Station Name: HADLEIGH

[Source: Nick Catford]


Hadleigh Station Gallery 3: 3.9.1956 - 1972


People gather on the station forecourt during a visit by the The Railway Enthusiasts Club Suffolk Venturer railtourof 30 September 1956. This was the last passenger train with coaches to run into Hadleigh station. With no way to turn the loco had to propel its coaches back to Bentley. The white building seen on the left is Wilson's Mill with cattle pens seen on the dock in front of it.
Photo from John Mann collection

Hadleigh station forecourt during a visit by the The Railway Enthusiasts Club Suffolk Venturer railtourof 30 September 1956. One of two adjacent goods sheds is seen on the right. Note the canopy which provided weather protection for road vehicles.
Photo from John Mann collection

The Railway Enthusiasts Club Suffolk Venturer railtourof 30 September 1956 has arrived at Hadleigh and some of its passengers, in typical fine weather dress of the time, are sampling the delights of the station and its environs. Unlike the brake van tour of 9 June the same year, more details of this tour are known. Hadleigh's crane is visible; this was stated in 1904 and 1956 as being of 5 ton capacity. On the right part of the platform canopy can be seen. The locomotive seen here is ex-Class E4 2-4-0 No. 62797. She began life in 1902 ex-GER Class T26 No.1259 and was allocated to Lowestoft at the time of the photograph and was to be withdrawn from Cambridge shed in March 1958. No.1259 was numerically the final member of the class and by 1956 was one of only a small number to remain in service. She entered service at the same time as the penultimate class member, No.1258, but went on to outlive her sister by twenty-one years. The final class member to remain in service was GER No.490, latterly British Railways No.62785. Withdrawn from Cambridge shed in December 1959, she is now preserved.
Photo from Jim Lake collection

Brush Type 2 D5544 has arrived at Hadleigh with the enthusiasts’ special, G.R. Lockie's (Ramblers Excursion) & Add-on tour of 20 April 1962. Despite the train comprising all goods vehicles, it was of course a passenger train hence the 'Class 2' headcode. By this time only one track entered the station, so D5544 will need to reverse its train into the sidings in order to run round before reversing back into the platform, the edge of which is showing signs of crumbling. D5544 is in original condition, with the possible exception of the overhead warning flash. Until the advent of blue and white stickers, it was common for diesel locomotives to carry steam-style shed plates. Close examination shows D5544 has one at the bottom of the cabside, below the number and worksplate. This appears to have been the usual position for shed plates on the Brush Type 2s and seemingly invariably at the No.1 end (i.e. the radiator block end). She was allocated to 32B, Ipswich, at the time. Finding employment on the left is a tractor fitted with front loader bucket. The tractor appears to be a Nuffield and possibly an M4. Nuffield was the agricultural offshoot of Morris Motors, the name coming from Lord Nuffield, as William Morris became. Nuffield tractors were once a familiar site but were never to dominate the market. On the station platform lurks a Raleigh moped and it appears to be an RM4. Mopeds, and to a lesser extent Reliant three-wheel cars, once went almost hand-in-hand with railway workers. The Raleigh is registered 921 KBJ, telling us it was new in July 1961. The registration letters BJ were allocated to East Suffolk under the system in use from 1904 right through to 2001.
Photo by David Pearson

Another view from 20 April 1962. D5544 has now shunted its train out of the platform, run round, and reversed the train back into the platform ready for the trundle back to Bentley. Why non-passenger stock was used for this enthusiasts’ special is not known; it may have been requested or simply provided for operational reasons. The use of open wagons to convey enthusiasts on branch line specials was uncommon but at the same time not exactly rare (one well known example being the tour of the Benwick branch elsewhere in East Anglia). Brake vans, on the other hand, were frequently used for the same purpose on freight-only lines. Note the railwayman, casually standing with hands in pockets, having a chat with two enthusiasts; whilst ostensibly unremarkable, this and the train formation is a reminder of bygone days when BR had a [usually] friendly and somewhat casual 'can do' approach, so-called 'jobsworths' were largely unheard of and long before Health & Safety paranoia came to rule over everyone and everything. Note the truncated siding on the right. At one time this would have formed part of the cramped and awkward layout permitting incoming locomotives to release, run to the locomotive facilities and/or run round a train. Hadleigh station platform is known, following closure to passengers, to have been used for goods and sundries traffic but by the time this photograph was taken the platform road was effectively just a headshunt. Referring to the building on the left, the 'S' devices, reversed or otherwise, and other fixtures on the wall are tie-bar anchors used to prevent, or arrest, bulging walls. These were found on most of the Hadleigh maltings buildings and can be seen in other photographs.
Photo by David Pearson

