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This film is part of Free

Future Uncertain

A whistle-stop venture from Kings Lynn to Hunstanton via rail, in the company of Chib Thorp, amateur filmmaker and rail enthusiast from Leigh on Sea.

Amateur film 1968 8 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for East Anglian Film Archive

Overview

Edward Thorp, known as ‘Chib’, an undertaker from Leigh on Sea, spent his weekends throughout the year visiting the rural railway lines in East Anglia with wife Edna and their dog Micky. Chib always took along his 8mm camera, a good supply of Kodachrome film, and a tape recorder, to document their trips. Chib would edit the film himself at home, have a magnetic stripe added to the film, and on his Kodak projector, which had a recording facility, he would record a commentary.

The train journey starts outside Kings Lynn station, passing through the first station North Wootton, then to the lovely Wolferton - the station that once served the Sandringham Estate, stopping at Dersingham then Snettisham Station and Heacham, before hitting Hunstanton, the end of the line. Presumably the film's title "Future Uncertain" refers to the spate of line and station closures and therefore withdrawal of passenger services by British Rail following the Beeching Report.