Notes: Opened to passengers between 1835 and 1839, the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway was the first to cross England between the navigable waters of the east and west coasts. Biddle (2003) remarks that ‘its notable engineering works, remarkably intact station buildings, and much mechanical signalling make it the least altered line of its length in the country … it is the nearest we have to a working Victorian main line’. Bill Fawcett (2001) suggests that the original stations were the work of John Blackmore, the line’s resident engineer. The Tudor/Gothic style which was used for many of them included mullioned windows surmounted by a hood-mould, raised gables and tall chimney-stacks. Sandstone was favoured in their construction.

Although it has been unstaffed for over forty years, Haltwhistle is still a most impressive station, retaining many original Newcastle & Carlisle and North Eastern Railway features. The station house, footbridge, signal box, water tank and water crane are Grade II listed, as is the nearby viaduct over the River South Tyne (the ‘Alston Arches’) on the Alston branch. (The construction of the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway and Haltwhistle station involved the diversion of the South Tyne and the adjacent turnpike road.)

The station’s importance was acknowledged in the relatively large stone-built house, north of the tracks. It boasts a bay window and fine coupled chimneystacks. The detached single-storey former booking office and waiting room, dating from the 1880s but architecturally similar, is alongside the station house. Because the pioneering N&C did not originally provide platforms,

Well into the British Rail era Haltwhistle was essentially a Victorian station. Gas lamps were used until 1972, some on the up platform retaining their casement fittings, although most of them had been replaced with the ‘Sugg’ type, probably in the 1950s. As with all of the intermediate stations between Hexham and Carlisle, totem signs were never installed. The running-in boards were of plain wood, painted in BR(NE) colours, those on the island platform reading ‘Haltwhistle change for Alston’ with 'Haltwhistle change for Newcastle & Carlisle’ on the reverse. Something of Haltwhistle’s appeal was lost when the Alston branch closed in 1976, but the station is well worth a visit. The signal box was decommissioned in 1993 when colour light signalling was introduced. A new prefabricated building on the up side replaced it.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ALSTON BRANCH
Haltwhistle-Alston was the last surviving passenger branch line in rural North East England. Its longevity reflected the inadequacy of local roads in winter weather, rather than economic health: ‘the creaking gate hangs longest’ aptly describes a line that lasted until 1976.

Alston, 1000 ft above sea level, claims to be England’s highest market town. Since at least the fifteenth century, lead had been mined, and by 1768, 119 mines operated in Alston parish. Isolation from markets was a handicap. Although it was not the first proposal for a branch to Alston, the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway’s Haltwhistle-Alston-Nenthead branch received the Royal Assent on 26 August 1846. National economic problems delayed construction. When building began, the five-mile section beyond Alston was not proceeded with. The junction at Haltwhistle was adjusted to face Carlisle (the county town of Cumberland, in which Alston was situated) rather than Newcastle. An addition to the original plans was a branch from Lambley to meet the Brampton Railway at Halton Lea Gate. The revised plans received the Royal Assent on 13 July 1849.

The branch required substantial earthworks and structures. There were no watersheds to cross, nor tunnels to bore, but the 13-mile route climbed from 405ft to 905ft above sea level and involved three crossings of the South Tyne and viaducts over tributaries. Most structures were designed for double track and sturdily built of sandstone. Lambley (Grade II*) is particularly striking, but others at Burnstones, Knar Burn and Gilderdale Burn, and the ‘Alston Arches over the Tyne at Haltwhistle (each Grade II) are also worthy of note.

The gradient was almost continually uphill from Haltwhistle, including 1 in 70 for 1½ miles between Plenmeller and Featherstone Park; and 1 in 56, the steepest stretch, for a mile near Barhaugh, between Slaggyford and Alston. A mile-long cutting was needed between Haltwhistle and Featherstone Park.

Construction began in 1850 from both ends. In March 1851 Haltwhistle-Shaft Hill (Coanwood) opened for goods, and passengers in the following July. In January 1852 Alston-Lambley and the Brampton Railway opened, for goods only. When the magnificent Lambley Viaduct was complete (standing 110 ft above the River South Tyne) passenger and goods services

Unfortunately no sooner had the branch been completed that lead mining began a rapid and continuous decline. Depopulation accompanied this recession; the population in Alston, Garrigill, and Nenthead peaked at 6,815 in 1851 and fell almost continuously to only 1,909 in 1971. Some cheer was brought by limited development of coal and zinc mining.

