EAST WINCH TO NARBOROUGH & PENTNEY
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East Winch Station
Located 5 miles and 15 chains away from King's Lynn and precisely two miles from Middleton towers, East Winch station was situated approximately half a mile away from the village. The station was also near Gayton Road station from the M&GN South Lynn to Fakenham and Melton Constable line, which also carried traffic from East Winch village and neighbouring villages like Gayton. East Winch had two platforms and a passing loop, with two short dead-end sidings on the upside. During its early days, a signal box was built here between the goods yard and the passenger platform.
East Winch was one of five intermediate stations on the Lynn & Dereham, which, soon after opening, became a request stop until 1882. In the 1950s, the up platform was shortened, and steam services in 1955 were replaced with DMUs, with the service increasing to twelve services a day calling at East Winch. However, there were no Sunday trains between Dereham and Lynn.
In March 1963, Dr Richard Beeching's report, "The Reshaping of Britain's Railways," was published, leading to the closure of freight services at intermediate stations. In 1964, East Winch closed to Goods, and in 1966, it became an unstaffed halt with the signal box, two platforms, and the passing loop kept open. East Winch, along with all other stations, closed on Saturday, September 7, as there were no Sunday services. Shortly after, the track after Middleton Towers was ripped up.
Even today, East Winch Station remains a residential home with one platform still in place. Parts of the Signal box have been relocated to the Mid Norfolk railway at Thuxton and beautifully restored to a high standard.
East Winch station Layout
Dated 1892-1914
Google Maps
East Winch Station.
Andy Blatch, whose grandfather photographed East Winch station in the early 1950s while serving as the station master, kindly permitted the use of this image.
©Andy Blatch
Photographed in 2020.
Year unknown
Credit kl forums
East Winch Signal box.
It is believed that East Winch signal box was built after the station's construction in the 1800s, when a passing loop and second platform were added. Unfortunately, after the railway line was shut down, the signal box was vandalised. Fortunately, the Mid Norfolk Railway saved the part of the structure and it is now utilised along the Mid Norfolk Heritage Railway at Thuxton station.
Ben Brooksbank / Derelict signalbox at former East Winch station, 1995 / CC BY-SA 2.0
Robert Walden, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
East Winch Signal Box at Thuxton
Parts of the East Winch box were used to build the signal box at Mid Norfolk Railway at Thuxton. It was designed after the signal box at Shippea Hill on the Breckland line.
The Goods Yard at East Winch was constructed on the upside of the Platform after the station had originally opened, and in 2016, a grain shed was destroyed by fire.
The train departed from East Winch and proceeded towards its next stop, the now defunct Bilney station that ceased operations during the Victorian era. During the journey, the train crossed over a level crossing, which the cottage still exists to this day. It then passed under a farm crossing bridge and over an isolated crossing that later became the A47 bypass, before arriving at the short-lived Bilney station.
The Crossing Cottage Photographed in 2020
Bilney Station.
1846-1866
Bilney, a station located 7 miles from King’s Lynn, operated on the Lynn Dreham line from 1846 to 1866. Despite its brief existence, it still stands today, though it’s challenging to spot while driving by on the A47. The station house, now a residential property, has undergone several expansions over the years.
The platforms have vanished, and the railway would have extended to the north side of the building. At the time of its operation, manual crossing gates stood over a road which has since been reconstructed and made into the A47.
Interestingly, the station has also been called Bilney & Pentney during its brief existence.
Bilney Station Position
Dated 1892-1914
Bilney Station Position
Dated 1830-1880
©Thanks to the national library of Scotland.
Google maps
From afar, one can spot the point where the now-defunct Bilney station would have been situated. The station operated for a mere two decades, beginning from October 27th, 1846, and ending on August 1st, 1866. Fortunately, the station building still stands and has been repurposed as a private dwelling. The adjacent thoroughfare visible in the distance is the A47, constructed in 1981, long after the railway and the station had ceased operations, spanning a gap of 135 years from when this photo was taken.
As we left Bilney, the Line led us towards Narborough and Pentney. We traversed mostly wooded areas, passing over farm tracks, then through what is now an industrial unit, and finally over a level crossing at Pentney Lane, where the Crossing Cottage still stands.
Shortly the line arrived at the next station, Narborough and Pentney.