About the Southwold Railway Trust

The Southwold Railway was a 3ft gauge line running between Halesworth and Southwold in Suffolk, England, a distance of 9 miles. It opened in 1879 and closed in 1929. The line is usually remembered for its long-chimneyed steam engines, long six-wheeled coaches and steady if unremarkable work over 50 years. Little now remains of the line.

The Southwold Railway Society was formed in 1994 to:

1. further the memory of the Southwold Railway and to foster wider interest therein
2. research, collate and add to the information about the Southwold Railway and to augment the existing collection of artifacts and memorabilia relating to the railway
3. Publish and otherwise disseminate information, display at exhibitions and promote public events
4. Investigate the possibility of re-establishing part of the line and to promote this if re-establishment was shown to be possible
5. Initiate and promote other such activities as are determined

A consultation document was published in July 2003, with a cunning plan to reopen the whole Southwold Railway, primarily as a local transport system, to help manage summer traffic (but incorporating a park-and-ride) and as a tourist line (in that order). After public consultation, a second plan was published in August 2005, with an adjusted route designed to follow the old from Halesworth to Blythburgh, then head north and make its way to Southwold to the north of the river, ending at the pier. This formed the basis for a planning application in March 2007, which received considerable local opposition in some quarters and was rejected later that year.

Membership currently stands at over 200. Current activities of the Trust include:

• Regular Southwold Railway related activities e.g. track bed walks, talks, shows etc.
• Publication of quarterly newsletter, with historical articles and information (the first 18 issues for £20 inc P&P, from The Southwold Railway Shop)
• Publication of books e.g. "The Southwold Railway Children", published summer 1999, at £9.95
• Making available the video "Rails to Southwold" at £16 inc P&P and a build-your-own model cardboard Sharpie (8" long) for £3 inc, P&P (both from The Southwold Railway Shop)
• Visits to railways and other related venues e.g. Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
• Research into the history of the Southwold Railway (see newsletter)
• Publicising the Southwold Railway e.g. recovering Walberswick Station from the undergrowth and installing a seat on the site, appearing at exhibitions, renovating putting some track down on Bridge No 2 at Bird's Folly, Halesworth etc, noting that the Pier Avenue Hotel is now "The Blyth" (allegedly after engine No. 3) etc.
• Collection, restoration and preservation of remaining Southwold Railway artefacts (see our back gardens)
• Social events e.g. Annual Dinner and the annual track-bed walk