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.
Bentley is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England, about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Ipswich. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 776.
North Elmham railway station is a railway station in the village of North Elmham in the English county of Norfolk. The station was part of the Wymondham to Wells Branch, and is part of a section of the line being restored by the Mid-Norfolk Railway from Dereham to County School railway station.
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.
Long Melford railway station is a disused station that served the village of Long Melford in Suffolk, England. It opened in 1865 as "Melford" and was renamed "Long Melford" in 1884. The station was on the Stour Valley Railway between Sudbury and Cambridge, operated by the Eastern Counties Railway, as well as a branch line between Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds. Services over the latter route ended in 1961 and the station and Stour Valley line closed in 1967 as part of the Beeching cuts. The station building is now a private residence.
Raydon is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around two miles south-east of Hadleigh, it is part of Babergh district. The parish also includes the hamlets of Lower Raydon (west) and The Woodlands (east). It was recorded in Domesday as "Reindune" or "Reinduna" and appears on John Speed's 1610 map as "Roydon".
Norbury and Ellaston railway station was on a branch of the North Staffordshire Railway between Rocester and Ashbourne. The station, which had a waiting room, ticket office, and stationmaster's office, and two side platforms, opened at Norbury, Derbyshire in 1852.
Hadleigh railway station was a station in Hadleigh, Suffolk, the terminus of the Hadleigh Railway, a short branch line from Bentley Junction. The line opened in 1847. The original intermediate stations were at Bentley Church, Capel and Raydon Wood.
Bentley railway station, also known as Bentley Junction between 1849 and 1878, was located in Bentley, Suffolk on the Great Eastern Main Line. It opened in 1846 and became a junction in 1847 when the Hadleigh Railway opened. The station was closed in 1966.
Water Stratford Halt was a railway station on the Banbury to Verney Junction Branch Line which served the village of Water Stratford in Buckinghamshire, England, from 1956 to 1961.
Lavenham railway station was a station in Lavenham, Suffolk, on the Long Melford–Bury St Edmunds branch line. It closed to passengers in 1961, and the station buildings remained in use as offices until about 2010, when they were demolished.
Capel railway station was a station in Capel St Mary, Suffolk, on a short branch line from Bentley Junction to Hadleigh. The station buildings were remarkably ornate for a village with a population of 649 in 1851 and 504 in 1931. There were goods sidings on the northern side of the station, which were used extensively in World War II handling supplies to a nearby United States Army Air Forces base, later known as RAF Raydon.
Fordham railway station is a disused railway station that served the village of Fordham, Cambridgeshire.
Towcester was a railway station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway which served the town of Towcester in Northamptonshire, England between 1866 and 1964.
Bradfield railway station served the village of Bradfield in Essex. It was on the Manningtree to Harwich branch line, which is today known as The Mayflower Line. It closed in 1956. Consisting of just two through platforms it had no sidings for working local goods traffic, which was the normal scenario in rural East Anglia. The station buildings on the up platform were particularly splendid for a very small station and were captured by the well known and popular transport artist Malcolm Root FGRA. The facilities on the down platform were very modest by comparison. The station had a very restricted catchment area and with a local population of just 730 in 1901 and 811 in 1961, passenger numbers were always very limited. A level crossing at the west end of the station was controlled by a signal box on the up side with just 12 levers.
Daventry was a railway station serving the town of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. It was on the Weedon to Leamington Spa branch line. The station opened on 1 March 1888 when a branch from the main line at Weedon reached the town. This line was extended in 1895 to reach Leamington Spa.
The Hadleigh Railway was a 7+1⁄2-mile (12.1 km) long single track branch railway line in Suffolk, England, that connected Hadleigh to the main line railway network at Bentley Junction. It was built by the nominally independent Eastern Union and Hadleigh Junction Railway company and opened in 1847. By the time of opening it had been taken over by the larger Eastern Union Railway.
Bentley Church railway station was located in Suffolk, the village of Bentley. It was situated between the stations of Hadleigh and Manningtree, 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) northeast of Bentley Station. It opened in 1846 and closed in 1853.
Railway Walk, Hadleigh is an 11.6 hectare Local Nature Reserve which runs for 2 miles along the route of the former Hadleigh railway south-east from Hadleigh in Suffolk. It is owned and managed by Babergh District Council.
