The Border Counties Railway

[rogerfarnworth]

Part 1

At the end of August 2024, we visited Kielder Water Reservoir, passing through Bellingham on the way. We noticed a disused railway for which a good number of structures and embankments/cuttings remained in place.

This was the Border Counties Railway (BCR), a line connecting Hexham in Northumberland, with Riccarton Junction on the Waverley Route in Roxburghshire.

The BCR was also known as the North Tyne Railway as it ran beside the River North Tyne for much of its length.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/16/th ... hollerton/

The line between Kielder and Falstone is now under the waters of the Kielder Water Reservoir.

[glencairn]

HEXHAM TO RICCARTON JUNCTION
Part 1


Railway lines come and go. Not all off course, but those that do somehow have a charm and peaceful atmosphere about them. The reason of why they were built in the first place was often on misplaced ideas of getting vast minerals from the ground. Vast minerals that were unfortunately not there. The areas the lines covered were not through towns, but villages, hence poor passenger traffic. Passenger traffic that still had to be catered for. A single carriage train, maybe two carriages on Market Day or Saturday.

Let's take a journey along such a line; The Border Counties Railway Hexham to Riccarton Junction. Not that you can do these days but let's take a trip up the line anyway. The line was owned by the North British Railway (NBR) as a way to get to Newcastle. We'll choose the year 1934 for the journey. Really it doesn't make much difference the year, the journey rarely altered. One of the main differences in timeframes was the locomotives in charge up the line. Pre 1948 North British Railway locos were in charge, after 1948 London & North Eastern Railway locomotives ruled the route.

We arrive at Hexham Station. A typical double track through North Eastern Railway Station of a goods yard and coal yard. There is a siding for NBR passenger trains as they wait for their journey. A three carriage train is there; a Class D30 'Scott' locomotive number 499 'Wandering Willie' ready for the journey. 499 is a regular on the route, the driver and fireman know it well. We board the train and settle in a compartment. There is plenty of room as there are only a few passengers on board.

We depart on time, just after five; eight minute after five in the afternoon to be precise. It is not long before we see the River Tyne nearby on our right. Hexham West End is on higher ground on the left. At Waters' Meet we see the Rivers North Tyne and South Tyne meet. It is just before there we cross the river; a single track bridge. We are now on North British Railway metals. Almost immediately we pass Acomb Goods Yard. There is no station here, just a stone built goods building. In fact all the buildings along the line are built of Northumbrian stone. Though it is seventy years since the line closed the goods yard building is still in use as a private goods store.

It is a steady climb. The River North Tyne stays close on our left, hills to our right. Soon we arrive at Wall Station. Two people leave the train. They have a steep hill to walk out of the station to the village. Today the station is a private dwelling (as others are also). The owners have an old British Railway carriage smartly painted in BR maroon.

Onwards the train climbs and reaches Humshaugh Station. The station is actually in the small village of Chollerford; Humshaugh village is a mile further away. It is at this station we see the old Roman Military Road from Newcastle to Carlisle. The station building is now a private house, the platform and trackbed in pretty condition. Though the outside of the station house is noticeably of NBR design the inside is unrecognisable as a station building.

Passing old lime kilns and crossing a two arch bridge, Chollerton Station is reached. No more than a Halt there is very little to see. The station serves the local farming community, but has little traffic or passengers. Today Chollerton station looks like an overgrown garden centre.

Another station is reached very quickly. Barrasford has a few more people living there as a few work at the local quarry. Passing the quarry we see a narrow gauge railway working serving three quarries in the area. Today Barrasford Quarry is very busy. With no railway everything is transported by road.

Just past the quarry a new station, Gunnerton has opened. It is no more than a Halt like Chollerton. Passengers have a half mile walk to the village. Today the station did not remain open long, closing at the beginning of WW2. There are no remains of the station.

The journey to the next station is a little longer. The arrival to Wark Station is 'in the middle of nowhere'. I say middle; that is true. Two miles from Wark, two miles from Birtley Village and two miles from Chipchase Castle. Two platform passing station with a goods siding. A large station house completes the scene. On leaving the station any passengers could call into the Chipchase Arms Inn. Today the station house is a private one and is pleasantly looked after, still looking as a station house, albeit minus the track. The Chipchase Arms survived a few years after the railway closed. Patronage from Wark and Birtley keeping it open, but the 'don't drink and drive' law forced its closure.

