April 2026
Alexander Davison of Swarland Hall: a pursuit of money and social status
Speaker: Eleanor George
Eleanor George opened her presentation by referencing the obelisk at Swarland near Felton, which Alexander Davison erected to celebrate his friendship with Nelson with this inscription:
‘NOT TO COMMEMORATE THE PUBLIC VIRTUES AND HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF NELSON WHICH IS THE DUTY OF ENGLAND BUT TO THE MEMORY OF PRIVATE FRIENDSHIP THIS ERECTION IS DEDICATED BY ALEXANDER DAVISON SWARLAND HALL’
Our speaker acknowledged Martyn Downer’s book: Nelson’s Purse.
Davison’s father was a tenant farmer in the area of Lanton in the parish of Kirknewton. He bought his farm in 1762 and had ambitions for his sons, including Alexander who went to London to work in finance. Eventually Alexander went to Quebec, Canada, to pursue new opportunities. By joining the Freemasons (who held the principle of equality amongst men), he was able to meet people from a wide range of society and was able to secure support and help with his ambitions. Notably this included cultivating his association with Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland, who became his patron.
During the late 1700s the French were harassing British vessels en route to and from Quebec, leading to their protection by the British Royal Navy. In 1782 Davison met Nelson and they become friends to the extent that Davison advised Nelson to choose a bride with social advantages. His habit of identifying and cultivating social connections to enhance his wealth and business worked well for Davison throughout the late 1700s.
Davison was awarded government contracts by Evan Nepean, Under Secretary of State. He expanded his business interests, including a stake in St Maurice Iron Forge, which provided a good return in his investment. When he married Harriet Gosling they lived in Bloomsbury, London, and her father’s banking connections were added to Davison’s inner circle of contacts. Davison named his son Hugh Percy Davison in recognition of his association with the Duke of Northumberland.
Davison held lucrative contracts including to supply the convict colony of Australia, and a clothing factory for the military. Lieutenant General Oliver de Lancy appointed Davison Commissioner General to coordinate the supply and requisition of goods for the military. As well as a substantial salary he received 2% on everything he supplied, including coal, so he amassed a fortune.
In 1795 he bought the Swarland Estate for a price equivalent to £4.5m. today. The estate was close to both his family in Lanton and his patron the Second Duke of Northumberland. His association with Nelson continued during Nelson’s defeat of the Spanish in 1797 and as the war continued so did the demand for goods. His wealth in 1803 is estimated to be £77m. today.
However, by 1804 he was charged with corruption relating to the practice of ‘rotten boroughs’, whereby people tried to secure influence in parliament by ensuring their preferred candidate won a seat. This was attempted by Davison in Ilchester via a web of corrupt payments. Judge Sir Robert Graham found Davison guilty in 1804, and Attorney General Spencer Percival sentenced him to 1 year in prison. However, the wealthy were able to rent apartments in prisons and continue to work, and thus escape the squalor of the general prison population. In fact during this time Davison did some secret work on behalf of the government, but it signalled a turning point in his life leading eventually to another period in prison for financial irregularities and a hefty fine. In 1817 he sold his home in St James’s Square, London and withdrew to Swarland, where his wife died in 1826 and he died in 1829.
The audience discussion included observations about Davison’s resemblance in behaviour to some modern entrepreneurs and people of influence both real and fictional.
Davison erected the obelisk at Lanton in memory of his brother John. Swarland Hall was demolished in 1926, and the site used to provide work and homes for Jarrow men. The last of the Davison heirs reside in Germany although a family vault remains in the church at Kirknewton where the Davison story first began.
Edith Whitehead
Speaker: Eleanor George
Eleanor George opened her presentation by referencing the obelisk at Swarland near Felton, which Alexander Davison erected to celebrate his friendship with Nelson with this inscription:
‘NOT TO COMMEMORATE THE PUBLIC VIRTUES AND HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF NELSON WHICH IS THE DUTY OF ENGLAND BUT TO THE MEMORY OF PRIVATE FRIENDSHIP THIS ERECTION IS DEDICATED BY ALEXANDER DAVISON SWARLAND HALL’
Our speaker acknowledged Martyn Downer’s book: Nelson’s Purse.
Davison’s father was a tenant farmer in the area of Lanton in the parish of Kirknewton. He bought his farm in 1762 and had ambitions for his sons, including Alexander who went to London to work in finance. Eventually Alexander went to Quebec, Canada, to pursue new opportunities. By joining the Freemasons (who held the principle of equality amongst men), he was able to meet people from a wide range of society and was able to secure support and help with his ambitions. Notably this included cultivating his association with Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland, who became his patron.
