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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.
A railway in the Colne Valley was first proposed in 1846 when the Colchester, Stour Valley, Sudbury and Halstead Railway Company was incorporated to build a line from Marks Tey on the Eastern Counties Railway to Sudbury, with a branch to Halstead and a line from Colchester to Hythe. A later extension to Bury St. Edmunds and Clare was also approved, however a shortage of funds resulted in only the Stour Valley Railway to Sudbury and the line to Hythe being built. [1]
In 1856, the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway Company was formed by local people to build a branch line from Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station to Halstead. It was authorised on 30 June 1856, and opened on 16 April 1860 between Chappel (north of Marks Tey) and Halstead, a distance of 6 miles (10 km). [2]
A 13 miles (21 km) extension was authorised on 13 August 1859 and opened in stages:
Physical connection with the Stour Valley Railway at Haverhill was provided in 1865, and although close relations were maintained with the Great Eastern Railway, the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway remained completely independent until it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1923 regrouping. [2] The CVHR station, renamed Haverhill South, was closed to passengers in 1924 but remained open for goods until 1965.
The line remained open until 30 December 1961, when passenger traffic ended. In 1965, freight traffic ended, and the line was taken up a year later.
A mile of track was reconstructed in 1973-75 as the Colne Valley Railway, including Castle Hedingham station. In 2012, the site of the former Yeldham station was cleared for a pathway[ clarification needed ], the most likely site for any future extension.
A stretch of the former track north and east of Earls Colne is now the Colne Valley Local Nature Reserve.
The Colne Valley Railway is a heritage railway based at Castle Hedingham Station, near Halstead in Essex, England. The railway consists of a 1 mile (1.6 km) long running line, with a fully reconstructed station, signal box and railway yard.
Haverhill is a market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies about 14 miles (23 km) south east of Cambridge, south west of Bury St Edmunds, and north west of Braintree and Colchester.
The East Anglian Railway Museum is located at Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station in Essex, England, which is situated on the former Great Eastern Railway branch line from Marks Tey to Sudbury. Services on the Sudbury Branch Line are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.
Castle Hedingham is a village in northern Essex, England, located four miles west of Halstead and 3 miles southeast of Great Yeldham in the Colne Valley on the ancient road from Colchester, Essex, to Cambridge.
The Gainsborough line is the current marketing name of the Sudbury branch line, a railway branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line in the east of England, that links Marks Tey in Essex with Sudbury in Suffolk. It is 11 miles 53 chains (18.77 km) in length and single-track throughout. The line's Engineer's Line Reference is SUD.
Hedingham & Chambers is a bus operator, part of the larger Go East Anglia unit within Go-Ahead, consisting of the Hedingham and Chambers brands. The group was formed when Go-Ahead purchased the two firms in June 2012. Since the sale, the two brands have been retained with assets, such as depots, shared along with the launch of a unified website in 2021.
Saffron Walden is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Kemi Badenoch, a Conservative.
The Eastern Union Railway (EUR) was an English railway company, at first built from Colchester to Ipswich; it opened in 1846. It was proposed when the earlier Eastern Counties Railway failed to make its promised line from Colchester to Norwich. The businessman John Chevallier Cobbold and the engineer Peter Bruff were prominent in launching the company. The allied but nominally independent Ipswich and Bury Railway built a line onwards to Bury St Edmunds, also opening in 1846, and soon amalgamated with the EUR.
Sturmer is a village in the county of Essex, England, 2 miles (3 km) SE of Haverhill and close to the county border with Suffolk. Its name was originally "Stour Mere", from the River Stour and is explicitly mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. A Tudor illustration of the mere from the summer of 1571 exists in the National Archives. The mere still exists today to the east of the village. The village also gives its name to the Sturmer Pippin apple which was raised by Ezekiel Dillistone from 1831, and grown in the orchards of the village.
Marks Tey railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the village of Marks Tey, Essex. It is 46 miles 49 chains (75.02 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and on the GEML is situated between Kelvedon to the west and Colchester to the east. Marks Tey is also the southern terminus of the Gainsborough Line to Sudbury. Its three-letter station code is MKT. The "up" (London-bound) platform 1 has an operational length for nine-coach trains, the "down" (Colchester-bound) platform 2 can accommodate 11-coach trains and platform 3 has an operational length for two-coach trains.
The River Colne is a small river that runs through Essex, England and passes through Colchester. It is not a tributary of any other river, instead having an estuary that joins the sea near Brightlingsea. The river's name is of Celtic origin, combining the word for rock "cal" with a remnant of the word "afon", or river, giving the meaning "stony river". However, another authority states that the river's name was originally Colonia Fluvius, the "waterway of the Colonia": a reference to Colchester's status in Roman times. There are two other rivers in the UK that share the same name.
Sudbury railway station is the northern terminus of the Gainsborough Line, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the town of Sudbury, Suffolk. It is 11 miles 67 chains (19.05 km) down the line from the southern terminus of Marks Tey and 58 miles 32 chains (93.99 km) measured from London Liverpool Street; the preceding station on the branch is Bures. Its three-letter station code is SUY. The platform has an operational length for two-coach trains.
Bures railway station is on the Gainsborough Line, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line to Sudbury, in the East of England, serving the village of Bures, which straddles the counties of Essex and Suffolk.
Chappel & Wakes Colne railway station is on the Gainsborough Line, a branch to Sudbury off the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the village of Wakes Colne and the neighbouring Chappel. It is 3 miles 49 chains (5.81 km) down the line from Marks Tey and 50 miles 18 chains (80.83 km) measured from London Liverpool Street. It is situated between Marks Tey and Bures. Its three-letter station code is CWC. Platform 1 has an operational length for five-coach trains. Platforms 2 and 3 are used by the East Anglian Railway Museum.
Shelford railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the villages of Great Shelford, Little Shelford and Stapleford in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 52 miles 36 chains (84.4 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Whittlesford Parkway and Cambridge. Its three-letter station code is SED.
Hythe railway station in Essex is on the Sunshine Coast Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving Hythe and other eastern areas of Colchester. It is 53 miles 49 chains (86.3 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street. Its three-letter station code is HYH.
Chappel is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Colchester, Essex which sits on the River Colne. It is significant for its Victorian viaduct, which crosses the Colne valley.
Great Yeldham is a village in north Essex, England, about 6 miles (10 km) from the Suffolk border. Great Yeldham is situated along the busy main A1017 road between Braintree and Haverhill.
The Stour Valley Railway is a partially closed railway line that ran between Shelford, near Cambridge and Marks Tey in Essex, England. The line opened in sections between 1849 and 1865. The route from Shelford to Sudbury closed on 6 March 1967 leaving only the section from Sudbury to Marks Tey, known as the Gainsborough Line, in operation.
The Chappel Viaduct is a railway viaduct that crosses the River Colne in the Colne Valley in Essex, England. It carries the Gainsborough Line which now is a short branch linking Marks Tey in Essex to Sudbury in Suffolk. The line previously, however, extended to Shelford in Cambridgeshire.