Between The Lines

 

Passengers wait atWingham Colliery Station in Kent in 1919

Trouble in Gloucestershire

 The Trouble House Inn near Tetbury in Glocestershire was built in 1754. Originally known as the Wagon and Horses it was said to be "troublesome" being poorly built and prone to flooding. Troublesome too for its landlords. An early tenant had the misfortune to see several wives die at an early age; the next lost most of his customers to the press gang. There was a landlord who say his father, a priest, defrocked for immorality.  A new owner started renovations but when he ran out of money he hanged himself in desperation. The work was continued but again there were insufficient funds, this owner drowned himsel.. The pub gained its present name in 1856 although troubles have continued in the guise of "The Lady In Blue", a resident ghost who makes a nuisance of herself by moving things around. 

 
When diesel railcars appeared on the local railway branch, a diminutive station was built to serve the pub. The platform at Trouble House Halt was so low that the pub's landlord provided a beer crate to help passengers climb up into the train. The railway closed just 5 years later in 1964 and the landlord made a coffin which was taken aboard the last train with all due ceremony. Filled with empty whisky bottles, it was carried by bowler hatted mourners. Progress of the train was held up though by a barricade of burning hay bales.

Black Dogs of Wiltshire 

Black Dog Halt, a little known station in Wiltshire was opened in 1863 at the behest of Lord Lansdowne. A private station, it served nearby Bowood House, home of the 5th Marquess who had his own reserved compartment on the local train from Tetbury. Black Dog Halt was provided with a siding from where valuables were transferred to Lansdowne House, his Lordship's London home.  The station didn't appear in the timetable until 1952 although it was always available to the public.  During World War I, the outbuildings were used by the army and on one occasion the Cabinet met in a carriage parked in the siding.. Lord Lansdowne was a Government minister serving as Secretary of State for War and Foreign Secretary as well as Governor General of Canada and Viceroy of India.

Wiltshire, like many parts of England has legends of black dogs, ghostly hounds with dripping fangs and flashing eyes. The Black Dog Inn, named after a spectral hound, had closed well before the coming of the railway, but still gave its name to the station as well as to a nearby hill. 

The station closed in 1965 along with the branch line to Calne.

Hauled by a donkey

The branch line to Delph in Lancashire was only just over a mile in length from the junction near Greenfield. It was served by trains from Oldham Clegg Street.

The train was popularly known as "The Delph Donkey" so named because a legend stated that the first trains in 1851 comprised a single carriage pulled by a donkey. The last train in 1955, carrying over 500 people,  was met at Delph by a donkey.

The penultimate station had the curious name of Measurements Halt. Opened in 1932, only one train called in each direction, transporting workers to the Measurements Factory. This was a business that began making clocks and watches under the "Limit" brand. As trade grew, the company diversified into making optical and aircraft instruments, radio sets, counters and gas meters. Taken over by Parkinson Cowan, the factory closed in the 1970s.

Delph Donkey passes Measurements Halt

Orchids, Straw Hats  and The War Cry

Sander and Sons of St Albans grew orchids in such quantities that they needed a railway siding for speedy transport to market. Established in 1881, Sanders produced up to 2 million orchid plants a year in their 60 greenhouses. A large team of collectors explored Asia and South America seeking new plants.  Seeds were produced in large numbers in their conservatories. 
A private station, a single wooden platform, opened in 1897 for the convenience of their staff. It only appeared in the public timetable between 1929 and 1942.
Nearby was the printing works of the Salvation Army whose employees also used the tiny halt.  It came to be known as Salvation Army Halt and continued in use until the railway between Hatfield and St Albans closed to passengers in 1951. Sander's Siding was used to despatch large quantities of Salvation Army periodicals such as "War Cry" which were distributed around the world.  Luton, not far distant, was renowned for the manufacture of straw hats. These were carried to Sander's siding from where they were despatched to London.

A Great Northern Railway Orchid Van

For Baptist End and Bumble Hole

If one changed trains at Blowers Green Station in Netherton, the branch line to Old Hill journeyed through the heart of the Black Country. This was the quaintly named Bumble Hole Line and passed through stations such as Baptist End, Windmill End and Darby End.
This was a heavily industrialised area criss crossed with canals. Manufacturing included nails, chains, ship's anchors, boilers cranes and furnaces. Coal was mined and clay dug from large pits.

The first station was at Baptist End, a district that perhaps took its name from the Baptists who had met here since 1654. One of the many chapels had the delightful name of "Sweet Turf Chapel". It is said that adherents were baptised in the local canal, the waters being warmed by industry.

Windmill End Station was in the district known as Bumble Hole. The origin of the name is uncertain although in the clay pit was a shed housing a steam hammer. It made a clanking "bum-hul" noise, a name which perhaps became corrupted. The dialect survey however, defines Bumble Hole as being an ash midden behind an earth closet.

Next was Darby End, probably named after the prominent Darby family although another suggestion refers to nail-makers from Derbyshire. In the 19th century the area became known as "Darby Hand"

Stations on this line were platforms made out of old sleepers and offered very basic passenger accomodation. Traffic was light and trains were seldom of more than a single coach. Extensive mining subsidence resulted in an uncomfortable ride. The line closed in 1964 by which time there was only one train outside the morning and evening peak. A guard at the time said of the 6.30pm train "If we get one passenger on this particular train, that's as many as we'll ever get. We may get him twice a week and he usually gets off at Windmill End".

Bumble Hole

Twice A Week To Poison Cross

  Eastry is an ancient village near Sandwich in Kent. Here in the 7th century was the palace of the Saxon King Egbert of Kent and here, two young princes, Ethelbert and Ethelred were murdered. Eastry Court is the oldest house in Britain. Behind a Georgian facade, an inner hall dates back to the year 603. In the 9th century it became an abbey and it is said that having fallen out, the monks murdered each other giving rise to the name "Poison Cross"
There is an extensive network of caves and one legend claims that Thomas a'Becket hid underground in 1164 waiting to escape to France.