During the late 1700s the French were harassing British vessels en route to and from Quebec, leading to their protection by the British Royal Navy. In 1782 Davison met Nelson and they become friends to the extent that Davison advised Nelson to choose a bride with social advantages. His habit of identifying and cultivating social connections to enhance his wealth and business worked well for Davison throughout the late 1700s.
Davison was awarded government contracts by Evan Nepean, Under Secretary of State. He expanded his business interests, including a stake in St Maurice Iron Forge, which provided a good return in his investment. When he married Harriet Gosling they lived in Bloomsbury, London, and her father’s banking connections were added to Davison’s inner circle of contacts. Davison named his son Hugh Percy Davison in recognition of his association with the Duke of Northumberland.
Davison held lucrative contracts including to supply the convict colony of Australia, and a clothing factory for the military. Lieutenant General Oliver de Lancy appointed Davison Commissioner General to coordinate the supply and requisition of goods for the military. As well as a substantial salary he received 2% on everything he supplied, including coal, so he amassed a fortune.
In 1795 he bought the Swarland Estate for a price equivalent to £4.5m. today. The estate was close to both his family in Lanton and his patron the Second Duke of Northumberland. His association with Nelson continued during Nelson’s defeat of the Spanish in 1797 and as the war continued so did the demand for goods. His wealth in 1803 is estimated to be £77m. today.
However, by 1804 he was charged with corruption relating to the practice of ‘rotten boroughs’, whereby people tried to secure influence in parliament by ensuring their preferred candidate won a seat. This was attempted by Davison in Ilchester via a web of corrupt payments. Judge Sir Robert Graham found Davison guilty in 1804, and Attorney General Spencer Percival sentenced him to 1 year in prison. However, the wealthy were able to rent apartments in prisons and continue to work, and thus escape the squalor of the general prison population. In fact during this time Davison did some secret work on behalf of the government, but it signalled a turning point in his life leading eventually to another period in prison for financial irregularities and a hefty fine. In 1817 he sold his home in St James’s Square, London and withdrew to Swarland, where his wife died in 1826 and he died in 1829.
The audience discussion included observations about Davison’s resemblance in behaviour to some modern entrepreneurs and people of influence both real and fictional.
Davison erected the obelisk at Lanton in memory of his brother John. Swarland Hall was demolished in 1926, and the site used to provide work and homes for Jarrow men. The last of the Davison heirs reside in Germany although a family vault remains in the church at Kirknewton where the Davison story first began.
Edith Whitehead
Outing to A & J Scott Ltd, Wooperton
Many of us will have passed A & J Scott’s sawmill and timber yard on numerous occasions, seeing its stacks of tree trunks while travelling on the A697, and we might have chanced upon haulage vehicles carrying stocks of felled trees too. But who knew what went on behind the scenes at this large, impressive site? Twenty-one members of G.L.H.S had the privilege of finding out!
This ever-evolving family business is now led by the third generation. The retiring boss of the middle generation who keeps his finger on the pulse, Andrew Scott, showed us a photograph of the site before any of the modern developments: it was once purely at the side of a railway line, as shown in the photo of a steam-train passing through Wooperton station.
This sawmill is one of the largest in Britain and employs about 150 people working around the clock, certainly making it the largest employer in the area. We learned there are 4 large working saw-mills on site and a fifth is being built. A wide variety of timber is obtained from the whole of the UK, from the north of Scotland to the southern shires. Storm Arwen helped source much timber too. Some wood products are exported, but no timber is imported.
It takes 3 loads of tree-trunks to produce 1 load of finished product. Nothing is wasted: bark, chippings and sawdust are all used in one way or another – the sawdust is removed by vacuum once a week.
The purchase of raw timber and sale of the finished items are measured by the tonnage. About 1,000 tons are moved daily, equal to 60-plus truck loads.
Most of the processing, of 6,000 tree trunks daily, is now automated: censors segregate the trunks for size, particularly their girth, and the trunks are automatically rotated and trimmed as necessary to fit the next part of the operation. What used to take 24 hours to process can now be achieved in 12! Astonishingly, if necessary, processing could be achieved from entry of raw wood to finished product in 2 hours – impressive indeed!
