Pinchinthorpe railway station

Pinchinthorpe railway station was a railway station on the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway (M&GR). It was opened on 25 February 1854 and closed in 1951, thirteen years before the rest of the NunthorpeGuisborough branch. It served the village of Pinchinthorpe in North Yorkshire, England, a few miles west of Guisborough railway station.[1]

Pinchinthorpe
Former Pinchinthorpe railway station (used 1877–1951)
LocationPinchinthorpe, Redcar and Cleveland
England
Coordinates54.528900°N 1.100700°W / 54.528900; -1.100700
Grid referenceNZ582152
Platforms1 (first station)
2 (second station)
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyMiddlesbrough and Guisborough Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1854Opened (first station)
1877Opened (second station)
1951Station closed
1964Branch line closed

History

The original Pinchinthorpe railway station, used between 1854 and 1877

Two station buildings were constructed on either side of the bridge that still carries the Guisborough–Great Ayton road over the former railway line. The first station, on the east side of the bridge, was built in 1854 by the M&GR; it has been since converted into cottages.[1]

After the North Eastern Railway (NER) purchased the M&GR in 1863–65, it substantially increased the amount of traffic on the line and doubled the track to Guisborough.[1] To accommodate the increased traffic, the present bridge was constructed in 1876 to replace an earlier level crossing.[2] The NER also built a new and much larger station in 1877 on the west side of the new bridge.[1]

Designed by William Peachey, the company's resident architect,[3] the station consisted of a stationmaster's house, porter's lodge, ticket office, toilets, and two waiting rooms. It had two side platforms, replacing the single platform of the original station.[1] Although built inexpensively and without much refinement, it was an improvement on the NER directors' original vision of leaving the stationmaster to continue living in the old station as an economy measure. A similar design to Pinchinthorpe station was used by Peachey at Evenwood railway station in County Durham, which also survives (albeit likewise long closed).[3]

1902 map of the route of the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway, showing Pinchinthorpe Station

Passenger services on what was originally primarily a mineral railway serving the local mines were initially minimal, consisting of only one train between Guisborough and Middlesbrough a day, but by the 1930s up to eleven trains ran daily.[1] In 1920, the station was renamed from Pinchingthorpe, by then a deprecated spelling, to Pinchinthorpe. The passenger and goods services were withdrawn on 21 October 1951 and the station was closed.[2] It was subsequently converted and remains in use as private accommodation. The Guisborough line closed in 1964 under the Beeching Axe and the track was pulled up, though the trackbed continued to be owned by British Rail until 1989.[1]

In 1984, the then Cleveland County Council obtained a licence from BR to reopen three miles (5 km) of the trackbed as a walkway and bridleway. It purchased the trackbed five years later and resurfaced it, also building a number of ponds and wetlands near the first Pinchinthorpe station. The trackbed continues in use as a public trail and nature reserve. A small café and visitor centre was built in 1986 near the original station on the site of the old coal yard, evidence of which can still be seen in the adjoining car park.[1]

References

  1. From Rail to Reserve. Signboard at Pinchinthorpe railway station: Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. 2005.
  2. Hoole, K. (1985). Railway Stations of the North East. David & Charles. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-7153-8527-2.
  3. Fawcett, Bill (1 January 2001). A History of North Eastern Railway Architecture. North Eastern Railway Association. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-873513-48-4.

Further reading

  • Suggitt, G. (2005). Lost Railways of North & East Yorkshire. Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-918-3.
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Nunthorpe   Middlesbrough & Guisborough Railway   Hutton Gate
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