The Hadleigh Branch: LP203 (Locomotion ..., Paye, Peter NEW FREEPOST IN UK

The Suffolk town of Hadleigh, at one time famous for its clothing industry, was a political pawn on the chessboard of railway development in East Anglia. The Eastern Counties Railway, incorporated in 1836 to construct a line linking London with Yarmouth, had by 1843 only reached Colchester. Despite difficulty raising capital a northern extension was envisaged, linking up with the Norfolk Railway at Brandon, and with the Suffolk county town of Ipswich served by a branch line from Hadleigh. Businessmen at Ipswich were infuriated and promoted their own Eastern Union Railway, incorporated in 1844 to link Ipswich with Colchester. The ECR plans failed to materialise and the traders of Hadleigh were in a dilemma, with their own town now isolated seven miles from the nearest railhead.\nThe solution came with the proposal for a nominally independent branch line to Bently, but the railway was quickly absorbed by the EUR and the line was quickly absorbed by the EUR and the line was subsequently.