M&GN Joint Railway Society
Home | Members | Join the Society | Museum | Shop | Locos | Carriages | Wagons     Help Out | Links |
  Holt Station | Museum | BRCS | Weybourne Station | Weybourne Sheds | Sheringham Station | Bridges |

-

Bridges

-

Bridge 299, Kelling Heath at 38m17ch

This bridge is an elliptical arch of 25’ span built in 1885, carrying the road over the track. It was built to span double track width, as overbridges often were, although there may well have been an original intention to provide a station/ loop here at some stage. Had the proposed branch to Blakeney had been built, eastbound trains would have turned to the left immediately after the bridge.

Bridge 300, Culvert, Kelling Woods at 39m48ch

The culvert is a circular brick culvert of 4’ span and carries the outfall from the pond in Kelling Woods. This dates from to the building of the line in 1885.

Bridge 301, Spring Beck at 39m76ch

This bridge is a segmental brick arch of 32’ span carrying double track over Spring Beck. It is of significantly larger span than would have been necessary to span the watercourse and it is possible that it also formed an access route for agricultural users.

 


The original bridge, the southern side, was built in 1885 but to permit the construction of the passing loop, it was widened to the north in 1901. The southern half is constructed in local red bricks and is weaker than the northern half. Today the passing loop joins the main line short of the bridge.

As part of the upgrading of the axle capacity of the railway, the track was realigned onto the stronger northern half in 2002. At the same time the track was removed and the arch re-waterproofed.
A view looking towards Holt taken during the waterproofing works in 2002. The original bridge is on the left with the remains of the original northern parapet visible in the centre.

 

 

Bridge 302, Sandy Lane, Weybourne, at 40m02ch

This bridge was built in 1885 and since the centre span was built to double track width, there may always have been an intention to construct a station or passing loop here. (Weybourne station was not opened until 1900).
The bridge is constructed in blue engineering brickwork and has spans of 14’, 26’ and 14’. Strengthening tie rods were installed through the arch in 2008.

 

 

Bridge 302a, Weybourne station footbridge, at 40m07ch

This footbridge was originally the Stowmarket station footbridge (No 280) built in 1900. This became redundant under the Anglia Electrification project in 1982. It was dismantled and brought to the railway by David Pinkerton. The bridge was subsequently refurbished and re-erected at Weybourne in 1990. At Stowmarket the bridge had a roof but this was not required and was discarded. Although this bridge looks ‘right’ here, Weybourne never had a footbridge and instead relied on a foot crossing. The bridge’s neighbour (Bridge 281), which stood at the level crossing at Stowmarket station, has also been preserved and is today at Castle Hedingham station on the Colne Valley Railway.

Bridge 303, Coast Road bridge, at 40m68ch

It’s location makes this bridge the most photographed on the railway, as it carries the line over the A149 Coast Road with views to the sea beyond. This bridge dating from the line’s construction in 1885, originally had a deck of two wrought iron girders with transverse trough decking. In the 1970s this was strengthened by placing sections of flatbottom rail inside each trough. By the 1980s the deck was assessed as being too poor to repair and no longer strong enough for the NNR’s operations. David Pinkerton arranged for the purchase of one span from the three span bridge 1584 from Shippea Hill. This was delivered to Sheringham in 1982 and was shortened to suit its new situation during the following year. The NNRs first ‘blockade’ took place during the autumn of 1984 and the bridge was available for traffic just in time for the Santa season.
However the bridge will be most remembered for David’s tragic death just as the project's completion was in sight and a memorial plaque may be seen on its wing wall.







The bridge is unique on the NNR as it has the permanent way carried on longitudinal timbers within the steel girders. These timbers are now quite old and are gradually being replaced by the PW team.

Bridge 304, Deadman’s Hill, at 41m 0ch

This bridge has three segmental brick arch spans and carries a public footpath and farm access over the line. The centre span is for a single line of track only, unlike the other overbridges on the railway. The roadway is unsurfaced and this has allowed water to seep into the structure and has resulted in the brickwork being severely damaged by frost action and precautionary strapping was placed around the piers by BR in the 1960’s. It is otherwise in reasonable condition.
 

The Norfolk coast saw many preparations for invasion in 1940 and this location shows two such examples. There is a pillbox built into the approach embankment on the north side. In addition there are sockets in the roadway, covered by metal plates. Were an alarm to be raised then these would have had sections of rail placed into them to form an anti-tank barrier, covered by anti-tank guns in Sheringham Park.

Bridge 305, Church Street, Sheringham, at 42m 55ch

The current bridge dates from 1905 when the original brick bridge was replaced and is constructed of large wrought iron girders carrying transverse trough decking. This was carried out to allow the expansion of the yard and the construction of platform 3.
 

Search

Become a Volunteer and help run the Society and the Railway.

There are always opportunities to help to run the Society and the Railway.

Use existing skills or learn new ones.

Even a few hours a month would help.

Make new friends.

Wide range of roles available.

Full training given.

More information

Copyright © Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway Society