Above: The café still stands beside the old A11 which is much quieter these days.
Red Lodge is a village and civil parish situated in rural Suffolk between Mildenhall and Newmarket, and very close to the A11 and A14 roads. Until the 1980s the old A11 ran through the village on a road that was only wide enough for a single line of traffic in each direction. It was called Turnpike Road and, because it was so narrow, it was very busy with traffic which was almost at a stand-still at times. When the A11 was upgraded, a road was constructed on a new alignment – just west of the old one. That is a dual-carriageway, bypassing the village and leaving the old A11 through the village almost deserted.
The village of Red Lodge dates back to 1926 when the first houses were built, although the pub – called Red Lodge Inn – is far older, being shown on a map of 1885. It is thought to have been a former hunting lodge dating from the 17th century. The area where most of the new housing is situated was formerly a rabbit warren attached to Freckenham Manor lands, with a history dating back to the 13th century. Red Lodge became a civil parish in 1987, having previously been part of Freckenham parish.
Since the 1990s, considerable redevelopment has taken place with several housing estates being created. More housing continued to be added. Living at Red Lodge is probably popular because of it being situated so close to the A11. However, many of the new homes remain empty, causing locals to rename Red Lodge as ‘Dead Lodge’.
Red Lodge has a long-established transport café which was renowned as being open 24 hours a day. When the café was first opened is not known. It has the appearance of a café from the 1950s or 1960s that is now ‘frozen in time’. Some years back, the BBC filmed a documentary in the café. It stands beside the road through the village which is called Turnpike Road.
This article concentrates on the well-known transport café, which has two things going for it. Firstly, there is the good food provided by the café, served up to truckers and passing visitors alike. Secondly, on the opposite side of the road is a very large piece of open land with enough space to park at least 40 trucks. For lorry drivers, easy parking is an important factor for a truck stop. With so many of them using the A11 and A14 trunk roads, it is not hard to realise why truckers continue to use this café. Until well after the turn of the millennium, the café was open 24 hours every day – even on Christmas Eve. Nowadays [2019] that is no longer the case.
Above: The railway truck with windows added to its sides.
As well as the feeling of stepping back in time as you enter the café, there is one further ‘blast from the past’ that comes as a surprise to new customers. The ‘extension’ to the main part of the café is a narrow area, with tables either side. As you look more carefully, you suddenly discover that the low curved ceiling looks like one to be found in an old railway goods truck. The length and width are the same as for a railway vehicle but the side windows were added to what was probably originally a truck that had a roof but no windows.
When carriages or trucks were no longer required by a railway company they were sometimes purchased for private use. Farmers used them for sheds – there are two still in use on a farm in Hempstead, in Essex. Shops in villages were sometimes set up in roofed trucks that had been moved some distance from the railway tracks. A tailor used a truck for his shop in Melton Constable, in Norfolk, around the turn of the 20th century. Sadly, that one no longer exists. Another example is a railway carriage that was used as a waiting room for passengers. It was at Ashdon Halt, a railway station on the Saffron Walden Railway, in Essex. The line closed a long time ago but the railway carriage remains to be seen beside a country lane. Other examples of trucks put to good uses are to be found all over England. The truck beside the café at Red Lodge is, therefore, a wonderful curio from the past. It is to be hoped that it is listed because such a feature is quite rare these days.
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