Within the mills we witnessed operators using up to 25 computer screens simultaneously, to monitor the work in progress: the computer-controlled machinery stripping off the bark, ‘slicing’ the trunks into a variety of widths and lengths, and grading the timber by length, width and thickness into same-size bundles
Planks of wood for outdoor use are tanalised, producing a brown or greenish finish. Bundles are immersed, by rotation, into 4 tanks for 24 hours and treated under pressure for 4.5 hours; the solutions are constantly re-cycled and topped up with the noxious substance as necessary.
We were also shown the saw sharpening department which operates 24 hours a day. Here the saw cutting blades are cleaned, sharpened and tensioned – mostly by automated machines, but some by hand. The blades require sharpening after every 10 –16 hours of use, and each blade may be sharpened 60 times over 6-7 weeks before being replaced. It is a very exacting process requiring great concentration, as with the staffing of all the sawmill operations.
All energy for the site is electricity; currently old solar panels are being replaced with newer more efficient ones.
We were all very impressed by the hitherto unknown size, skill and efficiency of this very impressive enterprise. And when we next encounter timber lorries on the highway, or admire lap-larch fencing panels in gardens, farmers’ fence posts, or a multitude of other wooden products in builders’ merchants and garden centres, we’ll recall our day seeing tree-trunks being turned into such items for use ─ all in an astonishingly slick operation.
Rosemary Bell
This ever-evolving family business is now led by the third generation. The retiring boss of the middle generation who keeps his finger on the pulse, Andrew Scott, showed us a photograph of the site before any of the modern developments: it was once purely at the side of a railway line, as shown in the photo of a steam-train passing through Wooperton station.
This sawmill is one of the largest in Britain and employs about 150 people working around the clock, certainly making it the largest employer in the area. We learned there are 4 large working saw-mills on site and a fifth is being built. A wide variety of timber is obtained from the whole of the UK, from the north of Scotland to the southern shires. Storm Arwen helped source much timber too. Some wood products are exported, but no timber is imported.
It takes 3 loads of tree-trunks to produce 1 load of finished product. Nothing is wasted: bark, chippings and sawdust are all used in one way or another – the sawdust is removed by vacuum once a week.
The purchase of raw timber and sale of the finished items are measured by the tonnage. About 1,000 tons are moved daily, equal to 60-plus truck loads.
Most of the processing, of 6,000 tree trunks daily, is now automated: censors segregate the trunks for size, particularly their girth, and the trunks are automatically rotated and trimmed as necessary to fit the next part of the operation. What used to take 24 hours to process can now be achieved in 12! Astonishingly, if necessary, processing could be achieved from entry of raw wood to finished product in 2 hours – impressive indeed!
Within the mills we witnessed operators using up to 25 computer screens simultaneously, to monitor the work in progress: the computer-controlled machinery stripping off the bark, ‘slicing’ the trunks into a variety of widths and lengths, and grading the timber by length, width and thickness into same-size bundles
Planks of wood for outdoor use are tanalised, producing a brown or greenish finish. Bundles are immersed, by rotation, into 4 tanks for 24 hours and treated under pressure for 4.5 hours; the solutions are constantly re-cycled and topped up with the noxious substance as necessary.
We were also shown the saw sharpening department which operates 24 hours a day. Here the saw cutting blades are cleaned, sharpened and tensioned – mostly by automated machines, but some by hand. The blades require sharpening after every 10 –16 hours of use, and each blade may be sharpened 60 times over 6-7 weeks before being replaced. It is a very exacting process requiring great concentration, as with the staffing of all the sawmill operations.
All energy for the site is electricity; currently old solar panels are being replaced with newer more efficient ones.
We were all very impressed by the hitherto unknown size, skill and efficiency of this very impressive enterprise. And when we next encounter timber lorries on the highway, or admire lap-larch fencing panels in gardens, farmers’ fence posts, or a multitude of other wooden products in builders’ merchants and garden centres, we’ll recall our day seeing tree-trunks being turned into such items for use ─ all in an astonishingly slick operation.
Rosemary Bell
March 2026
Angels of the North – more notable women of the North East
Speaker: Joyce Quin, Baroness Quin of Gateshead
The Society was entertained by an excellent talk by Joyce Quin, following publication of the book she had co-written with Moira Kilkenny (a previous speaker to the Society) ‘Angels of the North - Vol 2: More Notable Women of the North East’. I thought her talk sufficiently provocative to use ChatGPT and Wikipedia to find out more about the women whom Joyce, necessarily, had insufficient time to discuss in detail. This report has taken ages therefore!
