On arrival at Aylsham
we parked the car at the Bure Valley Railway car park and decided we would
have a look round the station and souvenir shop before preparing to embark
on this our fourth cycling adventure. The 10.15 bound for Wroxham was
about to leave so after a quick visit to the toilets we returned to the
car to untangle and remove our bikes from the back of our VW Golf. Since
changing our car we have to remove the front wheels from both our cycles
in order to accommodate them in the back of the Golf to get the tail gate
shut. (Its times like this when I miss the spacious boot area of the old
Saab). Anyway, with our bikes assembled and all essentials aboard we head
for the Bure Valley path, the access to the path is in the far corner
of the car park near the turntable. The sign saying PEDESTRIANS ONLY,
NO CYCLES, MOTORBIKES OR HORSES,is still on display but we've had our
assurances from the BVR that its OK to cycle.
We pause opposite the small signal cabin to observe and
photograph the departure of the 10.15 boat train to Wroxham collecting
the token from the signalman as it passes. We set of in pursuit easily
keeping pace with the train until it picks up speed. It gave a lengthy
blast on its whistle as it descended the 1 in 76 bank to pass through
the steel and concrete tunnel under the A140 Aylsham bypass. The original
standard gauge line crossed here by means of a level crossing, the East
Norfolk Railway’s gate-keeper’s house still remains and is
occupied. By the time we had negotiated the traffic on the bypass and
the two wooden chicanes at the entry/exit point to the path the 10.15
was well on its way leaving a light trail of smoke as it disappeared into
the distance, the early morning sun glistening on the locomotive and its
carriages. The path has quite
a reasonable surface considering it wasn't constructed for cycling on,
though fenced off from the railway its part of the old track-bed and runs
parallel along the North of the line as far as Little Hautbois Hall, at
which point it crosses to the South of the line through to Wroxham. Before
long we passed under the first of the many brick arch and girder bridges
along the 9 mile stretch of line, 17 in all, (that's almost 2 to every
mile).
Next we came to Spratts Green level crossing where again the gate-keeper’s
house still remains and is occupied. In the large garden of the property
we observed an old Bauxite brown ex-railway goods van, these are often
seen dotted around rural area’s, purchased by farmers and smallholders
etc. as they became redundant from the railway, a useful ready made shed
for storage or keeping livestock.
As we continue, the prettiest part of the ride in my opinion can be seen
to the north as we look across the valley and water meadows from the embankment
to the small villages of Burgh next Aylsham and Brampton where cattle
and horses were grazing the pasture.
We were both so taken by the view that we paused here for a while to enjoy
the peacefulness of our
surroundings, Its at Brampton, just beyond the halt that we come across
the first passing loop, here we were met a by a little diesel (the 10.15
to Aylsham) still adorned with its face from yesterday’s Thomas
the Tank Engine event.We press on and soon arrive at Buxton. Buxton BVR
is built on the site of Buxton Lamas station, like the intermediate stations
at Brampton and Coltishall is basically just a halt, there are no buildings
or waiting shelters just a low concrete pavement type platform for passengers
to light onto and a station name board. The original Buxton Lamas station
building remains as a private house.
Shortly after leaving Buxton we came across the longest
bridge on the line, the 105ft girder bridge which spans the river Bure
just down stream from Buxton mill. Incidentally it was at this point we
encountered the grumpy gentleman who mumbled ‘NO BIKES’.
We replied with a polite ‘GOOD MORNING’. We paused on the
bridge for sometime taking in the view and watching the trout in the crystal
clear water, I don’t think I've ever seen so many trout all at once.
We took a couple of photo’s before moving on. After a few hundred
yards we reach the halfway point ‘Hautbois loop’ the principal
passing place for the trains, just beyond the loop the path changes to
the south of the line via a level crossing at Hautbois Hall. As we cycled
on toward our next stop we could clearly see RAF Coltishall on our left,
the Railway is only a few hundred yards from the end of the runway, directly
under the flight path of aircraft taking off and landing, hence the curve
at this point is named ‘Runway curve’, although there was
no activity at the base today I would imagine this would be a fine vantage
point for aircraft spotter’s (sorry enthusiasts). Two of the loco’s
at the BVR have Commemorative names linked to the history of RAF Coltishall,
2-6-2 ZB No.7 Spitfire, and Bo-Bo No.3 2nd Air Division USAAF. The base
is home to 6, 41 and 54 Squadrons all equipped with Jaguar fighters. After
about a mile we arrive at Coltishall station, basically the description
is identical to that of Buxton, Coltishall differs in as much as it has
a passing loop and an Island platform, nothing of the original East Norfolk
Railway remains today except the station building which is now a private
house. As we leave Coltishall for Wroxham now only 2½ miles away
we pass under four bridges in very quick succession before arriving at
our 3rd level crossing ‘Belaugh Green’, as with all other
gate keeper’s houses along the line it is privately occupied and
well maintained. We cross the road, again negotiating the wooden chicanes
which are almost as numerous as the bridges along the route. After a couple
of hundred yards we could see ( to the north ) the Norwich - Cromer line,
so we knew Wroxham wasn't far now, we were both looking forward to our
picnic lunch. As we approached Wroxham, the BVR runs into a cutting as
it curves to the right before running into the Wroxham BVR station parallel
with the ‘Anglian Railway’s’ line from Norwich to Cromer
and Sheringham. The path continues along the top of the cutting before
descending sharply to track level at journey’s end.
