But First, An fbb Favourite
"The Sidings" at Shipton by Beningborough, north of York, was first visited for posh nosh by fbb at the invitation of a certain Mr Fearnley. Then fbb and Mrs stayed there for an anniversary weekend.
It rained! The attraction of sleeping in an old railway carriage, with a plywood uninsulated roof as the North Yorkshire monsoons hammered down, slightly put a dampener on the weekend.
Earplugs were needed but not provided!
On another occasion, a Great Britain Bus Timetable "weekend away" for staff, fbb stayed in the end room of the end carriage parked at right angles to the others.
After the founding Gemmel family retired, it became an Italian restaurant and its railway heritage faded somewhat.
The latest ownership change has returned the establishment to something like its railway-themed glory.
The area through the archway was an extension to the bar jam-packed with railwayana. It now accommodates restaurant tables ...
... to complement the dining carriage.
There is a terrace which is absolutely next to the four track East Coast main line.
Were fbb and Mrs to say in that end room today, they would have their very own end door exit ...
... to their very own decking, also right at the boundary fence!
The reason for fbb's accomodation and nostalgia-fest is to recognise that 'The Sidings' is (probably) the only such establishment right next to a busy busy main line.
In fact, "The Sidings" was never a station.
The restaurant and hotel are bottom centre; Beningborough station was top left.
So "The Sidings" cannot be called a "recycled" station.
But that at Petworth can!
Recycled Station
Sadly the above is not Petworth railway station. It is Petworth House, for centuries the home if the Percy family, the dukedom of Northumberland. It in now in the hands of the National Trust ...
... and is stuffed with art and furnishings as befits its history.
Needless to say, the station was well to the south of the small town ...
... that owes its existence to Petworth House.
So where was Petworth in the rail network of the UK?
The line running from north to south is the current Arun Valley route. The long closed branch line via Petworth continued to Midhurst.
No doubt Petworth station was designed to be a route for posh passengers to and from the "Big House". The picture that incited fbb to explore Petworth and its station did not seem in any way attractive.
It certainly looked abandoned!
Bur it did look as if it were once a little bit grand ...
... with carriages awaiting the arrival of the next train.
The closed line does appear in little bits on modern maps ...
... as se9en on the above map extract, bottom left.
The river is the Rother, by the way, but is NOT the same Rother that we met at Rye a few blogs back. This Rother is a tributary of the Arun which Joins the sea at Littlehampton.
Petworth used to have a Station Hotel ...
... adjacent to the station, surprisingly.
The hostelry still stands and appears to be operational ...
... but is renamed 'Badgers'.
It has no link with the railway locomotive known affectionately as "The Badger".
Pity!
Tomorrow we explore the recycled Petworth station in more detail.
Next Recycling at Petworth blog : Wed 1 July