Joyce was ‘piped in’ by Dr. Anthony Robb, who is well known to many of us, and what a talented Northumbrian piper he is. He wore Northumbrian plaid and full regalia and was thanked by Joyce, who is President of the Northumbrian Pipers' Society.
In her introduction Joyce reminded us that the previous Sunday, 8th March, had been International Women’s Day. She went onto explain that the book referred to ‘notable’ women and not necessarily those who were famous. Thus she described how, in 1417, two servant girls, being women, could not approach the shrine of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral so they dressed as men to do so. They were caught and then made to dress as men in procession at St Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle to explain why they were being punished. As Joyce observed, this was an odd way for the authorities to punish them as it gave publicity to the cause the women were espousing.
Joyce then referred to the characters whom Moira and she included in their second volume, beginning with Professor Rosemary Cramp, the first female professor at Durham University. Professor Cramp, an archaeologist, worked on St Paul’s monastery in Jarrow and St Peter’s Church in Monkwearmouth, and was pre-eminent in the field of Bede and the Anglo-Saxon period.
Susan Auld was the first woman in the UK and possibly the world to obtain a degree in naval architecture, studying at Newcastle which was then part of Durham University. She was descended from one of the founders of Swan Hunter Shipbuilders. During World War 2, she worked extensively on the battleship HMS Anson and the aircraft carrier HMS Albion, but most importantly she is credited with designing the landing craft used at D-Day.
Mary Midgley was a famous philosopher associated with work on human relationships with animals, arguing that we humans are a kind of animal. She was also associated with ‘Gaia’ (I recommend that you look it up as it is interesting).
At the other extreme, Hannah Hawkswell is included as a TV personality, a farmer from the North Pennines. Although Hannah would describe herself as a proud Yorkshirewoman, her farm is now in County Durham and her closest town is Barnard Castle which has always been so.
Joyce explained that the women had to have an association with Northumberland and Durham, which she and Moira had defined as the North East region, and she demurred at the suggestion that York or Harrogate could be included.
Space and time precludes me including all the women to whom Joyce referred but they included Bella Reay, the footballer of Blyth Spartans; and Ellen Wilkinson, Cabinet Minister in the Attlee government. Mabel Philpson was the first woman to be elected as an MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed). She had been an actress and Gaiety Girl and was the first manifestly working class female MP. Her husband’s 1922 election to the seat was declared void, so she stood and won in the subsequent bye-election. Although she disliked speaking in the Commons she was effective, and her Private Member’s Bill became the Nursing Homes Registration Act of 1927. As soon as her husband decided that he did not want to take the seat she retired from politics, as the reason she had stood in the first place was ‘to keep the seat warm’ for him.
Finally Joyce drew our attention to Maud Burnett who was only the fifth woman to be a mayor; in her case of Tynemouth. Maud worked hard on nursery education, especially for the children of the fisherfolk of Cullercoats whose fathers were out at sea and whose mothers spent their days gutting and selling fish.
It was a fascinating and illuminating talk and the audience were very appreciative of it, so much so that the books which Joyce had brought sold out.
Peter Davies
Speaker: Joyce Quin, Baroness Quin of Gateshead
The Society was entertained by an excellent talk by Joyce Quin, following publication of the book she had co-written with Moira Kilkenny (a previous speaker to the Society) ‘Angels of the North - Vol 2: More Notable Women of the North East’. I thought her talk sufficiently provocative to use ChatGPT and Wikipedia to find out more about the women whom Joyce, necessarily, had insufficient time to discuss in detail. This report has taken ages therefore!
Joyce was ‘piped in’ by Dr. Anthony Robb, who is well known to many of us, and what a talented Northumbrian piper he is. He wore Northumbrian plaid and full regalia and was thanked by Joyce, who is President of the Northumbrian Pipers' Society.
In her introduction Joyce reminded us that the previous Sunday, 8th March, had been International Women’s Day. She went onto explain that the book referred to ‘notable’ women and not necessarily those who were famous. Thus she described how, in 1417, two servant girls, being women, could not approach the shrine of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral so they dressed as men to do so. They were caught and then made to dress as men in procession at St Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle to explain why they were being punished. As Joyce observed, this was an odd way for the authorities to punish them as it gave publicity to the cause the women were espousing.
