[ Onboard PA ] Good morning ladies and Gentleman, welcome all passengers to Greater Anglia
This is our 11:36 service to Great Yarmouth
special announcement for passengers for Berney Arms
you can only exit the train from the very front carriage
it does feel like i've been on a lot of Greater Anglia journeys / services recently
other train operators are available
but when Berney Arms was announced that it was the new
overall least used station in Britain
there's only thing you can do
and that's take a trip ... to Berney Arms
[ Upbeat music plays ]
We're approaching Berney Arms, two ladies here off camera
who are from ITV, so they're making a TV piece
you're a local ... OK how are you getting back?
Afternoon!
There is camera ... welcome, to Berney Arms
i've, not set it up but there is an ITV crew here but there's an ITV crew are here because they came to do a story too, obviously
(laughs) she just said, 'is this it?', yeah this is it!
what did you expect!
So i did wonder, i did think
if there would be any other rail enthusiasts on the train today
also coming to Berney Arms, because it's the new
least used station for the whole of Britain
what I didn't execpt was a TV crew, there's a lady called
Sheila as well, who's a local, she's written books about the area
she's gonna plug some of her books in a minute, local knowledge is always, the best
but this is it, Berney Arms was only open for like ...
four weeks, two weeks of which, was the end of March
Covid, Pandemic, don't travel ... so that's why
it's sunk right down, in the passenger stats
but i'm here
There's this path down, to the crossing
in the distance ... i assume, it's like
a bit flock of geese, squawking away
[ Gate bangs shut ]
Greater Anglia, c'mon
c'mon the sign, is a bit worn in the weather
you can bearly distinguish the bars and arrows
i'll bring a step ladder myself, a pot of red paint, and paint it myself
if you let me, would you let me do that?
This is massively fortuitous, i'm gonna spin the camera round and introduce you to
Sheila Hutchinson, a local who use to live here
at Berney Arms in a cottage up until the 1960's is that correct?
- Sheila 1963 ... I lived here from 1946 to 1963
And there's my book which tells you all about life at Berney Arms
what is there now, and what was
it's Berney Arms past and present
- Geoff Do you have a particlular favourite or endearing memory
of the railways at Berney Arms going back over the years?
- Sheila My favourite memory, well ... they're all good memories that i have
I remember the times that we've been down here
to go to Yarmouth to pick our Christmas tree up, on Christmas eve
and us kids would all be really excited to bringing that home
- Geoff Sheila you're amazing, thank you! you're feet are cold did you say? - Sheila i'm freezing
You want to go and get a cup of tea don't you?
no, you won't get one there will you? - i know!
i know, the pub isn't open anymore right?
No it isn't, not at the moment
ah, that's a real shame.
i'm just gonna be interviewed for ITV, obviously
[ Music plays ]
[ Thud! ]
My camera fell over
TV crew are still doing their thing, you can walk round
avoid the water, and err ...
pretty sure there's a lot of cow pats too
don't tread in those if you want the
shot from round the side
Goodbye ITV crew! - Thank you so much lovely to meet you! - What did you think of Berney Arms?
Well, it's a bit of a ...
... magical spot in the middle of nowhere
not sure i'll ever come back
What's it like having the cameras flipped and being put on you
Oh i love it! it's all about me Geoff, it's all about me!
Just a had a thought
How are they getting back?
The cameraman was here when I arrived
Did he arrive on the earlier train?
I'm gonna walk the two hours to Great Yarmouth
I don't know what they're doing. Anyway!
There's a hilariously named Geocache here, called err ...
Claph am Junction, that's funny, whoever did that
i'm not gonna reveal where the Geocache is
but I just found it, it's right
it's here, somewhere.
Now this is a slightly unusual least used station video, because normally I'd have a companion
but it's all a bit last minute so i've come by myself, but this doesn't mean
that I shouldn't do
a few station facilities, so amusingly, there is a bike rack
for two bikes
there's no shelter, there used to be, there's no Dot Matrix
there's no timetables, there's no ticket machine
there is however ...
a help point, i'm just wondering
[ Dial tone noises ]
it works!
[Speaker] Thank you for using the Greater Anglia help point service
please hold whilst we connect you to an operator
- Geoff Please wait!
