Forge Valley railway station explained

Forge Valley
Status:Disused
Borough:East Ayton and West Ayton, Scarborough
Country:England
Coordinates:54.247°N -0.4886°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:1
Original:North Eastern Railway
Pregroup:North Eastern Railway
Postgroup:London and North Eastern Railway
Years:1882
Events:opened
Years1:1950
Events1:closed

Forge Valley railway station was situated on the North Eastern Railway's Pickering to Seamer branch line. It served the twin villages of East and West Ayton, and the local beauty spot Forge Valley. The station opened to passenger traffic on 1 May 1882.

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939.[1] The station closed on 3 June 1950 when the line closed to passenger traffic.[2] [3]

The station was named Forge Valley after a local beauty spot to avoid naming it after either of the Ayton villages that it was located near. This was normal practice when another station existed on the network that could be confusing to passengers, in this case Great Ayton, which is on the Middlesbrough to Whitby Line.[4] The station's sidings and goods yard had a west-facing connection, and the station itself had only one platform.[5] The goods yard was listed as being capable of handling livestock and horses, and was equipped with a crane which could lift weights up to 1tonne.[6]

The station building and environs were later reused as a road and council highways depot for North Yorkshire County Council, and the old goods shed was in use as a garage. In 2024, the site was sold for a housing redevelopment, with the station building retained and being divided up into flats, and the old goods shed will be renovated and become a community centre.[7] [8]

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Notes and References

  1. Book: McRae, Andrew. British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region) . Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One) . Foxline . 1997 . 1-870119-48-7. 10.
  2. Book: Suggitt. Gordon. Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire. 2005. Countryside Books. Newbury. 978-1-85306-918-5. 96.
  3. Book: Hurst, Geoffrey. 1992. Register of Closed Railways: 1948–1991. Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Milepost Publications. 0-9477-9618-5. 4 (ref 0141).
  4. Book: Lidster. Robin. Scarborough to Pickering railway through time. 2014. Amberley. Stroud. 978-1-4456-1827-2. 30.
  5. Web site: Georeferenced Maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland . maps.nls.uk . 4 July 2024.
  6. Book: The Railway Clearing House handbook of railway stations, 1904 . 1970 . David & Charles . Newton Abbot . 0715351206 . 205.
  7. Book: Hoole . K. . Railways of the North York Moors: a pictorial history . 1983 . Dalesman Books . Clapham . 0-8520-6731-3 . 6.
  8. News: Mitchinson . James . Housing plan will rescue rail heritage . The Yorkshire Post . 4 July 2024 . 7. 0963-1496.