Joyce then referred to the characters whom Moira and she included in their second volume, beginning with Professor Rosemary Cramp, the first female professor at Durham University. Professor Cramp, an archaeologist, worked on St Paul’s monastery in Jarrow and St Peter’s Church in Monkwearmouth, and was pre-eminent in the field of Bede and the Anglo-Saxon period.
Susan Auld was the first woman in the UK and possibly the world to obtain a degree in naval architecture, studying at Newcastle which was then part of Durham University. She was descended from one of the founders of Swan Hunter Shipbuilders. During World War 2, she worked extensively on the battleship HMS Anson and the aircraft carrier HMS Albion, but most importantly she is credited with designing the landing craft used at D-Day.
Mary Midgley was a famous philosopher associated with work on human relationships with animals, arguing that we humans are a kind of animal. She was also associated with ‘Gaia’ (I recommend that you look it up as it is interesting).
At the other extreme, Hannah Hawkswell is included as a TV personality, a farmer from the North Pennines. Although Hannah would describe herself as a proud Yorkshirewoman, her farm is now in County Durham and her closest town is Barnard Castle which has always been so.
Joyce explained that the women had to have an association with Northumberland and Durham, which she and Moira had defined as the North East region, and she demurred at the suggestion that York or Harrogate could be included.
Space and time precludes me including all the women to whom Joyce referred but they included Bella Reay, the footballer of Blyth Spartans; and Ellen Wilkinson, Cabinet Minister in the Attlee government. Mabel Philpson was the first woman to be elected as an MP (for Berwick-upon-Tweed). She had been an actress and Gaiety Girl and was the first manifestly working class female MP. Her husband’s 1922 election to the seat was declared void, so she stood and won in the subsequent bye-election. Although she disliked speaking in the Commons she was effective, and her Private Member’s Bill became the Nursing Homes Registration Act of 1927. As soon as her husband decided that he did not want to take the seat she retired from politics, as the reason she had stood in the first place was ‘to keep the seat warm’ for him.
Finally Joyce drew our attention to Maud Burnett who was only the fifth woman to be a mayor; in her case of Tynemouth. Maud worked hard on nursery education, especially for the children of the fisherfolk of Cullercoats whose fathers were out at sea and whose mothers spent their days gutting and selling fish.
It was a fascinating and illuminating talk and the audience were very appreciative of it, so much so that the books which Joyce had brought sold out.
Peter Davies
February 2026
Cornhill (Coldstream) to Alnwick – a journey through time
Speaker: Allan Colman
Allan started his presentation with a map of the route of the former railway line between Cornhill and Alnwick, which showed that trains setting out from Cornhill stopped at Mindrum, Akeld, Wooler, Ilderton, Wooperton, Hedgeley, Glanton, Whittingham, and finally Alnwick.
Cornhill station was known as Coldstream station even though it was on the opposite side of the Tweed at Cornhill-on-Tweed. It was built there because landowners resisted a railway passing through Coldstream. The station at Cornhill also served the Kelso line as an important transport link for both agricultural goods and passengers.
In 1881 it was proposed to build a railway from Rothbury to Wooler but following objections it was decided to accept the alternative and cheaper option of a railway from Alnwick to Cornhill. The project was authorised in 1882 with the Cornhill branch intended to link the communities of north Northumberland with Alnwick. Construction was started by the North Eastern Railway in 1884. The line initially opened to freight and then to passengers in 1887.
A large grand station was built at Alnwick and the route planned to avoid crossing the Duke of Northumberland’s estate. In 1887 the impressive Alnwick station was opened. The line was a single track with passing places. Following the First World War there was a decline in passenger rail services. Eventually buses offered a more competitive alternative during the 1920s and by 22 September 1930 the line closed to passengers. However, it did remain open for freight. Some of the old railway carriages were used as self-catering tourist accommodation during the 1960s.
Allan presented photographs and information about each of the stations, highlighting what was originally built and what can still be seen today. He also described significant events and issues which impacted the railway line and its future; for example, the brief resumption of service during the Second World War to serve RAF Milfield.
During the severe storms of 1948–9 the line was damaged and the railway bridge just north of Ilderton Station was washed away. It was decided not to repair the bridge which meant the line was spit into 2 sections: Alnwick to Ilderton, and a second section Wooler to Cornhill. The Alnwick to Ilderton section closed on 2nd March, 1953. The Wooler to Cornhill section closed in March 1965.
