TWINS from Wylam whose lives have been influenced by the local railways have spoken of their memories on the 50th anniversary of the closure of the town’s northern railway line.

Hazel and Graham Heaney (71) from Wylam spent the first two years of their lives living with their mother and father at what were known as the Station Cottages, which backed on to the South Wylam Station.

After reading that this month marked 50 years since the North Wylam loop was closed, they decided to share some memories of the the village’s railway history at the remaining South Wylam Station.

Now, those standing on the north platform at South Wylam Station would only be able to see a few remaining walls from the cottages.

Hazel and Graham’s parents decided to move away from the cottages when they were just two years old, when new council houses were being built in the village.

“My mum and dad were quite happy in the Railway Cottage, but it was dangerous for young children,” explained Hazel.

The pair said there had been four cottages, separated from the railway line by only a narrow path a few yards wide and a metal fence.

They recalled some of the memories their parents had of the houses.

“There were steam trains at the time, and when they were going through, they used to shake the buildings,” explained Graham. “You’d never see anything like it now.”

Hazel added: “If you were in the toilet attached to the downstairs outer wall, you really felt as if the train was coming for you.”

Their father Robert ‘Jimmy’ Heaney, worked as a ganger on the south railway line, where he would walk the line every other day to check everything was in working order.

He received a gold watch to thank him for 35 years’ service in 1975, and retired a few years later aged 64.

His father’s dedication to the railways prompted Graham to get a job as a railwayporter at Scotswood after leaving school at the age of 15.

A few years later, he left to get a job at Close House, where a new golf course was being constructed.

“I will never forget my time on the railways,” he said. “It was smashing.”

Hazel and Graham are keen to inform the younger generation about the cottages and the living conditions there, including no electricity, no gas and no hot running water, so the memories can live on.

“We are 71 now and I don’t know how long I have got to live,” Hazel explained. “This is history and I want it passed on before I go. There’s not many people left to remember the cottages.”