History of NLMS Land

The History of the Land of Hope and Dreams

North Lowestoft Men's Shed is currently residing in a steel shed on the wasteland just to the west of Lowestoft Central Station's car park.

This is what we know of the land's history so far.

So far as we have discovered, there were no buildings on the land prior to the arrival of the railway in 1847.

However, the easternmost edge of Lake Lothing was there, and there may have been a quayside of some description – or maybe it was marshland?

Soon after 1947 siding was built

Initially, a siding ran through the site, ending in an engine shed just to the west of the station platforms, on what is now the car park. From maps, it appears there was a turntable in front of the shed, (Pic 1), and a few years later the turntable was moved just east of the train shed.  

At the same time that (?) the turntable was moved, a loading platform and other buildings were built. These may be the 'Cattle Docks' or 'Cattle Pen'. People have memories of pigs as well as cattle being loaded and unloaded.

Cattle Dock/pens

The first cattle area seems to have been built between 1893 (date of OS survey) and 1903 (next OS survey). Over the years there seem to have been several small buildings built, altered or demolished, in various configurations, but they all seem to show an animal pen of some kind.

The building immediately to the west of the cattle docks, currently owned by Network Rail, also appears to have been built between 1893 and 1903. It's most likely purpose was stabling for the horses which pulled the carts to and from the station to other parts of the rapidly growing town.

Zeppelin Raid

From a photograph, it seems that the stables were damaged, probably in the Zeppelin Raid of 15/16 April, 1915 along with houses on the north side of Denmark Road. The corner building is certainly damaged, according to the image. The building to the left hand of the picture may be a converted railway carriage, perhaps used as an office.

The Lowestoft Journal, reporting a commemoration of the incident in 2015 said, “Three bombs were dropped by an L5 airship - one in the gardens of numbers 46/47 and number 48 in Denmark Road, one further down the same street and the third near Kimberley Road.” This report doesn't directly mention The Stables

https://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news

The original Engine Shed – on the car park, as is - was demolished early days, due to complaints of smoke, and much larger ones built at Coke Oven Junction. (see the note at the end). However, “By about 1960, steam engines had almost disappeared from Lowestoft and in October 1963 the engine sheds and turntable finally closed”. (From ANNUAL REPORT Volume 1 (1966-67) Lowestoft Archaeological & Local History Society - Railways in and About Lowestoft - Mr Mitchell)

The Cattle Dock is demolished

The cattle docks, according to individual's memories, were in use at least until the late fifties or early sixties. Sometime, probably in the 70's, they were demolished, though there are what appear to be remnants – gate posts in concrete – still on the site. (Pic 3)

By the 80's the sidings had all gone, and the land was reverting to wasteland. Later, part of it became the current car-park. In 2006/7 Anglian Water laid a massive sewer, which appears to run from Rotterdam Road, on the south side of Denmark Road. In the satellite photo from Google Earth Pro, it's easy to see the sewer sections, although there's no evidence of the remains of the demolition of the cattle docks.

Network Rail Building

The old Stables, mentioned previously, is still in restorable condition, though the last two years has shown more rapid deterioration. The building in recent years is remembered as being the Menzies newspaper distribution depot, then Chadd's Store used it as storage warehouse, and lastly maybe some kind of store and office for Network Rail. The picture calendar in the office is for 2009.

Current use

NLMS had been looking for premises for several years, and happily eventually hooked up with Community Rail Project and Greater Anglia. The Shed obtained official access to the Land of Hope and Dreams on February 13th 2023, and by July it had cleared an area and built a shed.

“Motive power depot

The first engine shed at Lowestoft was a two-road brick structure on the north side of the station with a turntable on a separate spur. It lay close to Denmark Road on the site of what was later the goods shed. The shed could only accommodate four locomotives and attracted complaints from local residents due to the smoke from the locomotives. New four-road sheds were built in 1882 at a cost of £5,650 on the north shore of Lake Lothing beyond what later became Coke Ovens Junction. The sheds were fine and ornate in the style of those at Yarmouth Vauxhall and March with extravagant brick detail and a vast iron water tank supported by tall vaulting running the width of the shed. The turntable was first on a single spur alongside the yard but later was enlarged to 65 feet (20 metres) and repositioned at the western boundary of the yard. In the 1930s, new coal handling and water softening plants were installed at a cost of £2,828. ”

from: Wikipedia