THE BEECHING YEARS 

Polite Notice: All text/photographs © David Hey's collection. Reproduction prohibited

From the perspective of our modern world, the memories I have of post-war Britain convince me that I

 
must be much older, since many of the things I remember as a child have either been consigned to the scrapheap or found their way into railway museums. When people hark back to the Fifties, they recall how plain and ordinary it all seemed, for the world appeared to have stood still since before a war that grown-ups still talked about the as if it had ended the day before yesterday. There is a huge generation gap between those who remember the war and those who didn't, and the same can be said for the youngsters who were born in steam days and the next generation who found themselves caught up in the enervating years of dieselisation that followed.

(Below) A remarkable survivor of the 19th century railway builders is the magnificent Smardale Viaduct, situated three miles west of Kirby Stephen on the former Stainmore route between Tebay and Bishop Aukland. After closure of the route in 1962, the once-dilapidated 553ft-long viaduct now carries a footpath and nature trail 90ft above Scardale Beck in one of the Pennine’s loveliest beauty spots. Indeed, unlike most contemporary bridges spanning our motorways, the graceful lines of the viaduct actually enhance the landscape - not spoil it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly I missed the 'Big Four' railway companies that were amalgamated to form the new British Railways in 1948. By the time I began train spotting in 1950 BR had done away with the LNER's Apple Green livery, the LMSR's Maroon, the Southern Railway's Malachite Green, together with the various railway companies crests and heraldic devices from coaching stock and station buildings. Even the smallest items such as cups and saucers bearing a company's logo were deemed ineligible. Then, in 1961, Dr Richard Beeching was appointed BR Chairman and our railways would never be the same again. His penchant for back-door manoeuvrings and theoretical accountancy (a lot of closure notices were based on doctored figures) led to the then Transport Minister, Ernest Marples, axing the rail network to a shadow of its former self.

(Right-Below) THE VANISHED SCENE: After the acquisition of the former 'Big Four' railway companies, the newly-formed British Railways quickly eradicated all signs of previous ownership by painting out the names of the former railway companies from public notices and station signs. An example can be seen on this Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway public notice at Halifax in May 1961. In the background, a new 3-car Calder Valley dmu approaches the station with a Bradford-Penistone train. Fast-forward 20-odd years and evidence of post-Beeching rationalisation can be seen in this 1980s shot of a Calderdale dmu departing from Halifax on the Manchester-Leeds service. Photos © D Green, D Hey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if only that had been the end of the matter - but it wasn't! Listed Building Status came too late to prevent the British Rail Board (BRB) making wholesale changes to the railway landscape and many fine examples of 19th Century railway architecture ended up vanishing without trace. In pre-grouping days (pre-1923) railway companies built their stations on a grand scale, even on lightly-used branch lines. Many stations had magnificent frontages, ornate stonework and elegant wrought iron columns supporting glass canopies, emblazoned with insignias, heraldic shields and coats of arms from pre-grouping days. And what do we have in place nowadays? Passengers are offered basic bus stop-style shelters and 'bum-freezing' metal seating (potentially fatal for haemorrhoid sufferers) and if you want a hot drink, it is served in a polystyrene cup along with a plastic stick for a spoon! Surely I am not the only one who deplores this wishy-washy modernism? 

