Four stations

 

Starting and ending in Embleton, on today's ride I covered 18 miles. If I'd followed this route a century ago I would have ridden past four stations.

1. The first would have been Christon Bank Station. This lies just outside Embleton but for some reason was named after a nearby farm rather than the village. It opened in 1847 and closed in 1965. In addition to a limited volume of passenger traffic the station also carried whinstone from the nearby Embleton Quarry. The two were linked by a narrow gauge tramway. More details <here>.
2. The second would have been Fallodon which opened in 1847 and closed in 1934. Only a mile or so from Christon Bank, this was another complete station with two platforms, name boards and a station house. But it was never intended for the general public. They used Christon Bank Station. Fallodon was solely for the use of the Grey family, their guests and their servants. The Grey family also had a private station at Little Mill: four miles south, close to the other family seat at Howick Hall. At the time, the proprietor of Fallodon Hall was Sir George Grey, who was Home Secretary. The passage of the Newcastle & Berwick Railway Bill through Parliament was eased by providing him with a private station and the right to stop any public train. More details <here>.
3. The third was Chathill Station (pictured above). This opened in 1847. At the time there four passenger trains called every weekday in both directions. Now there are only two services each way on a weekday and none on Sunday. The station building is now a private house. It is listed, Grade-2, but the station is unstaffed and has no ticket facilities or other amenities.
4. From 1898 Chathill Station was the south-western terminus of the North Sunderland Railway. This was built to serve the harbour at Seahouses. The line was rarely profitable and a proposed extension to Bamburgh was never constructed. It was taken over by the LNER in 1939, and closed in 1951. Seahouses station was then demolished. The site where it stood is now the village car park and (importantly on a cold day) also houses the public toilets. For a view of how the North Sunderland line looked about 100 years ago (with its one loco and three coaches) see the Pathe film <here> and more information <here>.

We've had a lot of rain recently. Fields are flooded and ditches over-flowing. But the weather today was an improvement. Some mist, and a noticeable headwind on the return journey. No proper rain, patches of blue sky and even a little sunshine were very welcome.