T HE irony is that while the Hexham and Allendale Railway line closed because it failed to attract enough custom, the Victorian heritage it left behind is a powerful magnet for tourists today.

The branch line, built ostensibly to transport the lead mined on the moors around Allendale to a junction on the main Newcastle to Carlisle route, opened to mineral and goods traffic in 1867 and then to passengers in 1869.

However, the viability of the line had been questioned from the very beginning.

The subscriptions put up by the owner of the Beaumont Lead Company, Wentworth Blackett Beaumont, and Greenwich Hospital Estates, which traded under the name of the London Lead Company with its lead smelting plant at Langley, had not been matched by much in the way of public support.

This difficulty in raising the capital persuaded the Hexham and Allendale Railway to abandon plans to go as far as Allenheads and instead stop short, a mile outside of Allendale.

The Courant carried a report of the first run with passengers: “The journey was a pleasant one, the weather being extremely fine, old Sol shining in all his refulgence.

“The inhabitants of the district testified their joy at the auspicious event in a befitting manner... and at Langley Station the rejoicings were very demonstrative.

“Cheer after cheer was heartily given, and the Langley Band struck up a most enlivening air.”

But even as passengers began using the twice daily service – there were three trains on a Tuesday, market day in Hexham – the very populations they came from were dwindling rapidly.

The price of lead had slumped which, besides producing less revenue for the railway, also triggered the melting of the mining communities themselves.

People began to seep away. The population of Allendale dropped by a thousand between 1861 and 1871 and by the census of 1881, it was down the same again to just over 4,000.

Things went from bad to worse with the wholesale collapse of the lead industry, the closure of most of the mines along with the Allendale and Langley smelters, and the complete loss of heart by Wentworth Beaumont et al.

They sold the line to the North Eastern Railway company. Although the passenger service was withdrawn in 1930, the goods element limped on for another 20 years until it, too, hit the buffers.

But the story continued with the four stations left behind and the new lease of life they were each given. Elrington Halt served the population above Haydon Bridge. The least used station on the Hexham to Allendale line – in 1911 it issued an average of three tickets a day – the building was turned into a private house.

However the stations at Langley, Staward and Allendale have lived to serve visitors in an entirely different way.

Langley Station

The woodland garden and hospitality on offer at the Garden Station in Langley were already well known by the time passionate plants woman Jill Gregg and her daughter Phillipa Talbot, a dab hand at cooking, baking and crafts, took it over in 2011.

The old flue bridge, which carried the flue from Stublick Chimney over the train track, still stands at the eastern end of the garden.

And the quaint Victorian waiting room, sat foursquare on the old platform, now plays host to the most charming of weddings and special events.

Phillipa said: “As far as I’m aware, there are no other buildings quite like it running as a wedding business. The history of the place is fabulous and it’s just such a magical spot.

“We have a lot of people who are fanatical about the old railways and come to see what’s here.

“We’re lucky in these parts to have so many of the original railway buildings around, but to actually have access to one built in the 1860s is quite special.”

The ticket office at Langley doubled as the village post office right up until 2000 and the last person to run it as such, Jane Torday, was also the one who created the garden.

Now a host of hosta, hellebore, heuchera, euphorbia, foxgloves, primula and much much more flourish where once the railroad ran.

Staward Station

It took Deb and Steve Humble two years to renovate Staward Station and turn it into the top notch accommodation it offers today.

The next stop on from Langley, its 160-year-old waiting room is now a bijou bolt-hole for two and the old station master’s house next door is the family home.

The Waiting Room has been awarded a ‘4 star gold’ rating by Visit Britain every year since it opened in 2006.

The sense of history is further bolstered by what Deb calls their ‘super shed’. It is lined with some of the old railway sleepers and houses the collection of objects dug up in their garden that includes old bottles, freight tags and milk churns.

“The railway heritage is definitely a draw, without a doubt,” said Deb.

“Our guests often visit the South Tynedale Railway and like to go for a walk along the Lambley viaduct.

“From a general point of view, though, we get people who simply like something that’s a little bit different to the average barn conversion.

“We get a lot of honeymooners – my Twitter handle is @specialhutfor2 – and quite a few brides who are getting married at the Garden Station further along the track.

“We had two brides last year who are coming back for their first wedding anniversaries this year; we’ve had a handful come down after their ceremonies at Gretna Green and one couple where we were the only ones who knew they had got married.

“We’ve also had a baby, a little girl, made in The Waiting Room and then brought back for her first holiday.”

Deb is also friends with the granddaughter of the last stationmaster of Staward. Dee Phillips lives in Nenthead and her father and aunty were both born in the stationmaster’s house, in what is now Deb and Steve’s bedroom.

Allendale Station

When the railway line finally closed in 1950, the last stationmaster at Allendale, Tom Douglas, bought part of the site and turned it into what it has been ever since – Allendale Caravan Park. He ran it himself until the 1980s.

The current owners, Mike and Verona Woodhouse, took it over at the end of 2003 after moving up from the Midlands.

The rural idyll offered the freedom of self-employment and the perfect location in which to bring up their two children, not to mention the very welcome change from their office-bound jobs in industry.

The park, which has long been holder of a David Bellamy gold award for conservation, boasts a four-bed self-catering flat in the stationmaster’s house - as well as some very loyal mobile home owners indeed.

As Verona puts it: “Some of them have real history!

“Some came here as children on holiday and now they are bringing their grandchildren with them.

“One lady whose parents have a caravan here was first brought along when she was four weeks old and now she’s expecting her own baby in the summer.

“The important thing is our caravan owners do their shopping in Allendale and use the local services, which means they are putting their money into this area. They are contributing to the local economy.”