to have worked in this station from its beginning in 1850 to its closure in 1968. (The names in red are those of the Stationmasters.) The coats-ofarms belong to the three railway companies that operated Alnwick Station during its railway years: the North Eastern Railway, 1850-1923; the London & North Eastern Railway, 1923-1948; and British Railways, 1948-1968. (A postcard-size facsimile of this mural can be bought at the counter.)

e) the ‘Tennyson Installation’ opposite the Railway Mural. This third mural was made with fluorescent tubes and commissioned by Barter Books in 2006. It was inspired by a work of artist Mark Handforth, which was reinterpreted for us by Alnwick’s nationally-known artist, Colin Rose. Like the hanging lamp in the Old Waiting Room, the installation combines both the literary and railway connection to the station. The first, in that it illustrates the beginning lines of one of Britain’s best-loved poems (Tennyson’s ‘Crossing the Bar’) and the second (admittedly less obvious!) in that it serves as a reminder that the very last steam locomotive to visit Alnwick Station was in the class of ‘Evening Star’.

The Walkabout (continued)

b) between the platform edge and the outside wall were two tracks and sets of points arranged so that when a train arrived at the platform, the steam engine could be uncoupled from the carriages and run past them to the turntable. The engine would then be turned to face the other direction, take on water for the boiler, and then run back to be coupled to the other end of the coaches for the return journey. (See diagram overleaf.)

c) the clerestory roof, which sheltered both the train and the passengers on the platform. (The clerestory is the raised bit in the centre of the roof.) This clerestory had long narrow ventilation ports in the sides (still visible but now blocked off ) to let the smoke and steam from the engines escape.

d) the Railway Mural beneath the roof at the front end of the Main Hall, a mural commissioned by Barter Books in 2005. This mural is a reminder that the railway system actually began here in the North East and spread, with incalculable effect, around the world. It also commemorates all the men and women known

Walk up the right aisle towards the back of the shop:

Note the Water Font (24) cut by the mason from a single block of stone (you can still see the mason’s chisel marks), with the original recessed tile back including the words ‘Filtered Water’, as well as two brass cups (replicas) attached by a chain to the wall (brass had some value!). At the time the Station was built, people weren’t aware of germs and so didn’t mind drinking communally out of the same cup. The provision of filtered water was a marvel at the time. According to the Newcastle Daily Leader, it was ‘a boon for which Newcastle visitors at the Central Station may sigh in vain. True it is, and of verity, that to purvey filtered water free of charge… might bring about an exodus of the city’.

Walk into the passageway leading to the former 1st class Waiting Rooms:

On the passageway walls, note the original period timetables (25). (See browser for more detailed information.) Then turn left into the present History/Topography Room:

continued below

Walk out of the 1st class Gents’ Waiting Room and cross over the passageway into the present Over-Size Books room:

You are now in the former 1st class Ladies’ Waiting Room (27). Please note:

a) Above the original marble mantelpiece is a third work commissioned by Barter Books from Peter Dodd. This one is a haunting portrait of Alnwick’s top-hat Stationmaster, John Patterson. (The fact that Alnwick Station had a top-hat Stationmaster at all was evidence of its high status.) The portrait also depicts such features along the Alnmouth-Alnwick branchline as Cawledge burn, Cawledge viaduct, and Alnwick Station, itself, as seen from the south.

b) If you have time, take a seat and listen to segments from the double CD, ‘Rail Tales and Station Stories’, made for Barter Books in 2005 by Colin Heathcote. This nostalgic CD, on sale at the counter, features interviews with men and women who had been personally connected to railway life at Alnwick Station before its closure and captures their experience.

You are now in what was the 1st class Gents’ Waiting Room (26). Please note:

a) the cast-iron mantelpiece is not the original (whereabouts unknown) but came from Ilderton Station (on the Alnwick-Coldstream branch) and was rescued from an architectural salvage shop in Wooler.

b) Above the fireplace is the second of our works commissioned from Peter Dodd, painter of the Famous Writers mural. This 2005 painting – The Arrival of the Prince and Princess of Wales – depicts one of the station’s most glamorous events and is based on a newspaper photograph showing the future King George the Vth and Queen Mary at Alnwick Station on June 29th, 1908. Among those shown greeting the royal couple are the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, the Lord Lieutenant, the Captain of the Alnwick Fire Brigade (in a very striking Roman-style helmet), and a glimpse at the more than one hundred members of the Northumberland Fusiliers present on the day. (And, yes, they really did put down that huge red carpet!) As for the royal coaches depicted in the painting, you can see them on display at the National Railway Museum in York.

c) Also, before you leave this room, do have a look into the old 1st class lavatory (28) – the one room in the building that hasn’t lost its original purpose! And note that you can still see on the cubicle doors where the famous lock was mounted which required a penny to open the door - hence the euphemism, ‘to spend a penny’.

Before the end of the tour, walk back out of the 1st class Ladies’ Room into the passageway, and then turn right to the green double doors at the end of the Main Hall (29). Looking through the glass sections of the door marked ‘Private’, you can get an idea of just how long the station is.

Well, that’s it, the end of the tour. We hope you’ve enjoyed it. For now, however, all you have left to do is look around you once more at this marvellous old building, consider all that she has seen, wish her well, and unless you decide to linger awhile longer (and we hope you will), follow the steps (30) and go waltzing out…