NORTH YORKSHIRE CASUALTIES 

During the Sixties, train spotters watched in open-mouthed astonishment as the mindless excesses of the Beeching era slashed the rail network to a fraction of its former self. Fair enough - competition from road haulage was hitting the rail freight business hard, and as the freedom of the open road beckoned, more and more families were turning their backs on public transport and buying their first car. In 1961, when Dr Richard Beeching became the new Chairman of British Railways, he had one purpose in mind - to make our railways pay - hence he wasted no time in axing the least-profitable lines. But what did it all mean? What was achieved by his orgy of cutbacks? Because it had absolutely nothing to do with the needs of rail travellers, and unlike our European counterparts, it gave little concession for providing a public service.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above-Below) In pre-Grouping days (pre-1923) our railway network was anything but integrated, with several towns and cities served by duplicated routes. When Beeching became BR Chairman, many sizeable towns were removed from the railway map altogether, which included the Cathedral city of Ripon between Harrogate and Northallerton in North Yorkshire. Following completion of four tracks on the ECML between York and Northallerton, serious doubts were raised about the Ripon line as a through route when the majority of trains that used the line were re-routed via York. In 1967, all trains between Harrogate and Northallerton were withdrawn and the track lifted soon after. Here, Class B1 No 61353 heads a southbound train past Ripon signal box.  (Below) Back in the Sixties, both the Beeching cuts and  the demise of steam overshadowed everything, but worse things were happening in the rest of the world, such as the Cold War and the building of the Berlin Wall. On the very same day the German city was divided, I was taking photographs of a Derby Class 108 3-car set arriving at the North Yorkshire terminus at Richmond on August 13th 1961. Blimey! When I think of the puny concerns I had over the camera’s optimum 'f' stops and shutter speeds, it pales into insignificance compared to the injustices going on in the rest of the world. Although the former NER branch to Richmond was closed by Beeching in March 1969, the train shed has remarkably survived thanks to the efforts of the Richmond Station Preservation Trust. Photos © A Ramsden collection, D Hey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above) In spite of the hardship the closures brought, it could be argued that some drastic action was needed to halt BRs plummeting finances. If one accepts the figures quoted for the basic maintenance of some branch lines – £77 per mile each week, plus the cost of steam operation at £168 per mile each week – then BR made a very plausible case for closure and it is surprising that some branch lines stayed open for as long as they did. One example was the Pateley Bridge branch in North Yorkshire. BR could hardly justify the retention of the line which lost its passenger service in March 1951 but remained open for goods traffic until October 1964. It is unlikely that the revenue earned from the goods collected by Class K1 No 62038 for the return trip to Starbeck in June 1963 would  have covered the crew's wages. 

(Below) This scene of Middleton-in Teesdale is typical of a country branch line terminus; ash trackbed, bullhead rail, cattle dock, point rodding and run-round loop - a legacy of steam days when NER A8 Class 4-6-2Ts dominated the service. Here, a 3-car Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co dmu (later TOPS Class 104) awaits departure from the terminus on the Barnard Castle and Darlington service in June 1960. Prior to closure on 30th November 1964, the  Middleton-in-Teesdale branch diverged from the Penrith-Darlington line that ran via Kirby Stephen and Stainmore Summit across the Pennines (see Belah Viaduct photo below). Photos © D Hey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above-Below) The Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby lies deep within ex-North Eastern Railway territory, but of the four routes that converged on the resort, only the Esk Valley line survives. The Whitby-Loftus line was closed in 1958, followed seven years later with the withdrawal of the scenic coastal route to Scarborough and the line to York via Pickering, both victims of the Beeching cuts in March 1965. The old steam shed was situated in a picturesque setting overlooking the harbour. Here, Class A8 4-6-2T No 69864, Class J27 0-6-0 No 65847, D49/2 No 62742 The Braes of Derwent and Standard 2-6-4T No 80116 await their next turn of duty. (Below) Following closure of the steam shed at Whitby, Standard Class 2-6-4T No 80116 was transferred to Neville Hill, joining sister engines Nos 80117-20 for duties in the West Riding. The loco is working bunker-first on the 12.30 (SO) Harrogate-Leeds via Wetherby from Collingham Bridge on January 31st 1959. No fewer than 15 members of the class have been rescued for preservation. Photos © D Hey-EA Wood collection, M Mitchell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above-Below) Local passenger services between Leeds-Wetherby-Harrogate, and Wetherby and Church fenton were withdrawn on January 6th 1964, involving closure of eleven intermediate stations. It was the first line in Yorkshire to fall victim to the Beeching Plan published the previous year. Due to the fierce gradients over the route, the heaviest loads required a pilot engine, and Class B16/1 No 61442 assists WD No 90435 on the 1-in-70 climb to the summit beyond Scholes between Leeds and Wetherby with a Neville Hill-Teeside freight in December 1957. Less than six months before closure, York’s Class V2 No 60856 (Below) heads the 11.25 (SO) Newcastle-Llandudno past the decaying platforms at Bardsey in July 1963. Both photos  © M Mitchell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The huge number of closures was political folly of the worst kind, yet this epidemic of mismanagement still goes on today as successive Governments seek only to find 'quick-fix' solutions, rather than long-term ones. The anti--rail lobby among Whitehall bureaucrats has seldom been more ruthlessly exposed than in their treatment of British Railways after it came into public ownership in 1948 - and, in case you’re wondering, this is not some crackpot train spotter's opinion either! Okay, I may be related to the 'Anorak' family, but I'm nowhere near as biased as some politicians who betray a stubborn refusal to recognise the advantages of moving heavy goods by rail. One has only to compare the motorway extravagances in Britain to illustrate the point; it screams excess, excess, excess! And what does the Government do to solve the problem? It pours billions of tax payer's money into building more! Well, it won't be long before these too are crumbling under the weight of giant-sized juggernauts laden with goods that could easily be carried by rail.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Below: The Stainmore line was built to transport Durham coke to the West Cumberland blast furnaces, and pig iron eastwards to the steelworks on Teeside. With gradients as steep as 1 in 59 between Tebay and Barnard Castle, most trains were either double-headed or banked to Stainmore Summit, which, at 1,370 feet above sea level, was the highest point of any main line in England. In this view, an Ivatt 2-6-0 is assisted at the rear by a BR standard Class 2 on the climb across Belah Viaduct between Kirby Stephen and Stainmore. This spectacular structure was more than 1,000 ft long, with sixteen spans built of wrought and cast iron that carried the line 196 ft high above the valley floor. Sadly, the magnificent Belah viaduct (the highest in Britain) was demolished a year after closure of the line to all traffic in 1962. Photo © A Cawkhill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

