Way back in the 30's we worked from the station yard so I saw several things happen there. I remember one day an engine coming off the track, it was the 2.45 from Reepham the 3 o'clock train was stopped at Aylsham and a steam crane was brought from Norwich. We could hear it coming for miles whistling all the way, just one engine pulling the crane. Once there they put chains round the engine you would have thought they were lift­ing a matchbox, it was soon on the line and away.

In 1947 when they were building Gayford Road all the bricks came by rail so there was plenty of activity in the yard. One afternoon Charlie Claxton wasn't in a very good mood, they were shunting, pulling the empty trucks out and putting the full ones in he sent a load down into the dock at such a speed he couldn't catch it to break it, it hit the dock the end went out of the truck the load of bricks went straight out and stood on the dock as though they had been stacked there. Charlie said "That's one way of unloading them."

One afternoon in the sugar beet season the yard was full of horses and wagons loaded with beet this was in the 30's, Billy Tubby from Haveringland, Jimmy's dad was in there with two horses and a wagon when they suddenly thought they had had enough, so they took off, they went out of that yard at full gallop. Everyone was rushing about holding their horses because when this sort of thing happened they all want to go. They went down the bridge hill and up High Street as they went past Pye's butchers shop Lewis Wright rushed out climbed on the back of the wagon which had a half load of beet on it. By the time he had got the reins they were up to the brick yard he pulled them up turned them round and brought them to the Market Hill where he met Billy who took them to where they started by the way these were Mr Gibb's horses he went back to the farm and told

Mr Gibbs who got into his car, and went to Cawston with a tip for Lewis, they didn't pass a car or anything else on the road. If it had been today somebody would have been writing out a lot of insurance claims. This all happened because Mr Gibbs had all the blinkers took off his bridles he said the more horses could see the faster they would go, let this be a lesson to people today, who have horses in traps or carts of any sort the bridles with blinkers on let a horse see what you want straight in front.

One day up in the yard Bamber Stackwood had a truck of coal he was unloading, suddenly it decided to unload itself, one of the bottom doors came open and let about 3 tons of coal onto the track this was no accident, no one is going to tell me, that it came all the way from Oxcroft in Nottinghamshire with that pin out, it was taken out in Cawston station yard, by some crank.

One afternoon we were stopped near Barclay Pallets Granary to get a bag of horse feed, Bamber was coming up the yard with his pony he stopped, his pony went walking up to the water tank on the big granary which is there now, as it put it nose in­to the water it got an electric shock; this put her out for a few minutes. I being the youngest ran to the pony, she was still breathing, we got her up. The whole granary was alive and full of workers not one felt a shock of any kind.

By Dennis W. Easton.

From the Parish Magazine 1994