the Mildenhall branch, commencing on 20 November. By this time more Mildenhall services ran via Newmarket, plus the occasional service from Ely to Mildenhall which involved a reversal at Fordham. From 7 July 1958 diesel railbuses were introduced on Mildenhall branch services. These vehicles lacked retractable steps, as did the DMUs. For the halts, therefore, sets of portable wooden steps were provided and were usually left at the lineside to await their next call of duty. 
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