Berney Arms railway station: Difference between revisions
Bigdaddy1204 (talk | contribs) It looks like the Berney Arms has reopened as I can see multiple people leaving reviews on Google having stayed there in the past week and several more in recent months. It seems to have reopened since June 2016 as a hotel and restaurant Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
Bigdaddy1204 (talk | contribs) mNo edit summary Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
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==Locality== |
==Locality== |
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The station is located around {{convert|600|m|mi}} from the [[River Yare]] in an area of exposed grazing marsh. The surrounding marshland is managed as the [[RSPB Berney Marshes]] reserve and is adjacent to [[Breydon Water]], a major site for wildfowl. [[Berney Arms Windmill]], owned by [[English Heritage]], is located on the Yare near to the station, as is the Berney Arms public house, which stood disused and vandalised in late 2015 but which has since reopened. |
The station is located around {{convert|600|m|mi}} from the [[River Yare]] in an area of exposed grazing marsh. The surrounding marshland is managed as the [[RSPB Berney Marshes]] reserve and is adjacent to [[Breydon Water]], a major site for wildfowl. [[Berney Arms Windmill]], owned by [[English Heritage]], is located on the Yare near to the station, as is the Berney Arms public house, which briefly stood disused and vandalised in late 2015 but which has since reopened as a hotel and restaurant. |
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The [[Weavers' Way]] and [[Wherryman's Way]] long-distance footpaths both pass near the station. |
The [[Weavers' Way]] and [[Wherryman's Way]] long-distance footpaths both pass near the station. |
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Revision as of 19:22, 3 June 2017
Berney Arms | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Broadland |
| Managed by | Abellio Greater Anglia |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | BYA |
| History | |
| Original company | Yarmouth and Norwich Railway[1] Eastern Counties Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Great Eastern Railway |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 1 May 1844 | Opened[1] |
Berney Arms railway station is on the Wherry Lines in the east of England, serving the remote settlement of Berney Arms on the Halvergate Marshes in Norfolk. It is 15 miles 71 chains (25.6 km) down-line from Norwich and is on a loop between Reedham and Great Yarmouth. It is managed by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving the station. The limited number of services timetabled to stop do so on request only.[2]
Berney Arms is one of the most remote and least-used stations in the country. It is several miles from the nearest road and thus is accessible only by train, on foot,[2][3] or by boat, as it is a relatively short walk from the River Yare, where private boats can moor. It was adopted in 2010 as part of the Station Adoption Scheme.[4]
History
The Bill for the Yarmouth & Norwich Railway (Y&NR) received Royal Assent on 18 June 1842. Work started on the line in April 1843 and it and its stations were opened on 1 May 1844. Berney Arms opened with the line and is situated east of Reedham and west of Great Yarmouth (originally Yarmouth Vauxhall). The Y&NR was the first public railway line in Norfolk. A local landowner, Thomas Trench Berney, sold the land on the marshes to the railway company on the condition that Berney Arms station be built.[5] A few years later, the railway stopped serving it, saying that there had been no agreement for trains to actually call at the station that they agreed to build. However, after lengthy legal proceedings, it was agreed to serve the station in perpetuity.[6]
The Y&NR was the first public railway line in Norfolk. On 30 June 1845 a Bill authorising the amalgamation of the Y&NR with the Norwich & Brandon Railway came into effect and Berney Arms station became a Norfolk Railway asset.[1][7]
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) and its rival the Eastern Union Railway (EUR) were both sizing up the NR to acquire and expand their networks. The ECR trumped the EUR by taking over the NR, including Berney Arms, effective 8 May 1848.
By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR, which wished to amalgamate formally but could not obtain government agreement for this until an Act of Parliament on 7 August 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by the consolidation. Actually, Berney Arms had become a GER station on 1 July 1862 when the GER took over the ECR and the EUR before the Bill received its Royal Assent.[8]
The system settled down for the next six decades, apart from the disruption of World War I. The difficult economic circumstances that existed after the war led the government to pass the Railways Act 1921 which led to the creation of the so-called "Big Four" companies. The GER amalgamated with several other companies to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Berney Arms became an LNER station on 1 January 1923.
Upon nationalisation in 1948 the station and its services became part of the Eastern Region of British Railways.
The post office at Berney Arms Station, which had opened in 1898, was closed in 1967.[9]
On privatisation the station and its services were transferred to Anglia Railways, which operated it until 2004, when National Express East Anglia won the replacement franchise, operating under the brand name 'one' until 2008. In 2012 Abellio Greater Anglia took over operating the franchise.
The former Berney Arms signal box is preserved at Mangapps Railway Museum in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.
Locality
The station is located around 600 metres (0.37 mi) from the River Yare in an area of exposed grazing marsh. The surrounding marshland is managed as the RSPB Berney Marshes reserve and is adjacent to Breydon Water, a major site for wildfowl. Berney Arms Windmill, owned by English Heritage, is located on the Yare near to the station, as is the Berney Arms public house, which briefly stood disused and vandalised in late 2015 but which has since reopened as a hotel and restaurant.
The Weavers' Way and Wherryman's Way long-distance footpaths both pass near the station.
Services
The line is on part of the Wherry Lines currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. Services are typically formed by Class 153, Class 156 or Class 170 diesel multiple units.
As of December 2015 the station is a request stop for two trains per day to Norwich and two to Great Yarmouth on each day apart from on Sundays, when the service is increased to four trains in each direction. Service frequencies generally increase slightly during the summer period, to three trains in each direction per day and five in each direction at the weekend.[10][11]
References
- ^ a b c Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- ^ a b Berney Arms (BYA), National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ^ Getting to Berney Arms Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Berney Arms Station adopter website, 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^ Berney Arms Station Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Berney Arms Station adopter website, 2010. retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^ Berney Arms Railway Station, Berney Arms Web. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^ McKie, D. (2010) The rail to nowhere, The Guardian, 2010-07-11. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^ C.J. Allen [full citation needed]
- ^ C.J. Allen - Great Eastern - page 46
- ^ Post Office Circular, 12 April 1967.
- ^ 'Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft', Greater Anglia, December 2013.
- ^ Route Details for any journey from or to Berney Arms, accessible through http://www.nationalrail.co.uk - National Rail Enquiries, [full citation needed]
Further reading
- "Unlikely Survival". The Railway Magazine: 132–133. April 1984.
- "Trains stop only on request: Berney Arms". Hidden Europe Magazine (11): 10–11. November 2006.
External links
52°35′24″N 1°37′51″E / 52.59000°N 1.63083°E
- Train times and station information for Berney Arms railway station from National Rail
- Walking guides, travel information and things to do at Berney Arms.
- History and photographs on Berney Arms Web
- Large scale map and walk
- Video about Berney Arms railway station and the local area
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reedham | Abellio Greater Anglia Wherry Lines |
Great Yarmouth | ||