* Hold music plays * - Geoff : music!
i've never had music at a help point before
nice touch, Greater Anglia
do you think if i Shazam it, it'll identify the track?
don't think Shazam's gonna get it, no result
Greater Anglia, what track do you use?
is anybody going to answer?
because what i want to know, i know there's like a 3:24 train out
but 'cause of daylight hours
and the fact that sun sets by about four o'clock
does the evening serivce, i think it's about 5 something
does that actually stop here? after dark
it's a valid question, that i want to ask them
but i don't think they're gonna answer
[ *speaker*] Please hold whilst we connect you to an operator
DISCONNECTED TONE
- No!
have you cut me off?
i'm a little bit sad now
So very quickly, from the bench
ah that's silhouetted, hang on
nah, that's not that much better
ok, i'm still sat on the bench, and the camera is
so yes, Berney Arms IS
the new least used
the top 10 ... Shippea Hill, 164 passengers
number 9 ... Reddish South, 158 passengers
number 8 ... Sugar Loaf, 156 passengers
number 7 ... Thorpe Culvert, 140 passengers
Polesworth at number 6 ... 96 passengers
Denton at number 5 with 92 passengers
Havenhouse at number 4
with er, 84 passengers
Stanlow & Thornton, which was joint number 1 last year
DOWN TWO PLACES! it's like a top of the pops chart rundown
to number 3, errr, 82 passengers
and then here's the interesting anomalie
Elton & Orston, in Nottinghamshire, which i've
... link ... which i've been to
is at number 2, with sixty-eight passengers
and Berney Arms
is at forty-two passengers, but like we mentioned earlier, because the line was closed for about a year, and only about
i think about 5 or 6 weeks worth of the accounting period is actually valid, for 42
two of which was back at the end of March - Covid no travel at all
could you argue, that Elton & Orston is REALLY
the real new, least used station in the whole of Britain
technicality ... yes
the statistics ... and the records will show
forever, that Berney Arms
was 2019's to 2020's ...
least used station, in the whole of Britain.
Great name for the title of a video!
So i got here at ...
i think it was the 11:57 arrival, it was a little bit late so call it midday
it's quarter past one now
i could wait here two hours, for the train going back at
three twenty-four, but i'm worried in case
well, what if that train was cancelled and then i'm stuck at Berney Arms?
and i can't really call ... someone to come and pick me up
so i've got two hours, should be possible
to walk [laughs] the five miles
to Yarmouth, and then amusingly catch the train there that's at
three seventeem, that comes back through, Berney Arms. So that means walking through this
muddy field, along the path
but there is of course the impressive Berney Arms windmill
standing 21 metres tall
and i want to get, a shot of the pub, just to kinda see what
state it's in, and then it's just err ...
it's a two hour walk for me, to get to Great Yarmouth
before it's dark, as well.
So i've come to the windmill, 21 metres high
it's a very impressive structure, i was going to wax lyrical about
the windmill, about how it's being restored, and when it's opening again, and then
boy did I fall on my feet today
because i love it, love it, love it when you meet a local person, and over here
there's a local lady ... Nettie, out walking here dog
some amazing, i've come to check out the pub
but you were telling me that you're opening a Bistro
- Nettie Yeah, no, we're gonna open a licesned Bistro
fot the walkers, and, the ... birdie people, and boats
obviously, it's been a tumultous year, so are we looking
we're hoping, easter of next year when it will be open
So, Easter 2021
so it's not, exactly where the pub is, but next door to the pub
and the was a shop?
yes it was a shop, and then it was a cafe
and so were just ... updating it
to a licensed bistro, so that you can have
a ... beer, and
hang on! what will it be called, will it be called the Berney Arms?
The Berney Arms Bistro!
So ...
i'm on, it's what's known as the Wherrymans Way
i belive it runs all the way from Norwich to Yarmouth, this is just
a little section of it, i'm gonna go past the pub
see where the new Bistro's gonna be
i mean really - and this is not my gag
they should call it the Berni Inn * DING! * Come on!
there's the pun!
so you don't need to see an hour and a half footage of me walking along a river bank, so i'll fade to black
and hopefully, when we fade up
that'll be me, catching the train home
it's started raining
so there we go, that is Berney Arms, which actually on the train back we're just about to pass through again
so i'll get a shot it through the window
i wonder if we'll stop or not
with 42 passengers a year
yes, because it was closed for many many months
but it is ... offically, Britain's newest
station, in the whole of the country!
[ *PA * ] welcome to this service for Norwich ...
we will be calling at ... Reedham, Cantley, Brundall, Brundall Gardens
and Norwich
[ Upbeat Music Plays ]