CUMBRIA 

One of the most scenic lines to found anywhere in Britain was the Cockermouth, Keswick and Pemrith (CK&P) railway, which was built primarily as a mineral line in 1864 to provide a link between Workington and Darlington via the Stockton & Darlington Railway’s Stainmore route across the Pennines. In the final years of steam operation, the line was dominated by ex-LNWR locomotives and later Ivatt’s Class 2MT 2-6-0s, both classes being designed specifically for light branch line work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The line was dieselised in February 1955, consisting of thirteen brand new ‘Derby Lightweight’ dmus which operated eight trains daily in each direction. With a driving cab at either end, the new dmu operations were extremely flexible as the vehicles could work in both directions, thus avoiding the untidy manoeuvre of an engine running around the stock to couple up again. However, the introduction of dmus on a rail network predominated by steam brought with it several problems. By its very nature, diesels require a clean working environment, therefore suitable premises had to be found for the stabling and maintenance of sets. The first batch of ‘Derby Lightweight’ dmus destined for the West Cumberland services were maintained at Carlisle Upperby carriage sheds and at Workington’s steam shed 11B, where five tracks were partitioned off specifically for the purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


In 1963 the Beeching Report recommended closure of the CK & P line in the heart of the English Lake District. Following the withdrawal of goods traffic on 1st July 1964, BR announced its intention to close the entire route in April 1966 - a decision coincident with the Ministry of Transport’s plans for using part of the line for an improvement scheme on the main A66 road…which, I have to say, just about sums up Governments’ injudicious bias towards road transport! Indeed, as a textbook exercise in turning a problem into a major disaster, the Government's handling of railway closures took some beating. There are no short cuts, except to the wrong answers, and BR certainly found a few, though much of the blame lies at the door of Government for rushing into closures too fast. Had only Beeching’s original 1963 plan for axing 5,000 route miles of track and 2,363 stations been handled with more prudence, then many sizeable towns like Keswick would still have a direct link to the railway network today. Of course, if one accepts the figures quoted for the maintenance of some line s, then BR made a plausible case for closure, and in many ways it is surprising that some branch line traffic survived as long as they did. But then, considering the potential of the CK&P line as a tourist route through one the country’s most scenic areas, the very idea of closure smacks to me of incompetence on a massive scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