In the late 1850s two weekday return passenger trains called at all stations. By 1863 there were three. Trains took a leisurely 40 minutes in each direction. The 1910 service increased to four, with an extra Saturday evening return trip, and a five-minute faster journey. Whilst Alston’s ‘twin’ branch to Allendale closed to passengers in 1930, Alston still had its 1910 frequency. In summer 1946 Alston enjoyed eight weekday return trains, the first departure at 5.41 am, but by summer 1954 there were seven on Saturdays and only five on weekdays.

Since the early days, the first advertised service of the day left Alston, where the branch locomotive was stabled. This practice continued until November 1959 when a 6:30 am departure from Haltwhistle was introduced, running non-stop (another novelty!) to Alston in thirty minutes, to form the 7:05 am departure (all stops) to Haltwhistle. British Rail censuses in 1970 found no passengers using the first Haltwhistle-Alston train of the day. By its final timetable there were six weekday and seven Saturday returns, taking 34 minutes from Haltwhistle to Alston, and 32 back to Haltwhistle.

The advertised passenger train service concealed interesting eccentricities. Plenmeller Halt, near Haltwhistle, at first served a colliery, then a Ministry of Supplies depot and finally a factory. Although omitted from public timetables, it possessed a platform for part of its life. Elsewhere unscheduled stops enabled passengers to join and leave trains. Trains regularly

Jenkins (The Alston Branch, 1991) assumes that motive power was provided in the mid-19th Century by former main line engines. Towards the end of that century Fletcher BTP 0-4-4Ts (classified as G6 by the LNER) were used, though in the NER period Worsdell Class A 2-4-2 Passenger Tanks were also employed. At first one engine was based at Alston. By 1900 there were two, one for passenger and the other for goods trains. Two elliptical-roof bogie coaches carried passengers in the early 20th Century, with a spare stabled at Alston. In the LNER period G5 0-4-4 and A8 4-6-2 tanks operated the passenger trains. Goods were hauled by J21 and J39 tender engines. The 1950s saw a variety of steam locomotives on the branch including ex-LMS 4MT 2-6-0 and 3MT 2-6-0’s. Passenger services were progressively taken over by dmus (generally Metro-Cammell Class 101) from autumn 1959, which operated until closure. However, German 56-seat railbuses were trialled on the branch in 1965. They gave a rough ride and were mechanically unreliable. Consequently they were not adopted, although they worked some East Anglian branches.

Towards closure - and beyond
The Alston Branch outlived many lines whose passenger carrying potential was greater. Blyth and Ashington, towns of some 30,000 people, lost their service in 1964; Featherstone Park, serving several hundred, survived until 1976. As a cost-cutting measure Featherstone Park and Slaggyford became unstaffed in 1954, and Coanwood in 1955. The first serious threat of closure to the branch was in 1959, but the NE Transport Users’ Consultative Committee reported that road services could not adequately replace trains, and closure was rejected. Severe weather in early 1963 disrupted road transport, yet trains continued between Haltwhistle and Alston, providing a ‘life-line’ for remote communities. Beeching (March 1963) noted that closure of the branch was already under consideration, but that summer Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport, announced that the service would continue; the sole criterion was hardship that closure would cause. Further economies were made. Alston’s trainshed was dismantled. Lambley, and Alston became unstaffed in 1966 and 1969 respectively. Goods services ceased in 1965, and in 1966 the ‘one engine in steam’ system began, allowing Coanwood, Lambley, and Alston signal boxes to close. Crossing gates at Featherstone Park and Coanwood were removed, trains giving way to road traffic. Most signals were dismantled, although some fixed distant semaphores were retained, set at caution; one was south of Featherstone Park. At Alston, for some time, a run-round facility remained.

By 1968 the pace of closures had slackened, and a ‘basic network’ of railways to be retained for passenger and freight in Britain was published. Alston was not included. Under Section 39 of the 1968 Transport Act the branch received a grant of £43,000 for 1969, but the Minister of Transport warned that aid could not be justified for more than two years. In

In its last months Alston was, belatedly, publicised by British Rail, who extolled the charms of the line, and offered trips by scheduled services from London. A ‘circular’ bargain-fare was available from King’s Cross and Euston, via Carlisle or Newcastle, to Alston. On the last day of service, Saturday 1 May 1976, some 5,000 passengers travelled on scheduled services on the branch, with yet more on special trains. The final train left Alston at 21:09 to the accompaniment of a lament played by two pipers, and the thunder of detonators. On 3 May 1976 rail services officially ended.

