We hosted our first meeting of the new decade at a new venue, the Waterloo Centre, Leiston. The guest speaker, Bob Webb, a native of Liverpool, now lives in Campsea Ashe and is a founder member of Station House Community Connections, a charitable society bringing back into use the Campsea Ashe Station House near Wickham Market.
Most people with an interest in history will be familiar with the pioneering contribution made by the brothers George and Robert Stephenson to the development of the railways. However, the name of Francis THOMPSON, who was recruited by Robert Stephenson as the lead architect for the North Midland Railway, remains largely unknown in England. He designed many publicly acclaimed buildings, major and minor railway stations and warehouses.
The final years of Francis’s career were spent on producing ‘template’ designs for intermediate stations, and included a number in the East of England, of which the "Wickham Market" station house remains a fine example — as also those along the whole length of what is now known as the East Suffolk Line.
You can read a fuller talk-report about Bob's presentation here.