Back to the Future for Morpeth Train Station
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FREE Your FREE independent community magazine for Morpeth OCT/NOV 20 Your latest... TRIBUTES TO KEN BROWN TOWN CRYER! Pages 19-22 TACKLING TOWN’S LITTER PROBLEMS Back to the future for Morpeth train station QUEEN HONOURS RHONA IN HER BIRTHDAY LIST inside Morpeth 1 www.ravenkitchendesign.co.uk T: 01670 785722 E: [email protected] SHOWROOM: New Kennels, Blagdon Estate, Northumberland NE13 6DB 2 inside Morpeth 1343 Living North Advert_Raven Kitchens_AW.indd 1 26/08/2020 16:47 GMDT's David Lodge, Karen Bower and Doug Phillips 5 Rhona and Jim Dunn 11 MORPETH 5 PRIDE IN MORPETH STATION The phrase ‘punching above your weight’ is often used to suggest that someone is engaged in an activity perhaps unlikely to be expected of them or beyond their capabilities to achieve, 11 RHONA HONOURED BY QUEEN and – with the greatest of respect – it could be applied to the involvement of Greater Morpeth Development Trust in relation to the restoration and redevelopment of Morpeth Railway Station. 18 GLEN’S NEW COUNTY LEADER For around seven years GMDT had been at the sharp end of procuring and delivering a £2.3m project to not only safeguard the future of this unique piece of Victorian railway history, but to give it a new lease of life as a modern transport facility and an enterprise hub for small business. For a small community-based organisation run by three staff 19 LATEST TOWN CRYER NEWS and a volunteer board of directors, and with the backing of some supportive partners, the station achievement is little short of remarkable. As no less a person than Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, says in this edition of Inside Morpeth, the town once 24 IT’S JUST CHILD’S PLAY! again has a railway station to be proud of, at the same time as admitting that is something his organisation would not have been able to find the time nor the funding to do. It’s not the first time the Trust has given an iconic Morpeth building a new lease of life – remember a decade ago it project managed the restoration of Morpeth Town Hall as a modern civic building. 33 MEMORIES OF KEN BROWN But the Trust is about more than just looking after old buildings, and it has done so much to help make Morpeth a better place to live, work and visit. Punching above its weight may be, but Morpeth is fortunate to have an organisation such as GMDT putting that weight behind the town it does so much for. 42 STEPPING UP TO PLATE! Ian Leech Editor of Inside Morpeth Front cover: Re-enacting station’s past. Photo by Paul Stephenson www.ravenkitchendesign.co.uk Editor: Ian Leech, Tel: 07968 102 547 Email: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] Distribution: Katherine Brodie (TYD) 07540 804 069 Inside Morpeth is a community magazine published by Ian Leech Publicity Services. All rights reserved. Every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of material published in T: 01670 785722 E: [email protected] Inside Morpeth. All information is accurate at time of going to press. The publisher does not endorse any advertising material published in INSIDE Morpeth. No parts of the SHOWROOM: New Kennels, Blagdon Estate, Northumberland NE13 6DB publication can be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher. INSIDE Morpeth c/o The Lodge, Carlisle Park, Morpeth NE61 1YD TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS IN THE NEXT ISSUE CALL US ON 07968 102 547 OR EMAIL [email protected] inside Morpeth 3 1343 Living North Advert_Raven Kitchens_AW.indd 1 26/08/2020 16:47 Plan for tomorrow – cherish the today We know that family is the most important thing in your life. So it’s good to know that, with the right advice, transferring wealth to loved ones can be extremely easy – as well as immensely rewarding. Whether it’s helping youngsters onto the housing ladder, contributing to a grandchild’s education or a parent’s care fees, we can help you share your wealth whilst you’re still able to see the joy that it brings. We offer a friendly, approachable service backed by the strength and security of FTSE 100 company, St. James’s Place Wealth Management; and being local means we’re here to help whenever you need us. Please do get in touch for a chat. EC I TCARP HT EPROM EHT EPROM HT TCARP I EC ntra roineS i o r aP r t en r tcarP eci fo tS . s’semaJ ecalP laeW ht tnemeganaM Tel: 01670 505333 www.themorpethpractice.co.uk [email protected] Appleby House Castle Square Morpeth Northumberland NE61 1YD )yt i rohtuA tcudnoC laicnaniF eht yb detaluger dna desi rohtua si hcihw( clp tnemeganaM ht laeW ecalP s ' semaJ . tS y lno stneserper