Part of Great Yarmouth’s railway heritage was celebrated yesterday as a blue plaque was unveiled to mark the former Southtown station.
The plaque was unveiled by Yarmouth mayor Michael Jeal at the Nelson Medical Centre in Pasteur Road.
About 20 people gathered to watch the ceremony, including former workers at the station which was situated just down the road from the site of the �2m health centre.
Opened in June 1859 by the East Suffolk Railway Company, Southtown station bought prosperity to Yarmouth as trains started to bring holiday makers and transported a wide range of freight. The station closed in May 1970 seven years after the Beeching report said that it should be shut down. It was demolished in 1977 having survived wartime bombing and the 1953 floods. David Allen who used to work in the station master’s office said he had fond memories from his time on the railways as there was plenty of time to do everything properly. The plaque is the 20th unveiled by the Yarmouth Local History and Archaeological Society.
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