Framlingham Branch
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The Framlingham branch was a six-mile (9.7 km) single-track branch railway line from Wickham Market railway station on the East Suffolk Line to Framlingham, with three intermediate stations, Parham, Hacheston Halt, and Marlesford.
The Framlingham branch was authorised in 1854 and built with several other railway lines by the East Suffolk Railway, including those from Halesworth to Woodbridge (now part of the East Suffolk line), Saxmundham to Leiston and the Snape branch line. Construction was straightforward as the countryside of East Suffolk is relatively flat. Flooding at Parham meant the river had to be diverted to protect the line of the railway.
The Framlingham branch started from a junction at Wickham Market station and was officially opened on 1 June 1859. However, the East Suffolk Railway was promptly incorporated into the Eastern Counties Railway, the dominant railway company on East Anglia. Before the opening, a special train was recorded as running in February 1859 from Woodbridge. The line south of Woodbridge was still being built by the Eastern Union Railway.
The former railway station at Framlingham
The Ipswich Journal of 4 June 1859 reported on the opening on the official opening day: "The bells rang merrily throughout the day, a cricket match was played, and tea was provided by Mr. John Pipe of the Crown Inn, in his usual style, of which 40 of the gentry and inhabitants of the town partook; appropriate speeches were made, songs sung, and a merry and convivial evening spent." Unfortunately an evening concert at the Corn Exchange was cancelled as the band leader Edward Plantin was involved in a serious accident at the station and died of his injuries a few days later.
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Wikipedia