c) the 3-bay glazed canopy overhanging the kerb - built to protect passengers alighting from horse-drawn carriages.

Then walk past:

the original wide double-door passengers’ entrance (2) at the centre of the building. the entrance (3) to the bookshop (formerly the Parcels’ Room).

the two outside station benches (4) cast from original patterns of the standard NER ‘serpent’ design, both benches having modern commemorative plaques. (These plaques introduce the use of poetry throughout the shop and culminate at its far end in a large mural illustrating lines from Tennyson.)

the cast-iron decorative barge boards (5) - the decorative edge of the canopy, as well as the decorative cast-iron spandrels (brackets).

The Walkabout

(Note that the map numbers in this commentary refer to the map below.)

Walkabout starting point:

Stand beside the curly path (1) leading up to the station and note the following:

a) the chevron design (a repeated theme) in the pavement, as well as the original iron railing encircling the former carriage entrance.

b) the graceful curves of the station roof. (Such was the attention to detail, that the sharpest curves use slates with a slightly-curved profile, so that if a modern flat slate is used in repair work, it immediately detracts.)

the station clock (6) - made by Potts of Leeds. Potts supplied clocks to all the new stations on the branch at a cost £12.10s.0d (£12.50) each.

the windows (7) – all made of solid oak to a very high standard, exemplified by the corner windows at the eastern end of the façade, where both frames and glass follow the building’s curve.
the Stationmasters’ Window (8) around the front left side of the building, with the stationmasters’ names dating from the opening of the new 1887 Station.

Finally, before you go back around and into the bookshop, look across the road at the 25m (83’) Tenantry Column topped by the Percy lion (note its characteristic straight tail), the story being that the Column was erected in 1816 by the Duke’s tenants in appreciation of his having lowered their rents during the depression caused by the Napoleonic Wars – with the Duke so impressed that his tenants were able to afford the Column that he raised their rents all over again!

continued below

routinely used by the ancestors of one of the bookshop’s owners – paddlewheelers on the Mississippi.

The alcove (11) to the right of the fireplace is now used for self-serve hot drinks and home-made cookies, but it once displayed rows of railway tickets.

Look up through the windows next to the alcove into the adjacent room for a good view of one of three murals commissioned by Barter Books. The Famous Writers Mural (12) was painted by Alnwick-born artist, Peter Dodd. This remarkable mural, finished in 2001, took almost two years to complete. It is 12m (40’) long with an apex of almost 5m (16’), and it consists of more than thirty life-size portraits of famous English language writers. (Both a detailed description and a postcard of the mural can be bought at the counter.)

Enter the bookshop:

You are now in what was the Parcels’ Room and Ticket Office. To the right is the old ticket window (9). Here the ticket clerk would issue tickets, his back warmed by the coal fire (10) on the opposite wall. Please note:

a) the cast iron mantelpiece with NER on the loose fender to deter theft! (The mantelpiece, itself, is plain, as it would not have been seen by passengers.)

b) the trumeau-style mirror above the fireplace commissioned by Barter Books. At its top is a reproduction of the famous 1860 lithograph by Currier & Ives showing another form of steam power popular in the 19th century and one

Go through the wide doorway (13) leading into the former station concourse (now the till room). Please note:

a) the doorway - built wide to accommodate parcel trolleys. (Note the wear on the door frame, itself, caused by porters over the decades just missing the opening with their trolleys.)

b) the concourse space - originally extending the full width of the building and now blocked off by a modern breezeblock wall to the far right.

c) the Little Train - whose run extends along the top of the poetry lines which connect the book columns. The train is to a scale of 1:22.5. (There are actually two separate tracks and the train on each track covers 2,250 real miles - about 50,000 scale miles - each year. Barring leaves on the track, they run all day every day.)