With the maltings menacingly dominating the scene, this is Hadleigh station forecourt on 20 April 1962. With the platform canopy just visible at far left, the British Railways notice board and the entrance canopy complete with ornate brackets, it is hard to believe the station had closed to regular passenger services three decades previously. But this was Hadleigh station, one of those stubborn survivors which, half a century following closure to all traffic, still stands today. Note the telephone bell on the wall beside the station entrance; these bells were once very common and designed to be heard over some distance for when staff were out of the office. Some are still in use today. On the left stands a Riley One-Point-Five, the upmarket version of the Wolseley 1500, which was a superb little car full of walnut veneer and, to quote Riley, 'Comprehensive Instrumentation'. It had a 1489cc twin carburettor engine and all what you got for your money was only really let down by the car being based upon the Morris Minor platform which was not exactly well-matched to the Riley's powerful engine. Nevertheless and as said, it was superb little car for its time. Getting in the picture at far right is a 'Baby Austin', an unofficial name which was a throwover from the Austin 7. At first glance either an A30 or A35, the painted grille and flashing indicators tell us this example is an A35. In between and acting like a referee between the basic A35 and somewhat upmarket Riley is a motorcycle which appears to be an Ariel Square Four. The name derived from its four-cylinder engine, with 'Square' being a semi technical term for cylinders of identical bore and stroke. At the time of the photograph the Four Square had been out of production for a few years, while the Riley still had another three years of its production run to go. Perhaps surprisingly, the by-then-archaic-looking Austin A35 was to remain in production, in van form, until 1968 thereby outliving the Hadleigh branch by three years.
Photo by David Pearson

Another view G.R. Lockie's (Ramblers Excursion) & Add-on tourwaiting to return to Bentley 20 April 1962. Hadleigh's large timber goods shed is seen on the left. On the outward journey from Liverpool Street, the ramblers special dropped ramblers at Ardleigh, Manningtree and Bentley, and then continued to Ipswich for non-ramblers. After lunch a separate train, hauled by D5544 (seen here), ran from Ipswich MPD to Hadleigh and back to Bentley. During the run-round at Bentley on the outward leg, platform benches from the station were placed in each of the open wagons. On the return journey the train picked up a party of ramblers at Raydon Wood station. Their organised ramble finished there and special tickets were available for the journey thence to Bentley (price 1/-). The main train ran ECS from Ipswich to Bentley where it recommenced. This was the last such excursion organised by Mr. Lockie, who retired to Spain at about this time.
Photo by Terry Dell

A further view, this time in colour, of the Lockie railtour at Hadleigh on 20 April 1962. D5544, new to Ipswich depot in August 1959, was by this time some three years old and had become quite work stained. She was due a repaint and small yellow warning panels, probably carried out the following year when she had to attend workshops following fire damage. On the left sits a 12 ton ventilated van, probably of LMS origin.
Copyrigtht photo from ColourRail

Likely to be shortly before closure of the Hadleigh branch, a British Thomson-Houston Type 1 (later Class 15) appears to be forming its train prior to departure. Ipswich had a number of these locomotives on its books and their offset-centre cabs, with controls for either direction, made them ideal for this type of work despite the limited visibility at the hood end. Not without their problems, which were not entirely the fault of the manufacturers (Yorkshire Engine Co. and Clayton), they used a Paxman 16-cylinder engine set to develop a mere 800bhp giving 627bhp at the rail and had a maximum speed of just 60mph. This specification was adequate for the type of work intended and for heavier goods workings the class often ran in pairs. Despite limited power and speed, they could and did also work passenger trains during the summer and at other times in emergency. Usage or otherwise on passenger trains was dictated by the lack of train heating equipment. Loss of work saw many withdrawn during the 1968 - 1969 period with the remainder being concentrated in the London area, mostly at Stratford but with a few at Finsbury Park mainly for the Ashburton Grove rubbish train. After 1969 the type was rarely seen north of Cambridge and Colchester, with the final examples being withdrawn in 1971. Four lingered on for many years, however, as carriage pre-heating units and with traction motors removed. One of these, the former D8233, has survived into preservation. On the Hadleigh branch the BTH Type 1 worked turn and turn about with the Brush and BR/Sulzer Type 2s. The very last goods train was worked by Brush D5699 while the penultimate day saw a BTH doing the honours. Standing adjacent to the locomotive at Hadleigh is a Bedford CA van while to the right of the locomotive the oddly-shaped brick hut housed the PW gang's Wickham motor trolley. The hut is rather elaborate compared to the more usual small wooden hut used for the purpose and probably also served as a store for PW tools, fuel etc. They may also have been a flatbed trailer for the motor trolley to tow although no evidence of such has come to light. The original small wooden hut is probably that seen at far right and the motor trolley was sometimes to be found parked off the running line at Capel. Hadleigh station survives today but is now surrounded mostly by modern housing, making 'then and now' comparison reliant on the adjacent maltings. Another reference point is the houses on the left. These houses would have been recently built at the time of the photograph and they stand on an offshoot of Clopton Gardens; first on the left having turned into Clopton Gardens from Station Road.
Copyrigtht photo from ColourRail

Hadleigh station forecourt circa late 1960s. The station is now closed to all traffic and the track has been lifted.
Photo by JL Smith

Hadleigh station building c1972.
Photo from John Mann collection

By 1972 the track was long gone but all the station buildings remained intact and in industrial use. At least one coal merchant continued to operate from the station; a pile of coal is seen on the left. The platform canopy has been considerably shortened. The cattle dock is seen on the right.
Photo from John Mann collection

Click here for Hadleigh Station Gallery 4: c1972 - 11.1974

 

 

 

[Source: Nick Catford]




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