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The Alnwick & Cornhill Railway
The Alnwick & Cornhill (A&C) line was a railway built to serve the social needs of a sparsely populated area, almost as an obligation, by a large rich railway company.
Passenger service began on Monday 5 September 1887.
The last passenger service was axed on 20 September 1930 after a life of 43 years.
During WW2 there was an upsurge in traffic as many of the large houses were adopted for military purposes. Their uses included headquarters, hospitals, schools for evacuated children, training areas together with munitions, fuel and food stores. A fighter airfield built at Milfield gave Akeld a new lease of life. Timber and sand and gravel were needed in vast quantities for war defences and heavy trains carrying both were frequently dispatched from the line.
Freight continued but the collapse of a bridge north of Ilderton in October 1949 resulted in the line being worked as two sections: Alnwick to Ilderton and Cornhill to Wooler.
The southern section was closed on 28 February 1953. Parts of the northern section lingered until the Beeching axe fell on 29 March 1965.
'The Alnwick & Cornhill Railway', by John Addyman and John Mallon published by North Eastern Railway Association provides most of the information here and has many excellent old photographs.
The book is available from Barter Books which now occupies a large part of the old Alnwick Station!
The Borderline Greenway,
Link
has a long term objective to create a Greenway Trail - The Borderline Trail, from Alnmouth Station to Cornhill via Alnwick and Wooler then onto Berwick returning to Alnmouth via National Cycle Route 1 coastal route. This near 100 mile loop trail passes through some of the most beautiful landscape of North Northumberland and will quickly become a national outdoor attraction.
Phase 1 of the project works to connect Alnmouth Station and the Aln Valley Railway Greenway to the former Alnwick to Cornhill DRT. Work to construct this link and new trail will begin in the Spring of 2024
Passenger service began on Monday 5 September 1887.
The last passenger service was axed on 20 September 1930 after a life of 43 years.
During WW2 there was an upsurge in traffic as many of the large houses were adopted for military purposes. Their uses included headquarters, hospitals, schools for evacuated children, training areas together with munitions, fuel and food stores. A fighter airfield built at Milfield gave Akeld a new lease of life. Timber and sand and gravel were needed in vast quantities for war defences and heavy trains carrying both were frequently dispatched from the line.
Freight continued but the collapse of a bridge north of Ilderton in October 1949 resulted in the line being worked as two sections: Alnwick to Ilderton and Cornhill to Wooler.
The southern section was closed on 28 February 1953. Parts of the northern section lingered until the Beeching axe fell on 29 March 1965.
'The Alnwick & Cornhill Railway', by John Addyman and John Mallon published by North Eastern Railway Association provides most of the information here and has many excellent old photographs.
The book is available from Barter Books which now occupies a large part of the old Alnwick Station!
The Borderline Greenway,
Link
has a long term objective to create a Greenway Trail - The Borderline Trail, from Alnmouth Station to Cornhill via Alnwick and Wooler then onto Berwick returning to Alnmouth via National Cycle Route 1 coastal route. This near 100 mile loop trail passes through some of the most beautiful landscape of North Northumberland and will quickly become a national outdoor attraction.
Phase 1 of the project works to connect Alnmouth Station and the Aln Valley Railway Greenway to the former Alnwick to Cornhill DRT. Work to construct this link and new trail will begin in the Spring of 2024
by Russel Wills
Created: Mon, 28 Apr 2014, Updated: Fri, 12 Sep 2025
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