Tag Railways

The Tale of the Wensum Dipper

The Mile Cross Man 7 Comments

I have told the tale of the Wensum Dipper in the past, but that piece was written a while back now, and since then some new details and images have come to light in a massive collection of images and information about the history of Norwich, kindly given to me by another Mile Cross Resident, which has helped to shed some more light on this peculiar episode. For those of you who didn’t read the original piece, written way back in 2018 (have I really been running on for that long now? Mad), the story was fairly straight forward: A mix up with a set of points at the exit of the railway yard at City Station meant that a locomotive pulling a long train ended up in the murky waters of the Wensum. I managed to fill in some of the gaps with some living recollections, a bit of local knowledge, including some fine research by my good friend and fellow Mile Cross lad (and one of our Norfolk Railway Heritage Group experts) John Batley, and a little bit of educated guesswork. Now knowing more detail, it seems that we had got some of the finer details spot-on with some of our educated guesses, which is always comforting to know.

The scene of the accident, captured in this wonderful, early image of the distinctive A-Frame bridge.
Continue reading “The Tale of the Wensum Dipper” →

The Mile Cross Railwayman: “Puffing” Billy Beeston

The Mile Cross Man 9 Comments

Way back in 1928 a couple going by the names of William and Dorothy Beeston (Billy and Doll) moved into their new home right here in the middle of the Mile Cross estate. Both born in 1900 and aged 28, they’d travelled up from Suffolk to live here and the reason for their relocation across the border and into Norwich was in pursuit of a new career and a new life.

Billy had decided to move up to Mile Cross to try and make a life-long career out being a railwayman. As was the norm back then, he would have had to work incredibly hard in the pursuit of his dreams, starting at the very bottom and working his way up through the ranks, which was the only way when chasing a life on the rails. Luckily, young Billy had managed to land himself a job as an engine cleaner at Thorpe Station’s Shed 32A working for London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), which would turn out to be his first step on the long ladder towards his dreams of becoming a steam-engine driver.

MX Beeston 1aA young-looking Billy, posing on the side of an F3 2-4-2T loco, dreaming of one day becoming a driver. Continue reading “The Mile Cross Railwayman: “Puffing” Billy Beeston” →