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126 |
Old Memories of East-Bourne. [Chap. XI. |
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at Southfield Lodge, a house which I have mentioned elsewhere.
So far as the Railway part of the day's ceremonial was concerned that concluded with a trip of the directors and officials to Hailsham in the afternoon. A very good account (of which I have a copy) of the whole day's proceedings appeared in the Brighton Gazette, of May 17, 1849.
The railway being open from London to East-Bourne, it may be a matter of interest to inquire what the train service was like. In the early " Fifties," the official time-tables of the Brighton Company appeared in the form of a small pamphlet of the size which printers call " 16mo," cased in a bright yellow cover. Subsequently the size of the page was slightly altered and the yellow wrapper discontinued. I saved up some of these books for many years, but unfortunately in a house move, they were made awav with, and the oldest record of Sussex trains I possess is, Bradshaw s Monthly Descriptive Railway Guide for June 1857, which in train tables does not mention East-Bourne ; only Brighton, Lewes, New-haven, St. Leonards and Hastings, as the important coast stations. The oldest complete time-table I possess is dated March 1866.
The trains then running were as follows :—
DOWN
London Bridge... 6.40 8.0 10.0 12.10 2.10 4.5 6.40 Victoria ... 6.35 7.55 9.55 12.5 2.5 4.0 6.35
East-Bourne ... 9.15 10.40 12.7 2.47 4.30 6.5 9.17
UP
East-Bourne ... 6.30 9.15 10.30 12.7 2.15 4.40 7.15 Victoria ... 9.20 11.15 1.22 2.45 4.35 7.30 9.50 London Bridge. 9.17 11.10 1.15 2.37 4.25 7.25 9.45
The developement in the 44 years to 1910, cannot be described as very remarkable as regards the daylight trains, and comparing the above figures with the Bradshaw of 9 years previously, there was only an increase of one train each way to and from Hastings, and the trains were very closely identical in both years. |
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