(Above-Below) By the early Sixties BR’s dmu programme was well advanced, but it would take several years before the new stock was introduced in the Cumberland area. (Above) Sporting a yellow chevron on its front end, a 2-car set forms the 11.10 Carlisle-Penrith-Keswick-Workington at Cockermouth on 8th September 1959. (Below) On August 14th 1963, Mr Carr returned to the Lake District to update his photographic collection and took this shot of two early 'Derby Lightweights' standing side-by-side at Bassenthwaite Lake station, situated on the very shores of the lake (the main station building also functioned as a rural post office). The diesel units now carry a small rectangular warning panel and the yellow diamond coupling code symbol has been added above the buffer beams. The two platforms at Bassenthwaite Lake provided a passing loop for the single line section west of Keswick, but this fell victim to the Beeching axe on April 16th 1966, and the Penrith-Keswick line became a dead-end branch.  Photos copyright IS Carr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In some cases, the Minister of Transport showed some leniency to curb the excesses of the Beeching Plan by approving only partial closure of a line, but it wasn't until the 1970s that Government showed a more tolerant attitude towards socially useful lines. By then it was too late for the CK&P, because once the Genie was let out of the bottle, it could not be forced back in, as there was no machinery in place to reverse a closure notice which had already been approved by the Minister of Transport. So in spite of the savings from singling the line (and the replacement of the elderly 1955 units with modern Class 108 dmus in 1969) the reprieve for Keswick residents was short-lived and the Penrith-Keswick section finally gave way to closure on March 6th 1972.

History of the CK&P Railway 

Threlkeld-Keswick Railway Walk 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOODHEAD

 Another Pennine route now alas gone, is the former Great Central main line between Sheffield and Manchester, which the LNER began electrifying in 1939 using the Government recommended standard 1,500 volt dc, with overhead line current collection. Work was halted at the outbreak of World War 2, and the electrification was not completed until 1955 – the same year that the BR Modernisation Plan was announced (including in its proposal the electrification of the WCML) It was generally assumed that the 1,500 volt dc system would be the future British standard, but the BTC adopted the 25kv 50-cycle ac system as used on the French National Railways. By 1965, the non-standard equipment on the Woodhead route was becoming life expired, and in 1970 all passenger services were withdrawn. The line remained open as a dedicated freight route until July 1981.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above-Below) The Class EM1 Bo-Bo (later TOPS Class 76s) were primarily freight locomotives originally numbered 26000-26057 in the fleet, however the final batch of 12 locomotives were fitted with a train heating boiler for passenger work, including No 26047 Diomedes, seen here heading a rake of 16-and-20 ton mineral wagons near Penistone on 1st April 1961. (Below) Class 04 2-8-0 No 63573 heads a westbound freight through Hazlehead Bridge station in April 1952. Hazelhead station closed to passengers in March 1950 and goods traffic ceased in May 1964. Photos © D Hey, ER Morten.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
In all fairness, the history of Dr Richard Beeching is written almost entirely by his enemies so it is hard to know how much of it is to trusted. What we do know is that his name provokes the kind of response usually reserved for a mass murderer - a cynical assassin wielding his axe across the rail network. If only the Government had waited until the introduction of pay trains, modern signalling and unmanned stations, then the huge reduction in operating costs would surely have merited the retention of rail services. The introduction of Derby Class 108 dmus between Leeds, Bradford, Ilkley and Skipton, were not the saviours as hoped, and on 22nd March 1965 seven intermediate stations were closed on the Aire Valley line between Leeds and Bradford Forster Square - including Calverley & Rodley. Photo © D Hey

 
Left: With closure notices gathering pace, it was not surprising that morale amongst railwaymen was at a low ebb, even in a salaried grade. Indeed, the fear of redundancy was not a good climate for staff co-operation. On July 1st 1968, all through traffic over the Peak Forest line was diverted to other routes and the track lifted north of Matlock. For the record, BR’s route mileage of running lines was reduced from some 17,500 miles at the end of 1962 to approximately 14,900 in 1965, and the number of stations fell from 6,800 to 4,300. Photo © ER Morten

Below: Strictly speaking, the history of Cumbria's narrow gauge lines has nothing to do with the Beeching era, but I include this photo to illustrate that there are losers whatever the size! This rickety old na