British Railways, Newmarket 1964

The partial demolition and modernisation of Newmarket railway station in 1964.

This film opens with shots of the exterior of the 1902 station building. There are close-up shots of architectural features and interior shots of the waiting room and shots of the engine sheds. British Railways lorries are loading goods from a storeroom. A horse pulls several vehicles along the railway lines. A woman feeds him sugar lumps or something similar. He pulls wagons out of a shed for shunting. Caravans are manoeuvred onto goods wagons and fastened. The wagons are pulled away by a diesel locomotive. (3 mins 52 secs.) The next film shows shots of agricultural machinery in the store room. A lorry arrives and more is unloaded. Caravans and items of agricultural machinery are on wagons. There is a shot of a signal box. A diesel locomotive is coupled to the goods wagons. There are shots of the station, including interior shots of offices, clerks at work and the oak panelled booking hall. Here a man buys a ticket. There are interior shots of the waiting room. A train passes through the station. There are further interior office scenes and shots of a bicycle rack. The camera takes the viewer through a tunnel beneath the tracks to the other platform. (3 mins 49 secs.) The next film appears to show the station being demolished. At Newmarket Station staff load boxes onto a trolley. There are further scenes of demolition and a long shot showing the station practically gone. There are shots of piles of rubble and further demolition scenes. (5 mins 14 secs.) The next section begins with a long shot of a part-demolished station. There are interior shots showing modern offices, a booking hall and a modern waiting room. There are shots of the staff kitchen and rest room. There are scenes of the platform at the station and an exterior shot showing what remains. (3 mins 15 secs.) The final section shows trucks full of bricks and rubble. There are shots of the now ruined engine sheds. (1 min 9 secs.).

Featured Buildings

Newmarket Railway Station

Keywords

British Rail; Demolition; Rail transport; Railway stations

Intertitles

The new station, opened in April 1902, is of red brick construction. On the up platform, there is a specious booking hall with an oak panelled wall.

Background Information

There were two railway stations in Newmarket, only one of which operated after the 'Beeching' changes of the 1960s. This film appears to show exterior shots from both stations.