Rothbury Branch

It was built by the Northumberland Central Railway and was conceived as part of an alternative trunk route from Newcastle to Berwick.

There were serious problems raising money for the ambitious scheme, and it was scaled back to run from Scotsgap to Rothbury.

A provisional contract with Warings, a reputable London-based contractor, was finalised, but the absence of money prevented a start.

Warings was pressed to consider courses of action that would have disadvantaged the firm and, given the absence of ready money, it saw that the contract was vain, and asked to be relieved of it.

The company was unable to provide money to make a start, and on 7 August 1865, a difficult shareholders' meeting took place, which ended with agreement to abandon the proposed line north of Rothbury.

[1] The eclipse of Richard Hodgson as chairman of the North British Railway was significant in the loss of commitment to the northward extension.

On 12 April 1867, the company received Parliamentary authority to shorten the scheme, making it simply a branch line to Rothbury, with authorised capital of £75,000.

In February 1868, the directors all offered their resignation in view of the impossible situation; a number of financial devices to get the money had been tried, all of them in vain.

The line had cost £95,000 to build,[note 1] and the Company owed £9,600 to contractors, as well as having incurred heavy debenture debts and issued preference shares, and it was obvious that financial disaster was imminent.

The Board of Trade inspecting officer, Col F H Rich commented, The engine-driver and fireman were not aware that they had left the greater part of their train behind ...

The fireman's attention was first drawn to the circumstance by three ladies, Misses Winship, who were standing in a field on the east side of the line, close to the railway fence, and who, on observing the train running over the bank, called and waved their arms as violently as they could to attract the attention of the engine-driver.

The young ladies proceeded at once to give all the assistance they could to the injured passengers ...[4]A cattle market was established in Rothbury in 1871, and development of the town for residential and holiday purposes, as well as the provision of a racecourse, improved the financial situation of the line.

However, the extraction company suddenly surrendered its lease in 1886 and, except for a small amount of quarry working, the minerals were no longer brought to the surface.

[1] In February 1902, Tynemouth Corporation requested a siding connection to assist in the construction of Fontburn Reservoir.

[note 6] Increasingly efficient road transport caused a collapse of the passenger and goods traffic, and closure was inevitable.

A basic weekly goods service continued but, on 9 November 1963, the Rothbury line was closed completely.