In January 1977 South Tynedale communities were isolated; roads were blocked by snow. This time the railway could not come to the rescue. The STRPS was committed to keeping the line in operation, but could not afford the purchase price of £160,000 asked by British Rail. BR would not permit the society operate trains on the branch to help raise money to buy the line. Track dismantling began in winter 1976-77. In March 1977 STRPS had the option to buy the last 1½ miles of track, from Gilderdale to Alston, for £40,800. Once again the price proved too high. Demolition continued, and all rails were lifted by June 1977.

Happily, this is not the end of the story. Cumbria County Council bought Alston station and the Cumbrian section of trackbed in 1979, enabling the station to be used as a tourist information centre. In 1983 the STRPS opened a 2ft gauge tourist railway at Alston, its trains hauled by Phoenix, a forty year-old 4-wheeled Hibberd 40hp diesel locomotive. The line was extended 1½ miles to Gilderdale Halt in 1986; a Light Railway Order was obtained in October 1987 for this section. A further ¼ mile to Kirkhaugh Halt opened in 1999. The South Tynedale Railway intends to reach Slaggyford, having obtained planning permission for this project in 1986, and ultimately Haltwhistle. Reinstatement of the branch has been aided by the English Tourist Board, the local authorities, and the Manpower Services Commission. Today the South Tyne Way footpath and cycleway follows the course of the Alston branch for much of its length.

In November 2009 a grant of £100,000 was awarded by Groundwork UK Community Spaces programme which will be used to fund the restoration of three historic bridges on the Alston line. Northumberland County Council’s west area committee also granted consent for a completely new station at Lintley which is scheduled to open in 2011. STRPS now have a lease

Stations
Available evidence suggests that the architect of the Alston branch stations was Benjamin Green, who also designed a series of handsome stations between Newcastle and Berwick, such as the surviving Acklington, Warkworth and Chathill (to which Alston station bears a strong resemblance). The intermediate station buildings at Featherstone Park, Lambley and Slaggyford, are described by Bill Fawcett as ‘economical and picturesque’ symmetrical two-storey houses distinguished by a steeply gabled projecting centre. (Coanwood’s station house was a later structure.) All were built of local stone. Until closure the rural charm of the stations was enhanced by their retention of elderly oil lanterns (with gas lighting at Alston). Whilst Alston retained its sturdy LNER wooden nameboard, still painted in BR(NE) tangerine, with raised white-painted metal letters, the other stations were (regrettably!) fitted with black-and-white ‘Corporate Identity’ nameboards following the line’s reprieve in 1963; these replaced wooden nameboards painted in a dark version of BR(NE) tangerine, the letters outlined but not in-filled – and almost illegible. In 1962-3 the name of Coanwood station was not displayed anywhere along the platform.

Although all of the intermediate stations were de-staffed by 1967, none of them had Halt added to their name, even though the suffix was applied widely by British Rail until 1968-9.

The North Eastern did not share other BR regions’ enthusiasm for the suffix: there were only five official public Halts in the Region. However the four intermediates were so named in an Eastern Region handbill of 1967. A sign near the entrance to Featherstone Park passengers that the station was an Unstaffed Halt, and the implications for ticket purchase. The other stations possibly carried such signs too. Tickets exist for each of the intermediate stations using Halt in their name.

Sources:

• The Alston branch by Stanley C Jenkins (Pub: Oakwood Press 1991 revised 2001)
• Railways in Northumberland by Alan Young (Pub: Martin Bairstow 2003) from which this article is adapted
  
• A history of North Eastern Railway architecture, Vol. 1: The Pioneers by Bill Fawcett (Pub: North Eastern Railway Association 2001)
• The railways of Northumberland and Newcastle upon Tyne by J A Wells (Pub: Powdene Publicity 1998)
• Private and untimetabled stations by Godfrey Croughton, R W Kidner and Alan Young (Pub: Oakwood Press 1982)
• Britain’s historic railway buildings by Gordon Biddle (Pub: Oxford University Press 2003)
• Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales: a chronology by M E Quick (Pub: Railway & Canal Historical Society 2002, Supplement 2003)
• Register of closed passenger stations and goods depots by C R Clinker (Pub: Avon-Anglia 1978)
  

Further reading: Eastern Main Lines - Hexham to Carlisle including the Alston and Brampton Branches by Roger Darsley. (Pub: Middleton Press 2006)

Other web sites: South Tynedale Railway. History, photographs, timetable and all the latest news of this popular line.

Tickets from Michael Stewart, route map drawn by Alan Young, timetable from John Bainbridge

To see other stations on the Alston branch click on the station name:
Plenmeller Halt, Park Village, Featherstone Park, Coanwood, Lambley, Burnstones, Slaggyford, Kirkhaugh (STRPS), Gilderdale Halt (STRPS) & Alston