IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Chapel Lane, WISBECH, PE14 0DJ

Chapel Lane links Outwell Road (A1101) with Main Road, a short distance further to the west.

The Wisbech Canal Project is an Arts in Education project involving pupils of Elm and Emneth primary schools, in cooperation with artist Sarah Florence. See also > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1267571. This information board stands on the infilled bed of the Wisbech canal. A public footpath leads past here.

The route of the Wisbech and Upwell tramway led right past the front of these houses.

The green is adjoins the northern-most section of Chapel Lane in the west and forms part of the infilled Wisbech canal. The Wisbech Canal (opened in 1797) - planned as a means to improve the status of Wisbech as a trading centre - linked the River Nene at Wisbech with Well Creek at Outwell. It was constructed on embankments for most of its 8.4 km length because of the low level of the Fen landscape. When the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway opened in 1883, running parallel with the canal, the coal transported by the railway was initially loaded into boats for further transport but by 1922 all traffic had ceased and in 1926 the canal was abandoned. Derelict for many decades, the section nearer Wisbech was filled in during the early 1970s, allowing for the construction of the A1101/Churchill Road link without destroying the historic town centre. The rest of the canal was used as a landfill site. Sections which were not buried under the new road (A1101) have been planted with trees and can be walked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisbech_Canal

The Wisbech and Upwell tramway ran past here. The view was taken in westerly direction.

Heading towards Wisbech from the Elm Bridge depot, the trackbed of the tramway ran along here. Elm Bridge was the first depot south of Wisbech > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1267116. It consisted of a loop, a siding, and a goods office that also served as a waiting shelter. Nothing remains of the depot. Leaving Elm Bridge depot in southerly direction, Ingelthorpe Hall was the next request stop on the route > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1267059. Boyce's Bridge depot > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1266417 was considered the half-way point between Upwell and Wisbech. From here, the route followed Outwell Road in northwesterly direction > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1266447 to the request stop at Shepherd's Cottage and onwards from there to Collett's Bridge > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1267047 and Inglethorpe Hall request stops. Wisbech & Upwell tramway's Upwell depot > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241222 was 5 miles 72 chains distant from Wisbech. The line had eleven sidings, with two originally allocated for passenger traffic. During the fruit season the sidings could hold more than a hundred vans. The depot had a cattle dock, a depot office, a passenger waiting room, and a coal merchant's office and staithes. There was also an ash pit, and an old GER tender was used for a water tower until 1953 when it was removed. http://www.lner.info/co/GER/wisbech/route.shtml From the Upwell depot, which was the southern terminus of the tramway, the trains headed northwards > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241251 to the village of Outwell, crossing Small Lode > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241268 and passing a farm before emerging on Low Side > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241442 which was the final request stop. A farm driveway now runs where the railway trackbed used to be > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241431. The line crossed the village street and re-entered Norfolk. It ran alongside the bank of Well Creek before it reached the final section of reserved track at Goodman's Crossing request stop > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241525. Outwell Village depot was located by the old course of the River Nene and adjoined by St Clement's church on the other side. It originally had four sidings and was equipped with coal chutes to transfer coal to barges for distribution through the Fens. The depot had a small office building built from red brick > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241479 and an old van body for storage. The brick office still stands, but most of the depot site has since been built over by modern housing > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1241458. The name of the cul-de-sac/access road is called "The Tramway". From the Outwell Village depot, the line ascended a short 1 in 30 stretch before crossing back into Cambridgeshire where it ran 30 chains on reserved track before crossing the main road at the Horn's Corner > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1261375 request stop. From here the line followed the canal to Outwell Basin > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1261392 where it widened in order to enable mooring and turning of barges, and to the location of the first terminus with its depot covering a large area including a loop, a booking office and a waiting room > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1242035. The line then rejoined the canal at the actual Boyce's Bridge > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1261449 and the Dial House Farm > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1261452 request stop.

Approaching the junction with the B1101 Main Road

The Wisbech Canal Project is an Arts in Education project involving pupils of Elm and Emneth primary schools, in cooperation with artist Sarah Florence. See > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1267576 for a close-up. This information board stands on the infilled bed of the Wisbech canal. A public footpath leads past here.

Approaching the junction with the B1101 Main Road