Bellingham Parish Council | Bellingham Railway Station

Bellingham Railway Station

Bellingham Railway Station was one of the busiest on the 42 mile Border Counties Railway between Hexham and Riccarton Junction on Scotland’s Waverley Line in Roxburghshire.

The station was opened on 1 February 1861 by the North British Railway.

The station was situated near the eastern edge of Bellingham village with the roadside entrance on the north side of Redesmouth Road.

As well as passengers, the line carried livestock to local marts as well as other goods, including so much beer it was at one time known as the Beer Line! It also carried the seedlings from Aviemore to plant Kielder Forest.

It was originally known as Bellingham but the name was changed to Bellingham (North Tyne) by the LNER on 21st September 1926 to avoid confusion with the station in Lewisham.

The goods yard was opposite the platform and consisted of two sidings, the outer loop serving a goods dock which was served end on by a short siding from the loop. The yard had a three-ton crane.

The smart station building on an embankment had three storeys at the roadside and two on the platform.

The former goods shed stands on the platform and is in good condition. The 60 yard platform extension has been removed revealing the original ramp. A signal box and wooden parcel store completed the station buildings. The stone base of the signal box is now used as a store in the adjacent council depot.

Bellingham was planned to be the junction for the Wansbeck Railway but this ended up being at Reedsmouth instead. The platform on the down side was originally 100 yards, later extended to 160 yards.

The goods yard was opposite the platform and comprised two loops, the outer loop serving a goods dock which was also served end on by a short siding from the loop. The goods yard had a three ton crane.

The station closed to passengers on the 15th October 1956 although there were further passenger excursions until the station closed to goods traffic on 11th November 1963. Latterly Bellingham only saw passenger trains on Bellingham Show day - it had one train per year, or two if the weather was good!

After closure the station yard was used as a council depot. The yard was later split in two with the council depot retaining the east side while the North Tyne and Redesdale Community Partnership took over the remainder, including the station buildings and platform. Members of the Partnership have recently worked to restore the look of the remaining platform area of the station.

The station house is well maintained as offices. Immediately northwest, the Bellingham Heritage Centre stands on part of the old trackbed. The centre was relocated to the yard in 2000 and brought in two 1956 MkII coaches which sit proudly on the platform housing The Carriages Tearoom. The remainder of the site is a car park with a county council depot at the east end.

There is a fantastic display on Bellingham Station and the rest of the Border Counties, Wansbeck and Central Northumberland Railways at Bellingham Heritage Centre in the Station Yard.

Bellingham Station in 1925