Introduction
Not sure why I didn’t post this explore from back in May 2015. Maybe I thought it didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor. Looking back now at the amount and quality of railway explores currently left in the UK has made me look at it in a slightly different light.
The report documents the most tangible remains of the former Penrith-Darlington railway around the Barnard Castle area. We were having a long Bank Holiday Weekend in Barnard Castle, so it seemed rude not to check these places out. All pretty relaxed explores and enough in their own right to merit a bit of a look-see.
1. Broomielaw Station and Signal Box
Not a vast amount to see here but the station is virtually intact, albeit in a very dilapidated condition. The platform is overgrown by vegetation and trees but the brick and timber station building and the canopy remain. The former covered stairway down from the road above has now long since gone though. The signal box is at the west end of the station along with a number of other small railway-related buildings, alongside the old siding to the north of the station. The station house on the road above the station is a private house. Here's the history.
Broomielaw was originally a private halt on the Darlington and Barnard Castle railway. It was opened on 8th July 1856. It was closed to passengers on 30th November 1964 by British Railways (North Eastern Region). Initially it served as private halt for the influential Bowes-Lyon family who lived in the nearby Streatham Castle. The halt had a single platform situated in a cutting on the up side of the line with the aforementioned covered stairway down from the road above. The halt was also used by children from the local village when catching excursion trains before the station was opened to the public during World War II on 9th June 1942. In 1950 timetable the station boasted seven trains each way. The trip to Darlington took approximately 40 minutes while the journey time to Barnard castle was a mere six minutes. The station had no freight facilities although it did have a siding on the north side of the line, controlled by a signal box to the west of the station. Broomielaw did handle parcels though right up until the final closure of the line on 5th April 1965, as a result of the Beeching railway closures.
Picture of the station and signal box taken on 8th May 1965, shortly after the line's closure:
The signal box is in a rather poor way:
As are the nearby railway-related huts:
As short distance West the platform of Broomielaw Halt appears:
As the undergrowth gives up its secret:
The platform canopy is still intact:
Which is quite amazing for a predominantly wooden structure:
And the odd bit of concrete:
And, of course, the platform itself:
2. The Percy Beck Viaduct
Lying on the section of the line west of Castle Barnard and just west of Castle Barnard itself is the viaduct over Percy Beck. Hidden amongst the trees of Flatts Woods in Barnard Castle, the trains for Stainmore and Middleton-in-Teesdale crossed it as they headed west out of the town's station. The station has been levelled and now plays host an industrial estate. The support pillars have insets that lighten their load. The viaduct was built in 1860, opened in a year later and was in use until the line’s closure in 1964. Flatts Wood is now trying to reclaim the viaduct which currently carries a road over the deep valley to a private farm. Back in 1968, four years after closure, it all looked very different:
In November 1994 the viaduct was awarded a Grade II listing. It is built of rock-faced sandstone with fire-brick arches. It is one of the few remaining bridges on this line.
Here are the pictures:
Not sure why I didn’t post this explore from back in May 2015. Maybe I thought it didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor. Looking back now at the amount and quality of railway explores currently left in the UK has made me look at it in a slightly different light.
The report documents the most tangible remains of the former Penrith-Darlington railway around the Barnard Castle area. We were having a long Bank Holiday Weekend in Barnard Castle, so it seemed rude not to check these places out. All pretty relaxed explores and enough in their own right to merit a bit of a look-see.
1. Broomielaw Station and Signal Box
Not a vast amount to see here but the station is virtually intact, albeit in a very dilapidated condition. The platform is overgrown by vegetation and trees but the brick and timber station building and the canopy remain. The former covered stairway down from the road above has now long since gone though. The signal box is at the west end of the station along with a number of other small railway-related buildings, alongside the old siding to the north of the station. The station house on the road above the station is a private house. Here's the history.
Broomielaw was originally a private halt on the Darlington and Barnard Castle railway. It was opened on 8th July 1856. It was closed to passengers on 30th November 1964 by British Railways (North Eastern Region). Initially it served as private halt for the influential Bowes-Lyon family who lived in the nearby Streatham Castle. The halt had a single platform situated in a cutting on the up side of the line with the aforementioned covered stairway down from the road above. The halt was also used by children from the local village when catching excursion trains before the station was opened to the public during World War II on 9th June 1942. In 1950 timetable the station boasted seven trains each way. The trip to Darlington took approximately 40 minutes while the journey time to Barnard castle was a mere six minutes. The station had no freight facilities although it did have a siding on the north side of the line, controlled by a signal box to the west of the station. Broomielaw did handle parcels though right up until the final closure of the line on 5th April 1965, as a result of the Beeching railway closures.
Picture of the station and signal box taken on 8th May 1965, shortly after the line's closure:
The signal box is in a rather poor way:
As are the nearby railway-related huts:
As short distance West the platform of Broomielaw Halt appears:
As the undergrowth gives up its secret:
The platform canopy is still intact:
Which is quite amazing for a predominantly wooden structure:
And the odd bit of concrete:
And, of course, the platform itself:
2. The Percy Beck Viaduct
Lying on the section of the line west of Castle Barnard and just west of Castle Barnard itself is the viaduct over Percy Beck. Hidden amongst the trees of Flatts Woods in Barnard Castle, the trains for Stainmore and Middleton-in-Teesdale crossed it as they headed west out of the town's station. The station has been levelled and now plays host an industrial estate. The support pillars have insets that lighten their load. The viaduct was built in 1860, opened in a year later and was in use until the line’s closure in 1964. Flatts Wood is now trying to reclaim the viaduct which currently carries a road over the deep valley to a private farm. Back in 1968, four years after closure, it all looked very different:
In November 1994 the viaduct was awarded a Grade II listing. It is built of rock-faced sandstone with fire-brick arches. It is one of the few remaining bridges on this line.
Here are the pictures:
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Can't beat a bit of railbex.