dna fo ev i tatneserpeR detnioppA na si eci tcarP rent raP ehT raP rent tcarP eci si na detnioppA tatneserpeR i ev fo dna stneserper lno y tS . semaJ ' s ecalP laeW ht tnemeganaM clp hcihw( si rohtua desi dna detaluger yb eht laicnaniF tcudnoC rohtuA i )yt .stcudorp/ku.oc.pjs.www et isbew s'puorg eht no tuo tes era hcihw fo sl iated erom ,secivres dna stcudorp tnemeganam ht laew s'puorg eht no ylelos gnisivda fo esoprup eht rof eht esoprup fo gnisivda ylelos no eht s'puorg laew ht tnemeganam stcudorp dna ,secivres erom iated sl fo hcihw era tes tuo no eht s'puorg isbew et .stcudorp/ku.oc.pjs.www .sevi tatneserper ecalP s'semaJ . tS ebi rcsed ot desu smret gni tekram era 'eci tcarP rent raP' dna ' rent raP' sel t i t eht dna 'pihsrent raP ecalP s'semaJ . tS' ehT tS' . s'semaJ ecalP raP 'pihsrent dna eht t i t sel raP' rent ' dna raP' rent tcarP 'eci era tekram gni smret desu ot rcsed ebi tS . s'semaJ ecalP tatneserper .sevi 4 inside Morpeth SJP11494a V1 (11/19) SJP11494a V1 A4 Advert_Intergen.indd 1 29/11/2019 14:00 Morpeth Station Karen Bower and Andy Savage Plan for tomorrow – cherish the today We know that family is the most important thing in your life. So it’s good to know that, with the right advice, transferring wealth to loved ones can be extremely easy – as well as immensely rewarding. Whether it’s helping youngsters onto the housing ladder, contributing to a grandchild’s education or a parent’s care fees, we can help you share your wealth whilst you’re still able to see the joy that it brings. We offer a friendly, approachable service backed by the strength and security of FTSE 100 company, St. James’s Place Wealth Management; and being local means we’re here to help whenever you need us. Please do get in touch for a chat. EC I TCARP HT EPROM EHT EPROM HT TCARP I EC ntra roineS i o r aP r t en r tcarP eci fo tS . s’semaJ ecalP laeW ht tnemeganaM ‘Morpeth again has a Tel: 01670 505333 www.themorpethpractice.co.uk [email protected] station to be proud of...’ Appleby House Castle Square Morpeth Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail Northumberland NE61 1YD )yt i rohtuA tcudnoC laicnaniF eht yb detaluger dna desi rohtua si hcihw( clp tnemeganaM ht laeW ecalP s ' semaJ . tS y lno stneserper dna fo ev i tatneserpeR detnioppA na si eci tcarP rent raP ehT raP rent tcarP eci si na detnioppA tatneserpeR i ev fo dna stneserper lno y tS . semaJ ' s ecalP laeW ht tnemeganaM clp hcihw( si rohtua desi dna detaluger yb eht laicnaniF tcudnoC rohtuA i )yt Words by Ian Leech Pictures by Paul Stephenson .stcudorp/ku.oc.pjs.www et isbew s'puorg eht no tuo tes era hcihw fo sl iated erom ,secivres dna stcudorp tnemeganam ht laew s'puorg eht no ylelos gnisivda fo esoprup eht rof eht esoprup fo gnisivda ylelos no eht s'puorg laew ht tnemeganam stcudorp dna ,secivres erom iated sl fo hcihw era tes tuo no eht s'puorg isbew et .stcudorp/ku.oc.pjs.www .sevi tatneserper ecalP s'semaJ . tS ebi rcsed ot desu smret gni tekram era 'eci tcarP rent raP' dna ' rent raP' sel t i t eht dna 'pihsrent raP ecalP s'semaJ . tS' ehT tS' . s'semaJ ecalP raP 'pihsrent dna eht t i t sel raP' rent ' dna raP' rent tcarP 'eci era tekram gni smret desu ot rcsed ebi tS . s'semaJ ecalP tatneserper .sevi inside Morpeth 5 SJP11494a V1 (11/19) SJP11494a V1 A4 Advert_Intergen.indd 1 29/11/2019 14:00 Morpeth Station Picture the scene. The year is 1847, a decade into the 64-year-long reign of Queen Victoria and people are boarding and alighting from the very first passenger trains to stop at the newly opened Morpeth Railway Station. The old and the new sharing space at Morpeth Station Fashionable ladies in their smart hats Today, however, Morpeth is the sole summed up by someone who at the last and dome-shaped skirts with hemlines surviving operational Green railway moment, was unable to attend in person, brushing the ground, are accompanied station in the region. an event to mark the completion of work by gentlemen elegant in their frock coats at the station. Fast-forward 173 years and those and top hats, as they walk the platforms Victorian travellers would surely have Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network of the station designed by the renowned been bemused and astonished at the sight Rail, had been scheduled to perform Victorian railway architect Benjamin of the sleek, aerodynamic TransPennine the opening ceremony, but found he Green, to enjoy the experience of riding Nova and LNER Azuma trains – built by was unable to travel to Morpeth because the new-fangled form of transport that the same firm responsible for the so- of his need to attend a high-level would transform travel across Britain.