Kirkby Stephen East railway station

Kirkby Stephen East railway station was situated on the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway (known as the Stainmore Line) between Barnard Castle and Tebay. It served the town of Kirkby Stephen in England and was a junction station for the Eden Valley Railway. The station re-opened to traffic as the base of the Stainmore Railway Company in August 2011. The new layout of the station consists of two platforms, one of which is partly covered by the remaining train shed roof, and a bay platform between them, situated in the opposite direction to the original station layout.

1. History

The station opened to passenger traffic on 8 August 1861 and closed on 22 January 1962. Despite its rural location, this was a busy station in its heyday. Starting in 1932, two expresses to Blackpool – one from Newcastle and the other from Darlington – both stopped at the station for about five minutes, before continuing towards Blackpool. The return trips also passed through later in the day. The station was also used by the Durham Miners special between 1932 and 1936.

1. = Stationmasters =

From 1932, the position of Station Master at Kirkby Stephen was amalgamated with that of locomotive superintendent.

1. Closure

The station closed to passengers in 1962, and was eventually repurposed as a bobbin mill. The bobbin factory subsequently closed in 1992, after the company had fallen into receivership. On the other side of the road bridge, the remaining yard space and goods shed was converted into a caravan park and campsite. The goods shed is still standing to this day.

1. Restoration

In 1996, a company called Stainmore Properties Ltd. was formed, with the intention to convert KSE into a heritage centre representing the early 1950s. Stainmore Properties Ltd. purchased the derelict remains of the station and 6.5 acres of surrounding land. In the year 2000, another company, Stainmore Railway Company, was formed to help with the restoration of the site. Since then, essential repairs have been made to the roof and station, a number of rooms have been restored and a short section of track has been laid along the formation of the old Eden Valley Line, with some sidings and yard infrastructure within the station area and surroundings.

August 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of the railway. To commemorate this occasion a series of events were held during 2011, leading up to 'Stainmore 150', a large gala, where Steve Davis, the then-head of the National Railway Museum, drove the first fare-paying passenger train from the station in over 50 years, hauled by ex. Kirkby Stephen locomotive BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0 no. 78019. In 2013 the Stainmore Railway Company began its first operating season, running Peckett and Sons 0-4-0 'F C Tingey' on selected weekends. In 2014 this was joined by Yorkshire Engine Company 'Stanton 50' which operates diesel hauled trains on some weekends when there is no steam service. In June 2017 it was announced that a joint Heritage Lottery Fund bid between the Stainmore Railway Company and the Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust, to restore both LNER J21 65033 and an ex. North Eastern Railway stores van, no. 5523, as an interpretation vehicle to travel with the locomotive, had been successful. As part of the joint bid, it was agreed that, once restoration is completed, the locomotive will be based at Kirkby Stephen East and become the project's flagship locomotive. As a result of this, work is currently underway to create a vastly more flexible track layout within the station yard, as well as building a new restoration shed and authentic locomotive watering facilities. Part of the new work means that a short stretch of the former South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway formation across Bridge 149 has been re-instated.

1. See also

Stainmore Railway Company Kirkby Stephen West railway station

1. References


1. External links

Stainmore Railway Company at Kirkby Stephen East

Nearby Places View Menu

Devil's Grinding Mill

The Devil's Grinding Mill, sometimes known as the Devil's Hole, is part of The Angel's Drainpipe, a partially collapsed cave system on the River Eden in England, which forms dramatic gorges and natural arches. It is south of Kirkby Stephen, within Stenkrith Park. The water moving with the caves and gorges produces an incessant roar. Geologically it is unusual as it has formed not in true limestone, but in brockram, a breccia of limestone fragments within sandstone. In 1828 it was visited by a travel writer who remembered it as follows (some of the details and spellings have changed or been misremembered by the author): At about three quarters of a mile east of Kirby Stephen, Westmoreland, is a bridge of solid rock, known by the name of Staincroft Bridge or Stonecroft Bridge, under which runs a small but fathomless rivulet. The water roars and gushes through the surrounding rocks and precipices with such violence, as almost to deafen the visitor. Three or four yards from the bridge is an immense abyss, where the waters “incessantly roar”, which goes by the name of Devil’s Hole; the tradition of which is, that two lovers were swallowed up in this frightful gulf. The neighbouring peasants tell a tale of one Deville, a lover, who, through revenge, plunged his fair mistress into these waters, and afterwards followed her. How far this story may get belief, I know not; but such they aver is the truth, while they mournfully lament the sad affair. They point out a small hole in the bank where you may hear the waters dashing with fury against the projecting rocks. This, some imagine to be the noise of infernal spirits, who have taken up their abode in this tremendous abyss; while others persist in their opinion, that the lover’s name was Deville, and that it retains his name to this day, in commemoration of the horrid deed.I have seen, and taken a view of the frightful place, which may rather be imagined than described. One part of the water was formerly so narrow, that a wager was laid by a gentleman that he could span it with the thumb and little finger, and which he would have accomplished, but his adversary, getting up in the night time, chipped a piece off the rock with a hammer, and thus won the wager. It is now, however, little more than from a foot and a half, to two feet broad, excepting at the falls and Devil’s Hole. The water runs into the Eden at the distance of about a mile or two from Staincroft Bridge. Trout are caught with the line and net in great quantities, and are particularly fine here.

Landmark

Wharton, Cumbria

Wharton is a civil parish near Kirkby Stephen in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It was historically part of Westmorland. It has a population of 31. As the population taken at the 2011 Census remained less than 100 details are included in the parish of Mallerstang. Wharton was historically a township in the ancient parish of Kirkby Stephen. It became a separate civil parish in 1866. It became part of Cumbria in 1974, and since 2016 has fallen within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The parish has a Grade 1 listed house called Wharton Hall and a castle called Lammerside Castle. Kirkby Stephen railway station is within the northern boundary of the parish.

Castle Landmark

Nateby, Cumbria

Nateby is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The parish had a population of 110 in 2001, increasing to 120 at the 2011 Census. The village is situated about 1.5 miles (2 km) south of Kirkby Stephen and 15 miles (24 km) north west of Hawes. Historically part of Westmorland, it lies 3 miles (5 km) from the border of North Yorkshire. Since 2016 the village has been on the northern boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Nearby are the Nine Standards Rigg hills. The village contains a popular country pub, The Black Bull Inn, a garage/petrol station and a small metal-yard.

Neighbourhood Park

Kirkby Stephen railway station

Kirkby Stephen is a railway station in Cumbria, England, on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between Carlisle and Leeds via Settle. The station is situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of the market town of Kirkby Stephen, just within the civil parish of Wharton, and also serves the nearby villages of Newbiggin-on-Lune and Ravenstonedale. It lies 41 miles 35 chains (66.7 km) south of Carlisle, and is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Train