Bedlington, Northumberland
Bedlington Railway Station
Last Updated:
30 May 2023
Bedlington, Northumberland
This is a
Railway Station
Station Rd, Bedlington NE22
Founded in
Current status is
Extant
Designer (if known):
The station is extant but disused. There are hopes to reopen under a new funding bid.
"Note: Until 1844, when it was transferred to Northumberland, the small town was within Bedlingtonshire, a detached portion of County Durham. The station was situated inconveniently about a mile north-east of the town, in the village of Sleekburn and close to Bedlington Colliery and several terraces of miners’ cottages. NER statistics showed a population of 14,755 served by the station in 1911.By the 1920s ribbon development of terraces along the main road linked Bedlington town to its station, and in the inter-war years residential development grew in the vicinity of the station. The 1961 O.S. one-inch map recognised Bedlington Station as an urban area in its own right.
Like Seghill, Bedlington station had one platform, on the up side, used by trains in both directions. There was a bay for Newbiggin branch trains in the early days, when Bedlington-Morpeth was the ‘main line’. The single-storey brick building presented an L-shape to the platform; its northern unit was of the design used at Bebside and Seghill. A hipped glass awning was
fitted within the L-plan, supported at the front by iron pillars and small spandrels with quatrefoil motifs.
In 1973 the track arrangement was changed to eliminate two-directional operation of the platform line, and the NER footbridge was dismantled. The platform survives together with two separate sections of the former buildings, the central portion having been demolished. Within sight of each other, Bedlington North and South signal boxes remain in use, the former at Bedlington Junction and the latter to the north of Bedlington Viaduct. North signal box controls the routes to Morpeth and Lynemouth; South controls the route from Newsham South to Bedlington North, including the complex trackwork in the vicinity of Bedlington station."
Source: Disused Stations
Listing Description (if available)
On the 2nd edition above, Bedlington Station is an entirely distinct area to the original village of Bedlington, hinting at the modern day contrast between the two also.
This side was built around the colliery itself, with houses specifically constructed for the miners.
By 1924, Sleekburn was transitioning into a bart of Bedlington itself due to the long reaching terraces enclosing on the village. The area started to gain its own amenities also at this point, such as a picture theatre, schools and a recreation ground.
Photograph of Bedlington Station in 1967, featuring a J27 on a coal train on its way down the Blyth & Tyne likely to the staiths on the Tyne. The lines to the left go to the Colliery while to the north is to Ashington and Newbiggin.
The station is preemed and very well kept at this point, though typically austere.
Retrieved from Ben Brooksbank on Disused Stations
Bedlington Station in 1971. A DMU on a railtour from Newcastle via Tynemouth and Backworth. The area is a tapestry of signal gantries, points and semaphores.
Retrieved from J C Dean on Disused Stations
