FOBS Monthly News - August 08


FOR YOUR DIARY:

17th October 2008: A Nostalgic Evening
We have two forthcoming events. First, a film show with a railway theme in the Leisure Centre, at 7.30 pm on Friday 17 October. Tickets will cost £3.50, or £3 for under 14s and over 65s. There will be a short film of railway interest from the classic British Transport Films collection (I would like the one where John Betjeman travels on the line to Hunstanton), and then a full-length feature with a railway theme, the classic Brief Encounter.

We will be using the equipment from the Suffolk Digital Cinema Network. It will be set up for us by the always helpful Lizzi Cocker of Forest Heath DC, who is chair of this organisation, which has four sets of equipment available for use by anyone who wants to bring the cinema to places which don't have one.

Lizzi would like this event to be not a one-off but the first of many. Is there anybody else in Brandon who would like to organize film shows - of any kind, not just about railways?

20th December 2008: Cathedrals Express Carol Special
Then on 20 December, Come and sing carols and watch the steam train! The Cathedrals Express Carol Special is passing behind the glamorous blue engine 'Sir Nigel Gresley'. Let's sing it on its way! You can even catch the train at the Cambridge and wave as you sweep through. See www.steamdreams.com/.

18th April 2009: Nenta Tours Excursion Stopping at Brandon
I have also been in contact with Nenta Tours, who run excursions from Norwich. Ray Davies has said he will definitely include a stop at Brandon on 18 April 2009 on a tour to Exeter, Torquay and Paignton. This one will be diesel-hauled. No doubt we will have another steam train from the Railway Touring Company as in the last three years, so start saving now!

OTHER NEWS:

Tickets
After the last issue of Brandon Life I had a phone call asking about the £5.95 return to Norwich for senior citizens. Here are some more prices: Cambridge return £5.80, Cromer £7.90, Peterborough £9.45. There are many seniors in Brandon (I've got a railcard myself) and these fares are pretty attractive. But get your railcard at the Council Offices in the High Street, because it's cheaper there owing to the extra subsidy given by Suffolk County Council. There are many other cheap travel offers too: with Family Railcards, and Group Travel offers. Look on the web at www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com.

Passenger Numbers at Brandon
Passenger numbers at Brandon (arrivals and departures) went up from 23,556 in 2004-05 to 35,656 in 2006-07. The latest figures aren't available yet but anyone can tell there are lots of people using the trains. This is good news for the future of the station and its facilities. Amazingly, Dr Beeching wanted to close the line in the 1960s in his little-known Second Report. How lucky that this proposal was shelved.

Brandon Murals
Finally, an item of good news is that Nicola Marray Wood, who painted the station murals, has been down at the station to repair the damage done a few months ago by a young lad who helpfully signed his name, and was subsequently convicted. He wasn't local, and it's encouraging that although there are infuriating instances of petty vandalism at the station, the murals have been there nearly two years and only been attacked once.


Article Written by Stephen Dean:
Tel:01842 815372 or Email:stephendean@decanimusic.co.uk