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Railway Station

From the footbridge	Oh dear!	Station close up
Now the Council yard, but the station has recently been rebuilt at Holt on the North Norfolk Railway

The railway reached Stalham in 1880 and was part of the M&GN Railway, running from Great Yarmouth, Beach Station (now the coach station), to North Walsham, Melton Constable, Kings Lynn and on to the Midlands for the holiday makers.

Stalham station was built in 1880 by the Great Yarmouth & Stalham Light Railway (later the Yarmouth & North Norfolk) before it became part of the M&GN. The station was opened on July 3rd 1880 and closed, by BR, on February 28th 1959.

The building, which has remained broadly unchanged, was to a Wilkinson & Jarvis office design with scalloped bargeboards. This was typical of the stations on this stretch of line, both the adjacent stations, Catfield and Honing, were built to this design as were some eight others. The station was originally named 'Stalham for Happisburgh & Palling on Sea' but this latterly was shortened to 'Stalham for Sea Palling'.

In 1909 the porters room was added.

The main passenger traffic was local, although there was some tourist traffic to the local seaside villages and to the local Broads. The freight was always somewhat sparse, consisting of corn and timber to Bachelor's private siding but this had ceased by 1929. The station was the centre for the seasonal blackcurrant traffic.

Information from: 'A Guide to the Midland and Gt. Northern Joint Railway' by Nigel J.L.Digby

Just opposite the old station is the Weavers Way footpath which follows the old railway to North Walsham and on to Aylsham. The by-pass now covers the tracks to Yarmouth, but hints of the line can be seen all the way to Yarmouth, in fact, in the middle of a field, just outside Martham, is a bridge!.