Berney Arms
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox UK place
Berney Arms is a settlement on the north bank of the River Yare, close to Breydon Water in the English county of Norfolk. It is part of the civil parish of Reedham, in the district of Broadland, and lies within The Broads. It comprises a railway station, a windmill, a farmhouse<ref name=roughguide>Template:Cite book</ref> and a pub which closed in late 2015 (though permission for conversion to a dwelling was refused; campaigners are seeking to reopen it as a pub).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2020, an adjacent property opened as a bistro.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The area is not accessible by public road.
HistoryEdit
Berney Arms takes its name from the Berney Arms public house, which is by the staithe on the north bank of the River Yare and which served walkers and boaters passing through the area.<ref name=bbc19apr13>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was closed in 2015 and the owner proposed to turn the pub into a private house, but planning permission was refused.<ref name="BA/2015/0176/FUL">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The public house was named after the landowner Thomas Trench Berney who owned the Reedham Cement Works centred on the Berney Arms Windmill. The mill was built in 1865 and is the tallest windmill in Norfolk at Template:Convert tall. It was used to grind cement clinker and was later converted into a drainage mill. It closed in 1948 and is now a Scheduled Monument in the care of English Heritage.<ref name=pastscape>Template:PastScape</ref><ref name="NHLE">Template:NHLE</ref> At one point the mill supported a small settlement of 11 domestic dwellings and a chapel.<ref name=lca>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Berney sold the land on which the railway was built, on the condition that a stopping place was built to serve the settlement in perpetuity.<ref name=roughguide /><ref name=guardian>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=slow>Template:Cite book</ref>
GeographyEdit
Berney Arms is in an area of marshland, much of which is at or below sea level. It lies on the River Yare just to the west of Breydon Water. The area is part of Berney Marshes RSPB reserve<ref name=rspb>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and within the Halvergate Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest. These provide important habitats for a range of plant and invertebrate species as well as providing important wintering grounds for bird species such as Bewick's swan.<ref name=sssicite>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The area is also a Ramsar Site and part of the Broadland Special Protection Area. Ashtree Farm is used by the RSPB as a series of dwellings and as its base for the marshes.<ref name=lca />
TransportEdit
Berney Arms can be reached only by train, by boat or on foot; it has no public road access, with only a private track running to it.
Berney Arms railway station is a request stop on the Wherry Lines between Template:Rws and Template:Rws, via Template:Rws. Greater Anglia operate a limited number of services each day, with more frequent trains on Sundays.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2019, it was the least-used station in Britain.<ref name="Lawrence-Jones">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The settlement is on both the Weavers' Way and Wherryman's Way footpaths.
In popular cultureEdit
Berney Arms was mentioned in Arthur Ransome's children's book Coot Club, which is in the Swallows and Amazon series.
In 1960, BBC reporter Fyfe Robertson made a short black and white documentary covering Berney Arms station and interviewed two residents.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>