Middy In The 1940s
Location
Mid Suffolk Light Railway, Brockford Station, Wetheringsett, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5PW
Telephone
01449 766874- Next Event
- 25th May 10:30am - 25th May 4:30pm
- Following 1 Event
26/05/25 10:30
-26/05/25 16:30
About this event
Middy in the 1940s has grown from small beginnings to become one of the largest events of the Mid Suffolk Light Railway’s calendar.
Along with the many visiting displays and vehicles, the Middy is joined by a number of quality re-enactors and ‘personalities’ to help create a great 1940’s atmosphere.
This year there will be a range of military and civilian vehicles of the period and stalls selling everything from clothing, collectables, toys, military memorabilia, wartime paperwork and magazines.
Both days will feature 1940s style music with Sarah Mai.
And this year the middy has the USAAF 34th Bomb Group Museum with a historic range of artefacts and memorabilia from their days at RAF Mendlesham on show for the season.
Britain’s railways played a major role in the war effort and the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway was no different, coming into its own after 1942 when the USAAF moved into the airfields at Mendlesham and Horham. The Middy had never been so busy and never would be again after the war ended, so this event is our tribute to those who served to preserve freedom both at home and overseas in those dark years between 1939 and 1945.
If you feel like donning some 40’s attire there is a fantastic local company who do a wide range of civilian and military costumes https://masqueradeshop.co.uk/ - see the Mid Suffolk Light Railway's website for costume etiquette.
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About the Venue
The Mid-Suffolk Light Railway is Suffolk’s only standard gauge heritage railway, offering steam open days and events to the general public. Services are normally steam operated on both standard open days and special event days.
The Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, affectionately known as the ‘Middy’, was a classic case of a railway built too late for the great railway age. It never paid its way and was effectively broke before it opened. Operating in receivership from the start the line was never fully completed, the rails petering out in the middle of a field. However it still managed to struggle on against all the odds for 50 years.
In 1991 after almost all traces of the line had disappeared a group of enthusiasts decided this country railway, once so important to the area, should not be forgotten. The ‘Middy’, a fine example of rural English history, is now resurrected as Suffolk’s only standard gauge railway museum and ironically is busier now than it ever was.
A section of the railway at Brockford has been recreated with original station buildings which capture the atmosphere of this quirky line. In 2012 the MSLR was awarded the Heritage Railway Association’s Interpretation Award. In October 2014 the ‘Middy’ was voted Suffolk Museum of the Year in competition with 40 other Suffolk museums.
Today’s ‘Middy’ is not only a museum but runs regular steam trains and has a programme of carriage and wagon restoration complementing its efforts to recreate this slice of Edwardian England.
Mid Suffolk light Railway is open Sundays and Bank Holidays from 10.30am to 4.30pm from 28 May to 4 September, but see our What’s On page for opening dates at the link above.