The time was now 12.15 and our thoughts now were focused on food. Disappointingly
there were no picnic tables or anywhere to sit and have our lunch at the
BVR so we decided to cycle the short distance into Wroxham and hopefully
find a somewhere nice to sit by the river ...‘ Great Idea’
we thought... ‘Big Mistake’, it was packed, people everywhere.
So with nowhere to rest our legs we returned and eat our lunch on Wroxham
‘Anglian Railway’s’ station, at least there were some
seats to sit on, even if they were in the shade, we perched our backsides
on the edge of a large flower container soaking up the sun while we dined,
it was possibly the quietest place in Wroxham, we were the only people
on the station apart from a woman on the opposite platform waiting for
the arrival of the 12.45 Norwich-Sheringham service. Its funny how there
always seems to be that atmosphere of uneasy quiet at remote county stations,
like a lull before a storm, feelings of anxiousness and expectation, like,
...‘You know its coming, ... but when, ......and which direction
will it come from.... then relief and mild excitement when a semaphore
signal breaks the silence as it drops, or a red light changes to green,
heralding the expected arrival. At this point potential passengers usually
get to there feet (those who are not already pacing up and down) and pear
anxiously in one direction or the other, worrying perhaps that the train
may be full and not being able to find a seat. No problem with that on
this service today. Benjamin captured the arrival of the two car 150 DMU
on film,
On finishing our lunch we walked to the north end of the platform to take
a picture of the signals and signal box, they are due to disappear in
a 12.5 million upgrade of the Bittern Line by its owners Railtrack. The
bracketed semaphore signal which stands at the end of the down platform
once supported the starter signal for the old County School branch, the
pillar on which it was mounted still remains but the arm itself has long
since been removed, we also observed two old brake vans (one BR and one
ex LMS) standing in a siding they don't look as if they've been moved
for years.
Right, we’ve had an hour’s break its time to move on, we make
our way back over the footbridge to the BVR, as we do so we recognise
a couple walking toward us as the couple we passed on the path just outside
Aylsham earlier, they had obviously walked the whole length of the path.
Before setting of on our return we visited the BVR souvenir shop and bought
a chocolate bar each to sustain our energy levels, while in there I picked
up an interesting leaflet issued by a partnership between Local and district
councils, Anglia Railways, the Rural Development Commission, and the North
East Norfolk Travelers Association, (NENTA), which promotes cycle routes
in the North East of Norfolk using the train service on the Bittern Line
as a means transport to access the area, it includes a train timetable,
an excellent map and descriptions of the nine cycle rides it promotes
.............GOOD IDEA.
The time is now 1.15pm. Time we begin our return trip back to Aylsham,
Originally we had planned to cycle to Coltishall via the B1354 but to
avoid heavy traffic we decided to retrace our steps back along the path
as far as Belaugh Green level crossing and cycle to Coltishall using the
much quieter by road, then follow route 7 as described in the ‘Bittern
Line Guide’. From Coltishall route 7 took us roughly along our original
planned route, through the very picturesque villages of Little Hautbois,
Lamas, by the Bure at Buxton Mill, and into Buxton Village, from there
we rejoined the B1354 for a short distance turning right to Brampton,
it was at
this point we made an error and instead of taking our intended route to
Aylsham via Burgh next Aylsham. we found ourselves back on the B1354 amongst
the traffic, never mind we pressed on soon arriving at the A140 Aylsham
bypass a few yards from the Bure Valley path where we set off from this
morning. We entered the path and cycled the short distance back to the
BVR car park where we disassembled our bikes and loaded them back into
the VW feeling a little relieved and for me a little disappointed that
we missed what was probably the pettiest part of our return journey. The
time was now 14.45, not bad 4½ hours considering we stopped for
1 hr at Wroxham for lunch. We sat in the car and finished off what was
left of our refreshments before walking over to watch the arrival of the
14.00 from Wroxham, I must say that if today’s passenger numbers
are any thing to go by the BVR is certainly a very popular tourist attraction. |
