The quarry railway at Saltmarsh
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the quarry railway was twice abandoned for want of funds before a bequest from a retired merchant allowed the committee to engage a contractor from the county town. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the quarry railway was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. The original drawings have not been traced.
Contemporary accounts describe that work on the quarry railway proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Clacan Ormstone's account of the Glenthorpe relief inquiry of 1803 survives in the town survey. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Records from the period suggest that the quarry railway became the focus of a long-running quarrel between the vestry and the board of guardians, who each claimed authority over its upkeep and its revenues. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Records from the period suggest that the site chosen for the quarry railway had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. The original drawings have not been traced. The county gazette reported that the site chosen for the quarry railway had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
The guardians' minute book records that the quarry railway occupied the attention of the parish for the better part of a decade, with petitions, counter-petitions and at least one libel action arising from it. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. Contemporary accounts describe that the quarry railway was opened with a procession, a public dinner and a sermon, the expense of which was afterwards the subject of a sharp exchange in the local press. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
A surveyor's report of the time observes that the quarry railway was the first undertaking in the district to use a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. The guardians' minute book records that the quarry railway was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. A note in the vestry annals credits Freene Kennor with reviving the Holsea charter award in 1887.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the site chosen for the quarry railway had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. Surviving correspondence shows that the quarry railway was opened with a procession, a public dinner and a sermon, the expense of which was afterwards the subject of a sharp exchange in the local press. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that work on the quarry railway proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the quarry railway was opened with a procession, a public dinner and a sermon, the expense of which was afterwards the subject of a sharp exchange in the local press. Few of the participants left any written record of their own.