Proposed foundation CIO (charity) name:
Lynn and Dereham Trust
Where the charity would operate from: TBD
Status: Application submitted to the Charity Commission
Trustees as of November 2025:
Alex Brammer
Richard Woods
Nathan Dodd
Stuart Wagge
Our proposed aims are:
1. To work on purchasing or leasing current or former railway
infrastructure including, but not limited to, railway stations, station
houses, platform buildings, signal boxes, land, track, equipment.
2. To establish the provision for educating the general public on the
history, heritage and technological science of the former Lynn and
Dereham Railway, how it served the public, what remains of the
former railway and the stories that can be told, through displays
and exhibits.
3. To establish the provision for community-led facilities whereby the
general public benefit.
Trustee Biographies
Alex Brammer
With ten years of public sector experience, ranging from working with MPs and Ministers to the general public, Alex has a good knowledge of the inner workings of the NHS, local and central Government. At the age of 18, he took up an opportunity in the City of Westminster, working for the Civil Service on Child Internet Safety policy, before moving back to Norfolk to work in varying roles at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, including as an assistant medical secretary.
He currently works for NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB, dealing with the administrative work involved in the Continuing Healthcare process.
During his final year at the hospital in 2021, Alex established the Middleton Towers Restoration Group, where he negotiated a basic asset protection agreement with Network Rail, which enables the group to work on the derelict platform buildings of the former Middleton Towers railway station in Leziate, King’s Lynn. He was successful in obtaining grants from both the local borough council, as well as the Railway Heritage Trust, to cover the costs of substantial work towards the station’s restoration.
Alex’s love for the railways stems from the books, videos and anecdotes from his late grandfather John, who lived in the Wisbech area during the era of the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway and the Wisbech to March railway.
Alex is currently a Parish Councillor for Leziate & Ashwicken, being co-opted in the summer of 2024.
Outside of work and the railways, he is a passionate supporter of Ipswich Town Football Club, is a huge Formula One fan, enjoys cycling, travelling abroad and is an avid video gamer.
Nathan Dodd
Since his teens, Nathan has had an interest in the industrial and social history of the railways across East Anglia and Great Britain. As a result, he has been involved in a number of railway heritage groups in the region, including the East Anglian Railway Museum (EARM) and Mangapps Railway Museum in Essex as well as the Melton Constable Railway Trust in Norfolk, and has been a long term member of the Great Eastern Railway Society. Subsequently, he has now been inspired to work supporting the efforts of the Middleton Towers Restoration Group.
Since his secondary education, his enthusiasm for railways has seen him become a Station Adopter for Greater Anglia (Formerly National Express East Anglia) at Battlesbridge station. This initiative, supported by the Department of Transport, sees Station Adopters work alongside Train Operating Companies to come up with practical solutions to improve passenger patronage and to tend to enhancing station facilities, with gardens and the environment making the choice of rail appealing to commuters and leisure travel. His passion for volunteering at national railway station now sees him support the New River Community Rail Partnership at Cheshunt and acts as a Station Partner for Cuffley on the Hertford Loop Line.
It is through this community engagement where he was given a job with National Express East Anglia as a train dispatcher in Southend Victoria, eventually reaching the level of trainer/assessor in the same role. He subsequently went on to enjoy a varied series of customer facing roles in the rail industry and can now be found keeping London moving with a career on the London Underground.
During his spare time, he is enjoying writing a book on the history of rail transport, is a published railway photographer (UK Railway magazines), gives the occasional guided tour on the 'Lost Railways of London' to raise funds for the Railway Children charity and hosts a series of talks on the 'History of Railways' across East Anglia as a public speaker.
