Trev's travails: A great Northern Rail day out

I joined a friend who was using a complimentary day ticket to travel around the Northern Rail network. He wanted to re-visit some places he used to frequent as a child.

The early part of the journey was from Sheffield to Leeds ...

... where we caught a train to Carlisle up the famous Settle-Carlisle line. This 73 mile line from Settle to Carlisle was constructed in the 1870s and required 14 tunnels and 22 viaducts

the most famous of which is the 24-arch Ribblehead Viaduct which is 440 yards long and 104 feet high

In 1963 the Beeching Report recommended the withdrawal of passenger services from the line and in 1970 all stations except Settle and Appleby West were closed

There was outrage over the closure plan and eventually, in 1989, the Government finally refused consent to close the line.

Carlisle Citadel Station - built in 1847 and at that time was one of three stations in Carlisle. It became the main one by 1851 and was extended in 1875

We then went along the Tyne Valley line which was built by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway in the 1830s – the formal opening took place on 18 June 1838. It was absorbed into the North Eastern Railway in 1862

The old water tower at Haltwhistle. This station was formerly the terminus of the Alston –Haltwhistle Railway – a branch line originally built to access the mines around Alston; it was closed in 1976

We stopped off at Hexham which was one of the first stations to be opened on the line. The first stage from Blaydon to Hexham opened in 1835. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the world. It has diminished in size and importance since the closure of the Allendale Branch (in 1950) and the Border Counties Railway (1958)

One very interesting feature is its Gantry overtrack signal box which was built in 1896 ...

... it is a Grade II listed building

The station is well decorated with floral displays – which have won several awards from Britain in Bloom.

We spent some time in Hexham - this is the race track - the race course is a few miles out of town. Hexham is steeped in history. It originated as a monastery founded by St Wilfrid in 674. Like many towns in the North of England it suffered from the border wars with the Scots.

Hexham Old Gaol is reputed to be the oldest purpose-built prison in England – it is a Grade 1 listed monument. It was built in 1330-33 and held prisoners from Hexhamshire and, in the 16^thcentury , from the English Middle Marches – the Marches were first conceived in a treaty between Henry III and Alexander III of Scotland in 1249.

The Marches were an attempt to control the Anglo-Scottish border by creating a buffer zone during the turbulent times of the Border Reivers – when cattle rustling, guerrilla fighting and clan feuds were rife

Hexham Moot Hall stands in the Market Place and dates from the 14^th century. It was part of the defences of the town. It is a Grade 1 listed building and was used as a court house until 1838

Hexham Abbey – there has been a church on the site since 674 when Wilfrid, Bishop of York, arranged for it to be built from material salvaged from nearby Roman ruins.

In Norman times the Abbey was replaced by an Augustinian priory and the current church largely dates from this period – c 1170-1250

The Queen’s Hall is one of many Victorian buildings in Hexham. It is now home to the library, theatre and art gallery but was once the Town Hall and Corn Exchange

This arch was presented to the town in 1919 to commemorate the services of the 4^th Northumberland Fusiliers in France and Belgium in the First World War

The Hexham Courant launched on 2 August 1864. It was a tad generous to call it a local paper at that stage. The paper was hand-set in London and despatched by train to Hexham with a single blank column to be filled in with local news.