The Ipswich Steam Navigation Company (ISN) was founded in 1824 and provided a steamship service to London and Harwich, with occasional voyages to the Netherlands. [1] The company went into liquidation in 1953. [2]
In 1852 the ISN partnered with the Eastern Union Railway following the introduction of excessive fares by the Eastern Counties Railway for passengers from East Anglia who wished to complete the journey to London on their railway line from Colchester. The service went from Ipswich to Blackwall and took up to ten hours. However the provision of toilets and refreshments made this option more attractive at a time when these were not generally available on train services. [2]
The Great Eastern Main Line is a 114.5-mile (184.3 km) major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich. Its numerous branches also connect the main line to Southminster, Braintree, Sudbury, Harwich and a number of coastal towns including Southend-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze and Lowestoft.
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth.
The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923.
Woodbridge railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the town of Woodbridge, Suffolk. It is 10 miles 19 chains (16.5 km) down the line from Ipswich and 79 miles (127 km) measured from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between Westerfield and Melton. Its three-letter station code is WDB.
Ipswich railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the town of Ipswich, Suffolk. It is 68 miles 59 chains (110.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and, on the main line, it is situated between Manningtree to the south and Needham Market to the north.
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.
Brampton railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the villages of Brampton, Redisham and surrounding hamlets in Suffolk. It is 35 miles 70 chains (57.7 km) down the line from Ipswich and 104 miles 49 chains (168.4 km) measured from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between Halesworth and Beccles. It is commonly suffixed as Brampton (Suffolk) in order to distinguish it from the station of the same name in Cumbria.
Shenfield railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the village of Shenfield, Essex. As well as being a key interchange for medium- and long-distance services on the main line, it is also the western terminus of a branch line to Southend Victoria and one of the two eastern termini of the Elizabeth line. It is 20 miles 16 chains (32.51 km) down the line from Liverpool Street and is situated between Brentwood and either Ingatestone on the main line or Billericay on the branch line. Its three-letter station code is SNF.
The Mayflower line is a railway branch line in the east of England that links Manningtree, on the Great Eastern Main Line, to Harwich Town. During peak times, many services connect to or from the main line and its London terminus at Liverpool Street. The Mayflower line has six stations, including the two termini, and is situated within the county of Essex.
Harwich International railway station is a railway station on the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, the station serves Harwich International Port in Essex, England. It is 68 miles 72 chains (110.88 km) from London Liverpool Street, between Wrabness to the west and Dovercourt to the east. Its three-letter station code, HPQ, derives from its original name, Harwich Parkeston Quay.
The Eastern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948, whose operating area could be identified from the dark blue signs and colour schemes that adorned its station and other railway buildings. Together with the North Eastern Region, it covered most lines of the former London and North Eastern Railway, except in Scotland. By 1988 the Eastern Region had been divided again into the Eastern Region and the new Anglia Region, with the boundary points being between Peterborough and Whittlesea, and between Royston and Meldreth. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992.
Manningtree railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the town of Manningtree, Essex. It is 59 miles 35 chains (95.66 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Colchester to the west and Ipswich to the east. The three-letter station code is MNG. It is also the western terminus of the Mayflower Line, a branch line to Harwich Town. The following station on the branch is Mistley.
Mistley railway station is on the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the village of Mistley, Essex. It is 61 miles 14 chains (98.45 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Manningtree to the west and Wrabness to the east. Its three-letter station code is MIS.
Wrabness railway station is on the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the village of Wrabness, Essex. It is 65 miles 6 chains (104.73 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Mistley to the west and Harwich International station to the east. Its three-letter station code is WRB.
Harwich Town railway station is the eastern terminus of the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the port town of Harwich, Essex. It is 70 miles 61 chains (113.88 km) from London Liverpool Street; the preceding station on the line is Dovercourt. Its three-letter station code is HWC.
Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly known as Parkeston Quay.
National Cycle Route 51 is an English long distance cycle route running broadly east-west connecting Colchester and the port of Harwich to Oxford via Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Bicester, and Kidlington.
The Hook Continental was a passenger train running between London's Liverpool Street Station and Harwich Parkeston Quay where it connected with the night ferry sailing to the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. It was introduced as a named express by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1927, and was part of the marketing strategy pushing the concept of almost seamless travel from London overnight to numerous European destinations utilising the company's own ships and the rail connections from the Hook of Holland.
PS Avalon was an iron paddle passenger vessel built on the River Thames for the Great Eastern Railway in 1864 for their ferry services from Harwich to Rotterdam and Antwerp. Before the end of that year she was bought by British interests to assist with the commissioning of the Confederate iron-clad CSS Stonewall, and renamed City of Richmond. After the war she was renamed Agnes Arkle and sold in Brazil in 1865.
PS Stour was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1878.