No Sleep 'Til Spennymoor

My hometown (Bishop Auckland, in Co Durham) is an interesting place, and one of which I have many fond memories.

Among them was exploring the remains of the old railway station in the town centre, which in its heyday was a busy triangular station at the junction of no fewer than seven lines - most of which were originally built to serve the rather heavy coal traffic in the area.

Unfortunately, by the time that I was old enough to start exploring on my own in 1980 or so all bar the Bishop Auckland-Darlington and Bishop Auckland-Eastgate lines (the latter now the Weardale Railway) had been closed. In fact, the Weardale line only survived because of traffic from the cement works at Eastgate, and had it not done so I suspect the passenger service to Bishop Auckland would have been withdrawn as well.

By the beginning of the 80s the station was pretty dilapidated, and virtually nothing remained of the line to Durham (which closed to passenger traffic in 1964) through which mainline services used to be regularly diverted when engineering works were in progress on the East Coast Main Line. Nevertheless, I have fond memories of wandering around exploring what was left and taking pictures (which sadly I've managed to lose over the years. Oh well).

The following (July 1984) account from “Geoff’s Railway Pages” sums it up rather well:

I was not prepared for the shock I was to receive at Bishop Auckland. This was once a large, rambling triangular station with lots of glass and ironwork, a real railway station. Alas, the whole of the inner triangle buildings have been demolished, and the triangular platform was covered in willowherb and brambles. The train stopped at the only platform remaining in use, the former north – to - east platform for southbound Durham trains, which last ran in 1964. The guard on the DMU recalled seeing diverted ECML trains running through these platforms over 20 years ago. This was the only side of the triangle with separate platforms - the other two faces of the triangle were two-way - once a fairly common arrangement, even on double track line, in this part of the North East.

Bishop Auckland was quite a busy spot once, with lines also running to Barnard Castle, over the moors to Consett, to Ferryhill, and to Wearhead. The latter still remains in use, freight only, to the cement works at Eastgate.

The station was also the starting point for my travels to Darlington and beyond - I always remember the sense of adventure I felt sitting at the front of the circa-1950s Metro-Cammell DMU watching the driver as he guided the train onwards (those trains have a glass window at the front of the passenger compartment, so you can see into the cab and beyond). I swear I could almost drive one of those things even now from what I learned watching the driver through the window during those trips...

The fact that I could see out of the front of the train also meant that going through Shildon Tunnel was particularly memorable (and a little scary, at first!).

At the time I didn't have any idea how extensive the rail network in the area was (I knew about the lines to Eastgage and Durham, but not about the Spennymoor and Barnard Castle lines). As people do, I forgot about many childhood experiences as life drew me onwards. More recently, I've rediscovered an interest in some of the things I've since cast away; this blog is part of my attempt to revisit some of those experiences, and see where it leads me.

Footnote: There is some quite detailed and very interesting information on the old station at Bishop Auckland on the "Disused Stations" site:

• Durham Platforms


• Crook & Wearhead Platform