All that remains of the Coldstream (Cornhill) station are 3 railway cottages and with some searching the remains of the goods’ platform can be found as can some buffer stops amongst the trees nearby. The old railway bridge across the A697 is gone but formerly the line divided in two at Cornill-on-Tweed with one line to Kelso and the other one to Wooler. The Wooler station was the busiest on the line and goods continued to be transported between Wooler and Coldstream until March 1965 serving quarries in the area.
Wooler was the only station on the line with two separate platforms. In later years the station buildings were used as a youth hostel with males and females housed on separate sides of the line.
Allan acknowledged the photographs contributed by the Cornhill-on-Tweed Local History Society and others. It is possible to see the Glanton weigh bridge and office which have been relocated to Beamish museum. Allan also drew attention to the current East Coast Main Line (ECML) from London to Edinburgh and the many stations in Northumberland which have been closed.
Some of the audience had strong links with the Cornhill to Alnwick line, including the last surviving Fireman on the Alnwick service. He remembered the loss of the bridge at Ilderton, as it was his sister who raised the alarm, potentially avoiding further destruction and loss of life.
Another person told us about the chaos caused by the diversion of a Scottish express train on to the Cornhill to Alnwick line due to problems on the ECML at Belford. The branch line was not designed for such a substantial train, which couldn’t manage the steeper gradient & came to a halt. Several locomotives had to be sent to pull the train up to Cornhill & on to Tweedmouth to rejoin the main line.
In the 1980s local school children undertook a project about the railway and their interviews and records are held in Berwick Archives.
Railway memories continue to be a source of pride, nostalgia and perhaps lost opportunity when sadly so many of these railway lines were closed.
Edith Whitehead
Speaker: Allan Colman
Allan started his presentation with a map of the route of the former railway line between Cornhill and Alnwick, which showed that trains setting out from Cornhill stopped at Mindrum, Akeld, Wooler, Ilderton, Wooperton, Hedgeley, Glanton, Whittingham, and finally Alnwick.
Cornhill station was known as Coldstream station even though it was on the opposite side of the Tweed at Cornhill-on-Tweed. It was built there because landowners resisted a railway passing through Coldstream. The station at Cornhill also served the Kelso line as an important transport link for both agricultural goods and passengers.
In 1881 it was proposed to build a railway from Rothbury to Wooler but following objections it was decided to accept the alternative and cheaper option of a railway from Alnwick to Cornhill. The project was authorised in 1882 with the Cornhill branch intended to link the communities of north Northumberland with Alnwick. Construction was started by the North Eastern Railway in 1884. The line initially opened to freight and then to passengers in 1887.
A large grand station was built at Alnwick and the route planned to avoid crossing the Duke of Northumberland’s estate. In 1887 the impressive Alnwick station was opened. The line was a single track with passing places. Following the First World War there was a decline in passenger rail services. Eventually buses offered a more competitive alternative during the 1920s and by 22 September 1930 the line closed to passengers. However, it did remain open for freight. Some of the old railway carriages were used as self-catering tourist accommodation during the 1960s.
Allan presented photographs and information about each of the stations, highlighting what was originally built and what can still be seen today. He also described significant events and issues which impacted the railway line and its future; for example, the brief resumption of service during the Second World War to serve RAF Milfield.
During the severe storms of 1948–9 the line was damaged and the railway bridge just north of Ilderton Station was washed away. It was decided not to repair the bridge which meant the line was spit into 2 sections: Alnwick to Ilderton, and a second section Wooler to Cornhill. The Alnwick to Ilderton section closed on 2nd March, 1953. The Wooler to Cornhill section closed in March 1965.
All that remains of the Coldstream (Cornhill) station are 3 railway cottages and with some searching the remains of the goods’ platform can be found as can some buffer stops amongst the trees nearby. The old railway bridge across the A697 is gone but formerly the line divided in two at Cornill-on-Tweed with one line to Kelso and the other one to Wooler. The Wooler station was the busiest on the line and goods continued to be transported between Wooler and Coldstream until March 1965 serving quarries in the area.
Wooler was the only station on the line with two separate platforms. In later years the station buildings were used as a youth hostel with males and females housed on separate sides of the line.
Allan acknowledged the photographs contributed by the Cornhill-on-Tweed Local History Society and others. It is possible to see the Glanton weigh bridge and office which have been relocated to Beamish museum. Allan also drew attention to the current East Coast Main Line (ECML) from London to Edinburgh and the many stations in Northumberland which have been closed.