Railway bridge under construction. Eastry 1911

Eastry is only a village, yet it once had three railway stations.  The East Kent Railway was built between 1911 and 1925, largely to serve the developing Kent coalfield. Poison Cross Station opened in May 1925 and for the first year trains only called on a Saturday. Thereafter, two trains ran on Wednesday and Saturday until the station closed in November 1928. Passengers on this private railway were of secondary importance a coach being added to a goods train. Wagons were shunted at each station making a mockery of the timetable. In order to make up time, the drivers would often pass stations without stopping even when passengers were waiting.

End of the line. Passengers wait for the train in 1919

Wrong Side of the River

 Not far out of Lincoln, the village of Fiskerton was served by a station called Five Mile House. The station however, was on the wrong side of the River Witham and until a footbridge was built in 1957, passengers had to cross by a chain ferry, operated by the railway.  The station took its name from a  riverside pub which catered for boat traffic and which also served as part of the station.

In 1919 a spark from a passing train set the station alight. Station Master's House, Waiting Room, Office and Signal Box were all destroyed. They were later replaced by two huts.

The station closed in 1958 although for the follwing six years a train called each Saturday, a fishermen's special from Sheffield.

The Five Mile House Ferry

Waiting For The Train

Berney Arms

In The Halvergate Marshes

Berney Arms is the smallest station in England. This is remote Norfolk; the nearest road is nearly six kilometres away and it is easier to reach the hamlet by boat this being the Norfolk Broads. Resembling something out of a child's train set, the platform is long enough for just one carriage and the shelter accommodates three passengers. Not that this is a busy station for the three trains a day bring only 1000 people a year, mostly ramblers and bird watchers. There was until the late sixties, a small row called Station Cottages. One room served as booking office, waiting room and post office. 

Duncraig

By the Lochside 

Lonely  Duncraig is  a picturesque little station on the side of Loch Carron in the Scottish Highlands. It was originally a private platform serving Duncraig Castle and was not open to the public until 1949. A single platform with a unique, octagonal waiting room, the station has views across the loch. There are just four trains a day from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and on an average day two passengers use the station. 

 The Extraordinary Station of Moreton on Lugg

The village of Moreton on Lugg lies just to the north of Hereford. Although the railway from Shrewsbury passes through the village, trains no longer stop here, the station having closed in 1958. When the railway was being constructed, a navvy made his home in a hollowed out tree. The trunk was equipped with a thatched roof, a brick chimney stack and even a door. When the railway opened in 1866, the navvy moved on but the tree which was known affectionately as "Eve" found a new purpose. The tree became a store house but when the station became part of the Great Western Railway it was converted into a ticket office. The tree, with a circumference of 19 metres was so large that on one occasion, 15 people were said to have taken tea inside.

Parsley Hey

Up In The Clouds

Parsley Hay was one of the highest stations in England with an altitude of 350 metres. In the remote hills near Buxton, it only saw three passenger trains a day and not surprisingly closed in 1954. The platforms were constructed of wood planks as were the station buildings. Until a signal box was built, the booking office served that purpose. One of the waiting rooms was furnished with pews for this was the village mission hall. The station harmonium provided the music.

The Comforts of Rural Essex

Passengers waiting for a train in the Essex countryside needed to be a hardy lot for the stations didn't always provide many comforts. Stane Street near Bishops Stortford didn't even have a proper platform whilst at Ashdon and  Henham, passengers were expected to shelter in crumbling old cariages. The original fittings had been removed and benches installed. That as Ashdon dates from 1916 and still exists although no trains have called since 1964

 Richborough Port - The train that never arrived
  
 The station at Richborough Port in Kent was built in 1925. Having been constructed, it was found that an approach bridge would not stand the weight of a train and consequently the station never opened for either passengers or goods. By the time the railway was built, the port near Ramsgate which  was also known as Sandwich Haven, was already in decline. The privately owned East Kent Railway hoped to use the port for coal traffic from the collieries that they served. The station platform hardly served a bustling community being in a bleak and remote location. Had the trains arrived, there would have only been two services a day. This was not a busy line and it was unusual for a train to carry more than one passenger, if any at all. Trains rarely ran to time and to make up their schedule, drivers often ignored stations even if there was a passenger waiting.
The line finally closed in 1951 although the section near Richborough had not seen trains for some years as part of the track was missing.

Also on this line was the strangely named Poison Cross station. Opened in  May 1925, there was for the first year a Saturday only service. The full, twice daily service only lasted two years and Poison Cross closed in October 1928. The train no longer ran to its destination at Sandwich Road.

 

From Shrewsbury's Other Station

The Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway wasn't allowed to run its trains into the principal station in Shrewsbury so it built its own terminus at Abbey Foregate.
The origins of this 20 mile line go back to 1861 when a rival route to Ireland was planned. It failed to receive its act of parliament but the scheme was revived with a proposal to build a line from the Potteries. It was completed in 1866 but only between Shrewsbury and Llanymynech. When the Board of Trade inspected the railway in 1880 they found that the track needed renewing. As the company could not afford this, they restricted the speed of trains to 25 mph. Even this move was unsatisfactory and the line ceased operations. All was left to decay until 1911 when a new company was formed. The infrastructure was repaired and second hand coaches and locomotives were obtained. A passenger service continued until 1933 although goods train continued to run until wartime when the War Department took over the line. It continued to operate until 1960.

A particular feature of the line was its quaint passenger trains. The lorry pictured above is hauling a railcar body mounted on an old tram chassis. More popular were the two old Ford buses which ran back to back on railway wheels.