The Skylight Room, with its skylight, is the room that David found, the ‘window’ in the corner marking where the sliding door had been.

The room had started out as the Station´s boiler room, one whose use most of us have never even heard of. The large boiler it originally housed was used to fill metal foot warmers (available to passengers for rent) as the carriages, especially in winter, could be freezing.

(While you´re in this room, do have a look at the facsimile copy of the North Eastern Railway´s tile map of 1903 showing their rail network - then the largest in the world.) The fern, to Mary´s grief, was cut down during an over-zealous cleaning job.

The original Buffet was soon enlarged to include the room just beyond it, now known as The Red Room.

This room was originally the 1st Class Gents´ Waiting Room. Its original mantelpiece has vanished; the present one was salvaged from Ilderton Station.

While you´re in this room, note the painting above the mantelpiece; it was painted by our mural artist, Alnwick-born Peter Dodd, and shows the arrival of the Prince and Princess of Wales in Alnwick Station in 1908.

The next room along, The Green Room, was originally the passageway between Platforms 1 and 2. (Note the beautiful Victorian hand-made glazed brick, which was also used in our Old Waiting Room - the latter intended for 3rd class passengers.)

The Blue Room was the former 1st Class Ladies´ Waiting Room. This room retains its original marble mantelpiece. The painting, again by Peter Dodd, is of the last top-hat stationmaster in Alnwick, John Patterson, with the station, itself, depicted on the upper left. Note, too, the black and white check Northumberland Tartan (or ‘Plaid’) used on the cushion covers. This tartan – a cloth woven with the wool of black and white sheep – is acknowledged as the oldest tartan of them all, thought to date back as far as late Roman times, the 4th c A.D.

The pitch pine seating in the booths is made up of pews salvaged from St George´s Church in Greenock, Scotland.

The Old Waiting Room, directly opposite the Children´s Room, was originally the 3rd class Waiting Room (2nd class was abolished in the 1880s). Like other locations throughout the shop, the original fittings have been preserved and/or restored as much as possible.

The Old Waiting Room, itself, has been earmarked exclusively for our customers´ use during the day (newspapers provided!). After hours, subject to prior arrangement, it is used for various civic events and shop functions.

While in the Old Waiting Room, note the following:

a) the beautiful original hand-made Victorian tiles, the original seating, the timber ceiling with the familiar chevron motif (repeated on the outside curly path and on the doors, etc.) and the fine original cast-iron NER fireplace with a medallion interweaving the NER initials.

b) The modern wrought iron hanging lamp, ‘Mythical Destinations’, commissioned by Barter Books from North East artist, William Pym. The theme of the lamp combines both the railway motif (note the tracks extending out from the central hub in a classic rose pattern), as well as a literary one (all the destinations are mythical). In the centre of the hub is the Latin phrase ‘Et in Arcadia ego’ or ‘I, too, am in Paradise’. (Well, we would have you believe it, anyway!)