“I don’t know mate, maybe we’ll find out when we get there….”
Barton House Railway (BHR) was our second stop on our Super Sunday. It’s only open on the third Sunday each month, so you have to plan your visit a little in advance - but it’s well, well worth making the effort. The directions on their website are very good - just keep your eyes peeled on the right for The Avenue. If you reach the funeral parlour use their car park to turn round in, they don’t mind. And the car park is not the biggest, so you may have to park on the roads in the surrounding (posh, very posh) housing area (it’s fine, it gives budding jungle explorers a chance to test their skills):
It costs just £2 for adults or £1 for children to get into BHR, and this includes a single journey of their Riverside Railway and access to their lovely railway museum. Further tickets for more journeys can be purchased at the booking office - more of that later.
BHR is so-called because it is situated in the gardens of a large residence called - come on, you can guess it - Barton House! Mystery solved. It’s a beautiful location, the gardens are very pleasant, and you can walk down alongside the River Bure to watch the swans and boats gliding past. Idyllic!
There are currently two separate railways at BHR, with plans in place to add a third in the not-too-distant future. The current tracks are known as the Midland Railway and the Riverside Railway; the Midland Railway is a single loop, and the Riverside Railway has three separate stations.
Now, back to the tickets. A large reason for BHR’s existence is to commemorate and protect the history of the Midland & Great Northern Railway (M&GN), and as part of this you can purchase a bewildering array of different tickets for the trains. The range of tickets is an accurate recreation of M&GN’s original ticket system, and can be bought from a beautifully maintained period booking office. They offer First or Third Class tickets, the difference being that you can sit on a cushion if you go First Class! You can take as many rides as you like and it won't break the bank, prices are from just 15p upwards.
The Midland Railway is the original track at BHR, and is a 3 ½ inch gauge loop, on which passengers and train crew sit astride the train, and the track. The driver is always happy to give you a lesson in BHR history as you make your way around the circuit.
The Riverside Railway comprises of two stations alongside the river (obviously!), and a central station separating them, named Wroxham Station. This is a 7 ¼ inch gauge track, and is probably 200 metres total length. Like Lynnsport, you won’t be riding for hours, but it’s just as much fun. I think the three station set-up is probably so that the M&GN ticket system can be used authentically. Engines are both steam and electric, and as usual, are immaculately built and maintained.
BHR also has a fully functional signal box, and the staff there are very happy to teach visitors all about how signalling works etc (photo courtesy of Sam).
If you fancy a sit down and rest you MUST visit Dickerson’s Diner, who offer a lovely range of home-made cakes (we particularly liked the rice crispie chocolate cakes).
So we managed to visit both our Sundays-only railways. Most Excellent!
Five down, eight to go.
Recommended!
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