Some of the audience had strong links with the Cornhill to Alnwick line, including the last surviving Fireman on the Alnwick service. He remembered the loss of the bridge at Ilderton, as it was his sister who raised the alarm, potentially avoiding further destruction and loss of life.
Another person told us about the chaos caused by the diversion of a Scottish express train on to the Cornhill to Alnwick line due to problems on the ECML at Belford. The branch line was not designed for such a substantial train, which couldn’t manage the steeper gradient & came to a halt. Several locomotives had to be sent to pull the train up to Cornhill & on to Tweedmouth to rejoin the main line.
In the 1980s local school children undertook a project about the railway and their interviews and records are held in Berwick Archives.
Railway memories continue to be a source of pride, nostalgia and perhaps lost opportunity when sadly so many of these railway lines were closed.
Edith Whitehead
Bondagers: reminiscences of female agricultural workers
Speaker: Dinah Iredale, author of ‘Bondagers
Speaker: Dinah Iredale, author of ‘Bondagers
In her talk, which was supported by a film which went far to reveal the details of the system, Dinah explained that the bondager system was unique to Northumberland and South East Scotland. It required married ploughmen, known as ‘hinds’, to provide a female labourer as part of their bond (contract) with their employer. If the hind had no family member who could take on this role, such as when his wife was caring for young children, he had to take on an unmarried female worker, a bondager, who received pay and board and lodging in the hind’s farm cottage. The system probably developed in the mid-18th century because of the need for labour and the difficulty of travel in what is still a remote part of the U.K. with poor transport links.
In the mid-19th century the hind would earn £18-30 a year and in addition receive a tied rent-free cottage, a coal allowance, a potato ground (a small plot to grow food), and sometimes a milk and grain allowance. Bondagers received from the hind £8-12 a year, possibly with a clothing allowance.
Bondagers helped with the seasonal tasks on the farm. They were regarded as unskilled although their work, dealing with potatoes, turnips, grain, and sheep, was very hard. Once hired, whether through local social networks or through the annual hirelings at towns such as Alnwick, Wooler and Kelso, the bondager was expected to live with the hind and his family and this inevitably caused difficulties. Farm cottages were often just a single room, so there was no privacy. Also, although the bondager had money of her own, the hind’s wife did not. Matters were made even more difficult if the bondager did not help in the house and assist with the children – and some would not, reasoning that they had worked all day in the fields.
It was these stresses, reinforced by Victorian views on morality that had already led to legislation stopping men and women working alongside in the pits, together with the Education Acts of the 19th century and improved transport links which enabled women to seek employment in their own right in towns, which eventually led to the demise of the bondager system.
The first attempt to end the system occurred in 1837. Landowners, clergy, and the hinds themselves wrote to local newspapers objecting to the system. Following a further campaign in 1866 the system slowly died out and was gone by the early 20th century, hastened by war, of course.
Dinah reminded us that more details of the system could be found on the website www.bondagers.co.uk.
Peter Davies
In the mid-19th century the hind would earn £18-30 a year and in addition receive a tied rent-free cottage, a coal allowance, a potato ground (a small plot to grow food), and sometimes a milk and grain allowance. Bondagers received from the hind £8-12 a year, possibly with a clothing allowance.
Bondagers helped with the seasonal tasks on the farm. They were regarded as unskilled although their work, dealing with potatoes, turnips, grain, and sheep, was very hard. Once hired, whether through local social networks or through the annual hirelings at towns such as Alnwick, Wooler and Kelso, the bondager was expected to live with the hind and his family and this inevitably caused difficulties. Farm cottages were often just a single room, so there was no privacy. Also, although the bondager had money of her own, the hind’s wife did not. Matters were made even more difficult if the bondager did not help in the house and assist with the children – and some would not, reasoning that they had worked all day in the fields.
It was these stresses, reinforced by Victorian views on morality that had already led to legislation stopping men and women working alongside in the pits, together with the Education Acts of the 19th century and improved transport links which enabled women to seek employment in their own right in towns, which eventually led to the demise of the bondager system.
The first attempt to end the system occurred in 1837. Landowners, clergy, and the hinds themselves wrote to local newspapers objecting to the system. Following a further campaign in 1866 the system slowly died out and was gone by the early 20th century, hastened by war, of course.
Dinah reminded us that more details of the system could be found on the website www.bondagers.co.uk.
Peter Davies