When in 1856 the branch railway to Halstead had still not been built, the local
citizens took matters into their own hands and a scheme was formally sanctioned by Act of Parliament on 30th June 1856 to build a line from the Eastern Counties Railway * at Chappel & Wakes Colne to Halstead. The embryonic Colne Valley and Halstead Railway (CV&HR) found it difficult to raise the required capital and it was a further two years before construction of the line was started.
* By this time the ECR had absorbed the Stour Valley and Sudbury Line.
By the end of 1859 construction work was almost complete, but a dispute arose with the larger Eastern Counties Railway because they would not make a decision on where to locate the junction with their line at Chappel. After months of haggling a decision was made, but not before the CV&HR had threatened to build their own station as close as possible to the Eastern Counties station.
The formal opening of the six mile long railway took place on Monday 16th April 1860 and was celebrated by the running of an excursion train from Halstead to Colchester at a return fare of one shilling.
Meanwhile, the new Company obtained powers to extend the line from Halstead to Haverhill and work commenced on June 19th 1860. The extension was opened in stages, to Sible and Castle Hedingham on July 1st 1861, to Great Yeldham on May 26th 1862 and finally to Haverhill on May 10th 1863. A station opened at Birdbrook late in 1863. However, the construction of Halstead station lagged behind the railway and was not started until late 1862, prior to which not even a temporary structure existed.
Plans for further extensions from Haverhill Junction to Cambridge and from Chappel to Colchester came to nothing, but the CV&HR retained it’s independence when the Great Eastern Railway was formed in 1862. The GER was sanctioned to build a line from Sudbury to Cambridge via Clare and Haverhill, which was opened in 1865 and included a connecting spur to the CV&HR at Haverhill Junction.
Following completion of the railway the CV&HR entered a period of financial
crisis during which bankruptcy threatened. Internal disputes were commonplace, a situation which was made worse by the local press who turned public opinion against the Railway Company. In 1874 a receiver was appointed and under his guidance matters slowly improved.
New capital was raised by an issue of Preference and Ordinary shares, although apparently no dividend was ever paid. The healthier financial situation enabled the Railway to purchase three locomotives in 1876, two of which were named, "Haverhill" and "Hedingham". Up until this time all rolling stock had been privately owned.
Finally, a description of a journey on the CV&HR given in the guidebook.
“At Chappel railway station we can change into the carriages of the Colne Valley Railway or we can go by way of Sudbury to Bury St Edmunds and the north. We had better though run up the Colne Valley line to visit White Colne, Earls Colne,Halstead and Castle Hedingham. Halstead is one of the quaint old market towns of which Essex and Suffolk have so many examples. We might go along this line to Haverhill, and there rejoin the Great Eastern, but we must visit Sudbury so must return to Chappel".
“Sudbury is remembered as the birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough, the celebrated artist, many of whose pictures are treasured by the nation as priceless examples of English art at its highest. Gainsborough, the son of a Sudbury clothier, it is said, drew his inspiration from the beauty of the Stour Valley”.
The Colne Valley and Halstead Railway was closed in the 1960s along with many other railways by Richard Beeching.
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 - 23 March 1985), commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer. He became infamous in Britain in the early-1960s for his report "The Reshaping of British Railways", popularly known as the Beeching Axe, which led to far-reaching changes in the railway network. Just over 4,000 route miles were cut on cost and efficiency grounds as a result of the report, leaving Britain with 13,721 miles of railway lines in 1966. A further 2,000 miles were to be lost by the end of the 1960s.
Colne Valley and Halstead Railway
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The Colne Valley and Halstead Railway (CVHR) is a closed railway between Haverhill, Suffolk and Chappel and Wakes Colne, Essex, in England.
The railway was an independent line which was authorised on 30 June 1856, and which opened on 16 April 1860 between Chappel (north of Marks Tey) to Halstead, a distance of 6 miles (9.7 km). A 13 miles (21 km) extension was authorised on 13 August 1859, and opened in stages as follows:
A mid Victorian era photograph showing a Colne Valley and Halstead Railway 2-2-2WT at Halstead engine shed.
Physical connection with the Great Eastern Railway (GER) at Haverhill on the Stour Valley Railway was provided in 1865. Although close relations were maintained with the GER, the CVHR remained completely independent, until it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1923 regrouping. The CVHR station, renamed 'Haverhill South', was closed to passengers in 1924 but remained open for goods until 1965.
The line continued to remain open until 30 December 1961, when passenger traffic ended. In 1965 freight traffic ended, and the line was demolished a year later.
A mile of track has been reconstructed as the Colne Valley Railway, including Castle Hedingham station. |
