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History - Part III : “Maybe”

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The Haggerleases Light Railway

We finished Part II by discovering that in the forty odd years since the Haggerleases branch closed, there is nothing to show that it had ever existed other than the famous 'skew' bridge across the river, the remains of a once impressive viaduct, and a few suspiciously straight and level paths.

But let's exercise a little imagination and suppose, just perhaps, a couple of happy coincidences...

First of all, there was young Ned Pease, great-great-great-grandson of Edward Pease, fresh from a geology and mining degree at Durham University and looking for adventure - and minerals. These he found in the form of... well, we're not actually going to tell you what! Whatever it is, it's valuable, abundant, and previously unrecognized. And Ned found it in the old workings on Cockfield Fell; more-or-less on his own doorstep.

Red Alligator

Red Alligator was the first winner of the Grand National from the North East. Owned by a butcher, Jack Manners, and trained by Denys Smith of Bishop Auckland, Red Alligator romped home with a twenty length lead in 1968. Brian Fletcher was the jockey. He went on to further victories with Red Rum in 1973 and 1974. (Red Marauder from Brancepeth was the second winner for the North East, in 2001.)

The Red Alligator pub in South Church, Bishop Auckland (next to St Andrew's church, where I was married!) celebrates the win.

Then there was Mr Tom Bolt, local businessman, well known transport author and with enthusiasm for, and contacts in, the railway perseveration game. Well, there wasn't much to preserve in the Gaunless valley, but when Tom met Ned in the newly renamed “Red Alligator” at South Church, they realized they had a common interest. The rest, as they say, is history, and the Haggerleases Light Railway (HLR) was born.

A new company was soon created (the Haggerleases Railway Co) with Tom and Ned as the directors. With a lot of enthusiastic support, and financial input, from the community who saw the advantages of new employment and a local tourist attraction, a start was made rebuilding the railway on the old trackbed of the Haggerleases branch. Because Tom had something of a passion for narrow gauge (as well as the fact that it would save a few bob†), the line was rebuilt to 2 ft gauge. From the very beginning, they were fortunate enough to be able to acquire a small steam loco; an 0-4-0ST from a company called Roundhouse, down south in Doncaster - and the loco soon acquired a name, Tin-Tacks. (Timothy Hackworth had developed many of the railways from his base in Shildon; and, as it turned out, both Ned and Tom had been to the Timothy Hackworth Primary School there (though Tom, some years before Ned!), which both knew by its nick-name, 'Tin-Tacks'...)

The railway was reopened in stages over the next few years and now runs all the way from Butterknowle to St Helens. There's a short branch off to the New Vavasours workings on Cockfield Fell so that Ned's ore can be carried down to St Helens, and the line has a thriving tourist trade in the summer (especially popular with visitors to nearby Raby Castle). It is also a valuable means of transport for the local community all year round, both for themselves and for various mixed goods - in fact, just like a typical branch line of old.

† For those of you a little too young to remember £-s-d (i.e. pre-1970) a ‘bob’ is a shilling (written 1/-); 20/- = £1.

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A sweet discovery!

One day, a few years later, Ned found himself doing the 'tourist thing', and havinga a day out at Raby Castle. There, he saw for himself Raby's flourishing sideline: the treacle† mine. The Raby Treacle Mining Company (RTMC) had been set up some while previously to exploit the rich treacle-bearing seams below the estate. Treacle mines were common in England at one time, but cheap cane imports did for most of them. Nevertheless, amongst aficionados, the mined variety is far superior, and the RTMC was enjoying an international clientele with its particularly fine product. Much of this export it shipped out by rail, using the conveniently located Gaunless & Winston Railway‡ (GWR).

The GWR starts at Winston on the Bishop Auckland to Barnard Castle line and heads in a generally northerly direction towards the Gaunless valley - the exact route is best (only?) known to it proprietor! - but it does pass very close to the Raby estate and the RTMC.

† There is a little confusion in some quarters over nomenclature. We are referring here to what some know as 'black treacle', others as 'molasses'. We don't mean that light, golden syrup stuff!

‡ The GWR, renowned “Transporters of Treacle for the Gentry”, is a product of the fertile immagination of Charlie Wilson, its proprietor and General Manager, to whom I should express every apology for this travesty of his own version of history.

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A little bit of reality

With a little bit of imagination it is quite easy to picture a preserved (or rather 'recreated') line from Butterknowle to St Helens - or even all the way to Shildon's new ‘Railway Village’ and the Timothy Hackworth Museum, if you're feeling very ambitious. And with a good dose of makebelieve on top, a rebuilt line to join up with the GWR is even possible. But in reality, the prospect is pretty unlikely.

From Tom's perspective, neither the local population nor any potential summer tourists are likely to provide enough revenue to keep such a venture financially viable - but there is that valuable, abundant, and not-quite-identifiable mineral... However, from Ned's point of view, no one has yet found any such thing on Cockfield Fell since the coal was exhaused. Even if they had, most of the Fell is officially listed as an 'Ancient Monument' - by far the largest in County Durham - and getting permission to start digging it up again is not very probable.

And as for that treacle at Raby! Well of course we all know that treacle mines do exist in varous places, but none has yet been found at Raby as far as I know. But even if it were, it would take more than a barrel or two of treacle to justify rebuilding the Gaunless viaduct, not to mention the cost of the rest of the line down to Raby. And if you look at the number of contour lines you'd have to cross to get there, the Gaunless viaduct probably wouldn't be the only civil engineering required! So the HLR is really a non-starter. Well never mind. Who cares? Imagination certainly doesn't.

But the ‘fictional reality’ is that the HLR truly does exist; to a scale of 1:19 (16mm to 1ft) in a Hampshire garden. And, yes, it does start from a small station named Butterknowle and progress to its final terminus at St Helens. The line's chief motive power from the beginning was Tin-Tacks, a 20 ton (well, scale 3kg!) 0-4-0ST from Roundhouse Engineering of Doncaster.

Funny though, my wife went to ‘Tin-Tacks’ school too, but she doesn't remember ever meeting Tom Bolt there. Or Ned Pease for that matter... But then, she's probably far too young!