Forge Valley railway station

Forge Valley
General information
LocationEast Ayton and West Ayton, Scarborough
England
Coordinates54°14′49″N 0°29′19″W / 54.246972°N 0.488620°W / 54.246972; -0.488620
Grid referenceSE985845
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyNorth Eastern Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1882opened
1950closed

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.[1]

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939.[2] The station closed on 3 June 1950 when the line closed to passenger traffic.[3][4]

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.[5] The station's sidings and goods yard had a west-facing connection, and the station itself had only one platform.[6] 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 1-tonne (1.1-ton).[7]

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.[8][9]

  1. ^ Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 197. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
  2. ^ McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 10. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
  3. ^ Suggitt, Gordon (2005). Lost railways of North and East Yorkshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-85306-918-5.
  4. ^ Hurst, Geoffrey (1992). Register of Closed Railways: 1948–1991. Worksop, Nottinghamshire: Milepost Publications. p. 4 (ref 0141). ISBN 0-9477-9618-5.
  5. ^ Lidster, Robin (2014). Scarborough to Pickering railway through time. Stroud: Amberley. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4456-1827-2.
  6. ^ "Georeferenced Maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  7. ^ The Railway Clearing House handbook of railway stations, 1904. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970. p. 205. ISBN 0715351206.
  8. ^ Hoole, K. (1983). Railways of the North York Moors: a pictorial history. Clapham: Dalesman Books. p. 6. ISBN 0-8520-6731-3.
  9. ^ Mitchinson, James, ed. (4 July 2024). "Housing plan will rescue rail heritage". The Yorkshire Post. p. 7. ISSN 0963-1496.