Benjamin Britten village of Snape, six miles inland, became available for hire, Britten realised that the largest of them could be converted into a concert hall and opera house. The 830-seat Snape Maltings hall was opened by the Queen at the start of the twentieth Aldeburgh Festival on 2 June 1967; it was immediately hailed as one of the best concert halls in the country. The hall was destroyed by fire in 1969, but Britten was determined that it would be rebuilt in time for the following year's festival, which it was. The Queen again attended the opening performance in 1970. The
Snape branch line occasionally. In the early years of operation there was as many as three trains per day although this later reduced to two. This may have been because trains got longer as the haulage capabilities of early steam locomotives improved. Train locomotives never operated into the maltings themselves and shunting was carried out by horses or, in later year, by a Fordsons Tractor. In later years the Snape working was a bonus working operated by Ipswich engine shed drivers where the workings were carried out as quickly as possible (in order to qualify for the bonus?). Signalling was initially by one