SideTracked – Great Yarmouth
The railway gateway to Norfolk’s premier seaside resort
A CACHE BESIDE NORFOLK’S FIRST PUBLIC RAILWAY
About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found at the SideTracked Website
Great Yarmouth Railway Station
Great Yarmouth Railway Station originally opened on 1 May 1844 under the name Yarmouth Vauxhall.
It was built as the eastern terminus of the Yarmouth and Norwich Railway. The original route connected Great Yarmouth with Norwich through Reedham and was the first public railway to open in Norfolk.
The arrival of the railway greatly improved travel between Norwich and the Norfolk coast. It also played an important part in the growth of Great Yarmouth as a popular seaside destination.
Why Was It Called Yarmouth Vauxhall?
The station was known as Yarmouth Vauxhall for almost 145 years.
The additional name helped distinguish it from the town’s other principal railway stations. At one time, Great Yarmouth was served by three main terminal stations:
- Yarmouth Vauxhall
- Yarmouth Beach
- Yarmouth South Town
The three stations were linked by the Yarmouth Union Railway from 1882.
Yarmouth Beach closed in 1959, while Yarmouth South Town closed to passengers in 1970. Vauxhall is therefore the only one of Great Yarmouth’s three principal railway stations that remains open.
The Railway and the Seaside
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the railway brought large numbers of holidaymakers to Great Yarmouth.
Visitors arrived to enjoy the town’s beaches, piers, theatres, pleasure gardens, amusement arcades and other seaside attractions.
After Yarmouth Beach Station closed in 1959, Vauxhall became the main focus for the town’s busy summer railway traffic.
A typical summer Saturday in 1959 included 24 additional scheduled passenger trains from places such as York, Derby, Sheffield, Manchester, Leicester and Sunderland. Extra relief trains were also operated on particularly busy weekends.
Wartime Damage
Great Yarmouth suffered extensive bombing during the Second World War because of its coastal location, harbour and strategic importance.
In May 1943, Yarmouth Vauxhall Station was badly damaged during an air raid.
The upper floor of the station building had to be demolished, although railway services continued to operate.
The remainder of the original station building was eventually demolished, and a replacement station building was constructed in 1960.
A Changing Railway
The station passed through the ownership of several railway companies during its long history.
It became part of the Great Eastern Railway in 1862 and then the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923. Following nationalisation in 1948, it became part of British Railways.
The station once had extensive sidings and an engine shed. Much of this additional railway infrastructure was later removed as railway operations changed and the surrounding land was redeveloped.
On 16 May 1989, the station was officially renamed from Yarmouth Vauxhall to Great Yarmouth.
Great Yarmouth Station Today
Today, Great Yarmouth is an eastern terminus of the Wherry Lines.
Rail services connect the town with Norwich, using routes through Acle or Reedham across the Norfolk Broads.
The name “Wherry Lines” comes from the traditional Norfolk wherries that once carried passengers and goods along the waterways of the Broads.
More than 180 years after the railway first opened, the station remains an important arrival point for residents, commuters and visitors to Great Yarmouth.
Finding the Cache
This is a Traditional Geocache placed close to Great Yarmouth Railway Station.
The area can become very busy, particularly when trains are arriving or departing. Patience and stealth may therefore be required when retrieving and replacing the cache.
The cache is not hidden on railway equipment, station signs, operational fencing or anywhere that requires access to the railway tracks or platform.
Please sign the logbook and replace the cache carefully, securely and exactly as found.
Railway Safety
- There is no need to enter the station platform to find this cache.
- Never enter or approach the railway tracks.
- Do not climb railway fences, gates or barriers.
- Do not interfere with railway signs or equipment.
- Take care around the station entrance and nearby roads.
- Children and dogs should be kept under close supervision.
The cache can be reached safely from a publicly accessible area.
Did You Know?
Great Yarmouth Station is the only surviving one of the town’s three principal terminal stations.
We hope you enjoy discovering the history of Great Yarmouth’s railway and wish you happy caching!