Farmer's Drove late 70s in the fens

[jonny777]

Where I differ from others here, is that I don't find the fens bleak and/or depressing. For me it is home, even though I haven't lived there for many years.

 

The the big wide horizons and lack of hills is not something that I think about because I grew up there.

 

The drainage and vast arable fields maybe artificial, but the flatness of the landscape isn't. It was just as flat when it was mostly marsh and reedbeds.

 

As for disused windmills, venture into south Lincs and you will find lots. And Denver can hardly be seen as a prime example of Fenland; for a start it is east of the Ouse, and the windmill is 10m amsl, which is almost mountainous.

[rockershovel]

Re windmills, there is the empty shell of one, in the Thorney area; another, now a dwelling house, not far away. There are numerous survivors

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drainage_windmills_in_Norfolk

 

http://www.millsofeastanglia.org.uk/TEAMS/Mills.html

 

http://explorelincolnshire.co.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/windmills-and-mills.html

[rockershovel]

Re #51 above, the thing I've always found depressing about the Fens (apart from the biting wind!) is the depopulation and decline over the years. My wife's family joined the flight from the land in the 1950s, seeking regular wages - and modern housing and tolerable working conditions - in the engineering industries of Lincoln and Peterborough (a parable for our times, in itself...)

 

I'll always regardNorth East London as home, as most "Peterborough cockneys" do, but I'm well aware that the place itself is "at one with Nineveh and Tyre", totally unrecognisable today and best avoided for my own peace of mind...

Edited March 12, 2017 by rockershovel

[uax6]

Living in the Fens (by the river at Ten Mile) I can certainly see the fens in your layout. One thing that does jar is the 'box. Working each day in the box at Littleport, I don't think you would be able to construct a semi-brick built box and still have it standing vertically on the fen! It should at least have an odd lean with big bulks of timber bracing it to hold it upright... ;-)

 

Andy G

[Clive Mortimore]

Depending on the period, some other characteristic East Anglian features;

 

 

3) pillboxes, another WW2 leftover. Usually tucked into the corner of a field. Often brick construction with a concrete roof slab

 

Pillboxes were never brick built, they were always reinforced concrete. The ones that appear brick built, the bricks were used as shuttering when the concrete was poured and left in place.

[rockershovel]

Living in the Fens (by the river at Ten Mile) I can certainly see the fens in your layout. One thing that does jar is the 'box. Working each day in the box at Littleport, I don't think you would be able to construct a semi-brick built box and still have it standing vertically on the fen! It should at least have an odd lean with big bulks of timber bracing it to hold it upright... ;-)

 

Andy G

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Edited March 12, 2017 by rockershovel

[rockershovel]

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That said, buildings listing to one side or another are common. Cowbit Church comes to mind, the steeple and nave markedly "at odds". There's a house beside the A47 between Guyhirn and Wisbech which is clearly out of plumb, although it still appears to be inhabited.

 

I'd tend to expect railway structures to be a bit more durable: they are, after all, part of the railway.

Edited March 12, 2017 by rockershovel

[uax6]

Here's Shippea Hill SB, brick built, showing the timbers that were trying to hold it upright.... http://www.rcts.org.uk/photographs/archive/380/DCA/DCA0844C.jpg

 

Down the Fen line the boxes on the Fens are/were all timber affairs, with just four of five courses of Staffordshire blues visable above ground level, on which the timber soleplate sat....

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=littleport+signal+box&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRj7-ewNHSAhUiKcAKHYWzAnkQ_AUIBygC&biw=1181&bih=787

 

Andy G

 

(Can you see my van?)

Edited March 12, 2017 by uax6

[rockershovel]

1) pipe crossings, usually two to four pipes together, 12" to 24" diameter. Usually incorporated into other structures.

 

2) long reach excavators engaged in drain maintenance

[uax6]

Great stuff!

 

The goods yard is very similar to that at Kennett station on the Cambridge to Ipswich line. The buildings are still there, although freight traffic ended many years ago.

 

Nick

Kennet yard is alive and well, it gets at least one train a week....

 

With regard to fenland pumping stations, the ones with the brick chimneys were originally equipped with beam engines (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stretham_Old_Engine ) but moved over to oil powered pumps quite early. If you know where to look, there are single cylinder flat open crank Ruston Diesels still in situ, in fact some of these are still maintained in working order by the Drainage board, as standby sets. Most of these stations have had the chimney truncated to about the height of the main hall. In the main even modern diesel pumps are now only standby sets, most pumping being done by electric sets.

 

The modern flat roofed (smaller) pump stations are exclusively electric sets. For standby purposes each of these stations have a mechanical pump that has a drive shaft that sticks through the wall. This allows a tractor to pull in, and connect a PTO shaft to it.

 

I know of no remaining Wind pumps in the fenland area, Denver being a mill. All the windpumps I know of are in the broads, which is the wrong end of Norfolk to be fenland (they speak funny over there....)

 

Andy G

[stewartingram]

7/8. Have to disagree with the windmills. The only one that know of is at Denver.

 

I had forgotten about the pillboxes but you are 100% spot on. One can be seen on the left-hand side of the A141 as you leave Chatteris, headed towards March. Also, the combination of 4 (abrupt turns) and 8 (hump-backed bridges) are a complete nightmare but very characteristic.

That pillbox is situated at an important point (or was thought of as such at the time). The A141 at that point is built on the trackbed of the former Cambridge-St.Ives-March "loop" line. At the point where the pillbox is, the railway (and now the road) crosses a drain. On the other side of the railway is the site of Chatteris Dock (yes - really!), a large facility originally used for freight transfer to the waterways of the Fens. At one time I believe it boasted the largest single roof building on the GER outside London. All gone now, there is a dwelling on site though that is accessed by a road/track that is named Dock Road.

