The Aln Valley Railway weekend was a small event from
a railway with big ambitions! The original Aln Valley railway ran from Alnwick
to Alnmouth, but was closed in the late 1960's. The track was removed, the
station in Alnwick became a book shop, and the A1 dual carriageway cut across
the old trackbed.
Thoughts of re-opening the branch line started in
1995 with the plan formerly launched in 1997. Due to the expense of bridge
construction to span the A1, a new site was chosen for a station on the South
East side of the road. The railway, station and all infrastructure would be
built from scratch, in a completely empty field. The station would run
parallel to the A1 road, before curving to the South East, joining the
original overgrown track bed. Construction began in 2012 and seven years
later, the railway has a station, goods yard, loco shed, workshops, signal box
and extends a little over half way to Alnmouth. They also have two steam locos
in operating condition, some diesels and a variety of other rolling stock.
This weekend was also our first attempt at full canvas
camping, in order to have the ability to do period camping at events where
modern plastic tents weren't appropriate. I've been using my 10 feet ridge
tent for several years, but for three people and all the stuff Lynne requires
to go camping, my one tent wasn't big enough to live and cook in.
We got a bright green, 12 feet ridge, scout tent some
time ago, which I painted with shed paint to tone it down to an olive drab. By
positioning the two tents end to end and spanning the gap with a fly sheet, we
got a central cooking and living area. Next time, we'll probably overlap the
joints more to create a better weather seal and may add a skirt at the back,
to keep the wind from blowing through.
There were only a hand full of vehicles at the show, a number of re-enactors,
some displays and the "Seatones" trio providing the live 1940's
music. On day one, in addition to my Jeep, there was one other Jeep, belonging
to a friend, a Dodge WC51 owned for only a couple of weeks by its new owner,
an MG sports car and a couple of vintage bikes.
The loco operating during the weekend, was the
1948 built Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0 Saddle Tank. It was modified with a lower
cab and coal bunker to operate from the Lambton coal drops at Sunderland. The
coaches in use were British Rail Mk1 types, in "Blood & Custard"
livery. They were built during the 1950's, the main era the railway is
focusing on. The vehicles were all parked beside platform 1 while the loco
shed had been partially cleared to allow a stage and dance floor to be built.
There's lots of other rolling stock and locos on
side, some of which are operational, some under restoration or awaiting their
turn. Several items are privately owned and kept on the railway.
The Home Guard group had a small display, but
frequently paraded around the site making
demonstrations.
On Saturday evening, I went for a wander around
the site to have a look at what other rolling stock was there, but out of
clear view of the normal public areas.
On Sunday, the MG didn't turn up but was
replaced by another classic. There was also an early Land Rover showed up,
along with a friend who brought his Dodge Weapon Carrier. The small trailer
fire tender that had been at Bowes the week before also showed up on Sunday.
Here's a few more pictures from wandering around
the site. The signal box is another new build structure.
A group from Blyth Battery built an air raid
shelter and allotment some time ago which made a nice addition to the 1940's
event. Despite a moderately cloudy forecast for part of the weekend, both days
saw decent periods of blue sky and sun enough to give a good tan!