Zena's Railway Memories

I was one of the Railway Children.

I was born at 41 Gatehouse, Low Road, Martham in 1929 and lived there until 1953.

My Parents’ Work

My parents both had a very important job to do on the railway. My Father was a plate‑layer – to maintain the smooth running of the M&GN (Midland and Great Northern Railway) in our own area – with his gang. My mother's job was to man the crossing gates during the day when the line was open to the trains but closed to the road traffic. This meant my Mother was tied all day until Dad took over when he left off work. She was not able to just 'pop up' to the shops.

From an early age I knew how to work the levers for the up‑down signals for the flags. I could have placed a detonator on the rails if I ever had to. This was done in thick fog if the driver couldn't see the signal.

The War Years

The M&GN was a very important railway. I saw many changes over the years, especially the war years. We saw the trains being used for bringing heavy equipment from the factories up in the north of the country, to be shipped overseas. There were tanks, guns, etc. It is hard to realize now all this being done in the middle of our village.

My Dad had to 'walk the line' on some nights to make sure all was safe from the enemy, to check any sabotage from the Luftwaffe. They would have liked to have put these trains out of action. Dad walked from Martham to Hemsby Bridge. There he met up with the chap walking from Hemsby. The two men would then stop to have a little 'mardle' under the bridge. Every inch of the line had to be covered every day, before turning around and walking back.

We had a searchlight and a gun at the top of our road. This was to search for any stray planes that would have caused quite a bit of disruption. We also had an R.A.F. camp just behind our gate house in a field. It was a bit secret. Nobody knew what they were doing – all to do with radar no doubt.

A Carnival to Remember

My Mum had an anxious time at one of our village carnivals. All the floats came down Cess Road and had to go over the railway to go up to Repps Road. There were such a lot of floats. It took ages to get them all over before the next train was due. Everything turned out well. No disasters. The carnivals were quite large in those days.

The 'Tantivvy'

We had the 'Tantivvy' run in the summer months. It was a two‑carriage train and was used for transporting holiday makers from Yarmouth Beach station. It stopped at Caister, California and Hemsby at the halts and went on to Potter Heigham station. This was the only time a train had stopped at the Gate House for us to use. We had been to Potter Heigham one summer evening for a farewell party for the Vicar of Repps and Potter Heigham. The guard let us have this special treat on the 'Tantivvy'. Rev. Lewis Meadows White was Vicar of Repps and Potter Heigham – and had been for many years.

Herring Season

During the Herring season at Great Yarmouth, there were thousands of fisher girls coming in trains from the north – they had to pass our house. The trains were so over‑packed we witnessed many sitting on their cases in the corridors. They obviously thought it was worth it, such very hard and dirty work for these girls but very good pay. They found digs in Yarmouth for the few weeks they were here. They had to scrub up in the outhouse before going inside of their accommodation. The smell was terrible. They also looked terrible sights.

A Clever Cat

We had a very clever cat! She was 13 years old and was used to going over the line after the last train to catch mice in the field opposite our bungalow. One night, that train caught her. Both her back legs were broken. She dragged herself home. The vet said cats are creatures of habit. They know more than we think.

The Rogue Engine

Our parents were on holiday and late one night there was an 'extra' train put on. It was a rogue engine – and had to get back without carriages to Gt. Yarmouth. We were woken up with this spluttering and spitting massive engine close up to our gates. My sister dutifully got up, going down to let it over in her nightdress. She was a bit older than me. We were more grown up then, not children any longer. There was a man on the gates during the day and one in the evenings. He had long gone home. When my parents were on holiday, we just got a couple of 'whoop, whoops' as they passed. Although it was about 70 years ago I can still see their faces now.

A Flood on the Line

The only time my Dad had to stop a train was when part of our line was flooded. The railways were mostly low down.

Photographs

Memoir originally written by Zena Welton. Presented as a digital leaflet.