All the while of the journey the River North Tyne was never far away, but after Wark the line headed towards the River Rede. Here we find Reedsmouth Junction. Yes, Reedsmouth Junction and not Redesmouth Junction as one would expect. Reedsmouth Junction is a goods yard with a line that bears left to Riccarton Junction and Scotland. The line to the right goes to Morpeth,

Glencairn

[glencairn]

HEXHAM TO RICCARTON JUNCTION

Part 2


Reedsmouth Junction is the size of a small village, yet here we find a small locomotive shed for two locomotives, a coaling stage and water tower. The goods yard deals with traffic to and from the three directions. Due to the track layout on a V locomotives from Scotland to Morpeth and vice versa had to run round their carriages or freight wagons to continue to their destination. Today the station house is a private dwelling, The platforms and water tower are still there and many railway enthusiasts visit; taking photographs etc.


The train from Morpeth to Hexham arrives. Two passengers from the train transfer to ours and we continue our journey. Minutes later we arrive at Bellingham North Tyne station. Prior to 1923 the station was called Bellingham. After 1923 North Tyne was added to the name, so as not to confuse with Bellingham in London. Bellingham is a small market town, easily the biggest place on the whole line. During any given day some trains start or finish their journey. Most people on our train get off, and others board. Today the station building is home to a small business. The Heritage Centre is in the old goods yard with two railway carriages providing lunches and afternoon teas.

Departing the town we see the River North Tyne on our left again. The scenery changes to open grassland. Sheep roam the land as we head towards Scotland. We pass Charlton Halt. It was built for the personal use of the Charlton family. It was they who put a lot of money to finance the line. The Halt sees little use as Reginald Charlton has bought a new automobile.

The village of Tarset is reached. Here we see a siding for goods deliveries. On the hillside is a small narrow gauge line used in the mining of coal. It is the 1930s the mining of coal is now coming to an end. Today Tarset is still a tiny village. With young people leaving how long will the village last? Thorneyburn Station; our next stop is rather similar to Tarset. Even in the 1930s there is very little work. Families are leaving to find jobs.

It is quarter past six. We are a minute early arriving at Falstone. A two platform station with a small goods yard. Trains can pass here, though freight trains are dwindling on the line. We see no passing train. Today Falstone is a pretty little village. Though the workers travel daily to elsewhere for work there is a certain charm to the area. It is still a lovely village to this day.

It was at Plashetts, our next stop, that was the main reason the line was originally built. Here was believed to be vast amounts of coal. Coal was found and narrow gauge railways were built to the mines to get the coal to the railways. By the 1930s the mines were exhausted of coal. Passenger traffic was the staple form of revenue on the line. Nowadays, Plashetts no longer exists being deep under Kielder Water. A dam was built just above Falstone to hold the water

Not long now before the end of our journey. Kielder, a small hamlet of a few houses and a castle. The new man-made forest caused the station to be renamed Kielder Forest. The trees were still young to save the railway in 1952. In the year 2001 there was talk of rebuilding the line from the Scottish Borders to Kielder to bring out the cut timber, but the line would be too costly. The wood is hauled on timber road wagons to this day. As an aside. Every year a Christmas tree is cut and sent by road to a port, loaded on a ship and sent to Oslo Norway.

Just before the Scottish Border is Deadwater. Very little is here. A station serving a few isolated farms. It is here we find the source of the River Tyne. The farms still remain; the railway long gone.

Crossing the border into Scotland we arrive at Saughtree. a station a mile from the village it serves. A villages of a few houses and a little store. On closure of the railway the store closed also. The few houses were abandoned and are just ruins on the landscape. The Station House is a private dwelling, the owner has rebuilt the line a couple of hundred yards and has his own private railway. It is at present up for sale. I believe the remoteness of the area is putting people off buying.

Whatever, that is in the future. Our train joins the main Edinburgh to Carlisle Waverley Line and slows into Riccarton Junction Station. We alight here after travelling The Border Counties Railway. Riccarton Junction, a station with no road in, no road out. Everything comes in and goes out by rail and I mean everything. Food, coal, household items, you name it it came by rail. Even a person who died left Riccarton by rail to be buried elsewhere.

Today there is no line to Carlisle let alone Hexham. The platforms are still there; unkempt and overgrown. A small band of volunteers are in the process of preserving and restoring the station. There is a road to the platforms.

Glencairn

[glencairn]

Ex-North British Railway locomotive 'Wandering Willie', just before arriving at Wark Station



Lunch or Afternoon Tea at Bellingham Heritage Centre Railway Carriages



Glencairn