Authorised in 1882 the Cornhill Branch was built to link the farming communities of north Northumberland with the market town of Alnwick and link the North Eastern Railway's Kelso line to its Alnwick Branch.

The line had difficulty attracting passengers as many of the stations were some distance from the communities they served.

Increased bus competition in the 1920s led to passenger trains being withdrawn on 22 September 1930[1] although the service resumed briefly during the Second World War to serve RAF Milfield near Akeld.

[2] After a severe storm in August 1948[3] washed away a bridge north of Ilderton station British Railways who had recently taken over the line decided that the volume of traffic along the line did not warrant replacing it.

The line was thus split into two, Alnwick to Ilderton, and Coldstream to Wooler which included Akeld.