Look closely when you travel around the Fens - there are windmills or their remains everywhere.

Must admit I did look up quickly when you said you live in Welney, my wife's home town, she still has family there! And I live in Chatteris!

 

Stewart

[uax6]

You can't call Welney a town, it hasn't even got a school anymore, we at Ten Mile at least still have one of those (just, and as long as I live there we will!)

 

Andy G

[sf315]

Many thanks all for contributing today.

I'd love to incorporate more but the Seinic section is only four foot eight and a half inches long.

A couple of points

As I ve been on my travels around the area I I have often wondered about the row of houses in the middle of nowhere.

There is on the work bench a half finished kit for a excavator that would be suitable for dredging.

I do also like the idea of bulks holding the box up.

Good to see they used Staffordshire engineering blue brick, for bases. North Staffordshire is where I come from and live.

Thanks Steve

[uax6]

Those remote council houses would have originally been small holdings. There's lots of them about, indeed between Ten Mile and Welney (on the west side of the railway) Cambridgeshire County Council owned lots of remote small holdings that it rented out.

 

These houses are now sort after, as they are well built, and large, and most of them still have all their land attached...

 

Andy G

 

Edit: the Staffordshire blues are used as they are equivalent to a damp proof course..

Edited March 12, 2017 by uax6

[rockershovel]

Another Fenland feature -

 

- ecclesiastical remains of various descriptions; Crowland Abbey remains, the roofless walls of a church near the Terrington exit from the A47..

 

- Caravan encampments, usually small, housing itinerant agricultural workers

[sf315]

Hello all

I have made some platform lights non working.

They are the tops off ones sold by Ten Commandments cut off and pushed into1.2 mm tube, with 1.4 mm tube at the bottom. Have also made timetable boards.

Have made a decision about what to do for a fiddle yard and I am going to make it so it will be a roundy roundy from the outset. I was going to make it U shaped at first for the Lyddrail challenge that it is being built for. So two 10 inch wide boards x 3 foot long are being made that will be fitted behind the layout.

 

Thanks Steve

[south_tyne]

Steve,

 

Tracked down this thread from your other one. Wonderful stuff that perfectly capturesthe feel and atmosphere of the fenland location

 

Just to clarify, is the scenic section 6 feet in length?

 

Cheers again,

David

[sf315]

Hello David.

The whole layout is 6 feet long. The seinic section is four foot eight and a half inches long x twelve inches wide. It is having a ten inch wide fiddle yard strapped to the back to give me a continuous run. It came about as I've always built urban layouts so wanted to try something with more nature on it. It's turned out that there's less trees on this than Tanners Hill but it looks right for what I am trying to achieve.

Thanks

Steve

[south_tyne]

Hi Steve

Many thanks for taking the time to reply, it's greatly appreciated. The whole scene seems so much bigger and you've perfectly captured the atmosphere and feel of the fenland location. Undoubtedly a testament to you modelling ability! Definitely gives food for thought for my own planning.

 

I look forward to reading of further progress.

 

Thanks again,

David

[sf315]

Hello all
I have been busy building the fiddle yard for the layout. It is shown with a first coat of paint on and has been attached to the back of the layout.
Have also been making a shunting tractor. They were used for moving wagons about in the yard. I should imagine they replaced the shunting horse in many places. The model is non working just static to pose in the yard.

Thanks Steve

Edited February 1, 2019 by sf315

[danstercivicman]

Didn't Newmarket Station have the last shunting oss? Layout looks good and nice and portable

[theplasticbrummy]

It really is a cracking little layout, Steve. 

 

Unlike me, you've got a lot in the space without it looking cramped and you've really captured the essence of Fenchurch S...., sorry, The Fens.

I think that the "Shunting 'oss", as danstercivicman quite rightly puts it, will be a point of many questions from your followers at exhibitions.

 

I see you've given up on the 288sq" for the fiddle - A wise choice given that you are going to exhibit it after LR.  I might also ditch it on SX to allow for more running possibilities in its LR format, risking the bonfire clause. 

 

I'm looking forward to bringing the bomb wagon along again for a run across the Norfolk countryside, just please make sure the bridge is reinforced - I don't want it taking this one out like it did the one on Cross Heath!

 

Keep it up!

 

Cheers, Andy.

Edited March 27, 2017 by theplasticbrummy

[sf315]

Thanks for the comments Andy. Yes it'll be interesting to see the wagon circumnavigating the layout. Hopefully it will miss the sides of the bridge over the drain.

The last British Rail goods depot to use a shunting horse was Newmarket in 1967 and it was named Charlie. Yes I've googled it and not looked in my Ian Allen combined volume ABC of shunting horses.

Wonder if spotters in the day did cop shunting horses ?????

 

Anyway thanks

Steve.

[south_tyne]

Hello all

I have been busy building the fiddle yard for the layout. It is shown with a first coat of paint on and has been attached to the back of the layout.

Have also been making a shunting tractor. They were used for moving wagons about in the yard. I should imagine they replaced the shunting horse in many places. The model is non working just static to pose in the yard.

 

Thanks Steve

That overview photo is really useful Steve - thanks

Sorry to ask a further question but... what is the overall footprint of the layout shown above when including the fiddle yard and hidden curves?

 

I still cannot believe that scenic section is less than 5 feet in length... it's so spacious!!

 

David

[sf315]

David

What's in the photo above

The layout is 6 feet long x 22 inches wide.

Thanks Steve