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Members of the TVCRP team and officers from Community Rail Cumbria were joined by representatives of two community groups, Hadrian's Wall Youth Ambassadors and Haltwhistle Partnership, at a recent press training event.
Facilitated by CoComms, the training proved to be enlightening - gone are the days when a press release was all that was required to get some media coverage. It was interesting to learn from an experienced journalist, currently working for a national newspaper. A huge decline in sales of the printed newspaper means online media and social channels are now the source of news for many people.
We found learned about how the press get material for their articles and how we can improve our chance of getting an article published. A couple of practical exercises illustrating how to write (and condense) articles and interviewing techniques proved illuminating. Lots for us to work on in the future.
The CRP are grateful for the support provided by CrossCountry Trains and Community Rail Network for this training event and to Cumbria County Council for use of their room.
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The team at Tyne Valley CRP have been supporting the Newcastle branch of charity, St Vincent de Paul (SVP) as they start their work as station adopters of Manors Station.
Manors
is on the East Coast Main Line just north of Newcastle, but is not currently within the area of any CRP. Manors is served by the service from Carlisle along the Tyne Valley Railway to Morpeth.
Once a very large station with nine platforms, seven of which were closed in 1978 with the building of the Tyne and Wear Metro. Sadly, most of the station was demolished leaving only an island platform serving local trains.
The SVP adopted Manors in August 2022. The charity supports diverse group of individuals consisting of migrants, former homeless people, students, the deaf and local community etc. They have a large number of skills which they can bring to station adoption. Dr Megan Nottingham, SVP Well-being Coordinator, spoke of their plans on how to make the station interesting, attractive and welcoming. Various groups in SVP are taking part. The Poetry and Pie Men's Club, the Art Club, the Chit Chat Ladies Cafe, the SVP Walking Group, the Textile Programme and Knit and Natter Club. In addition, members of the SVP partner organisations will be invited to take part in the improvement of the Manors surroundings: Chilli Art Studio, Ouseburn Farm, Big River Bakery, Tyne Housing, The Mind Charity, Women East End, and In-common Crafts.
At the first meeting with the station adopters from the Tyne Valley, SVP members travelled up to the Old Booking Hall at Haltwhistle. Various ideas were discussed bearing in mind which were practical, likely to be achievable and gain support from Northern.
There is a lot of waste land around the station, which creates opportunity for a project focussing on ecology, sustainability and biodiversity.
There are a lot of blank fencing on the station approaches which could be linked with the history of Newcastle, its rich architecture and diverse communities. One SVP member wants to be a tour guide and has already debuted the station's history into his tours. SVP will approach the metal, textile and wood artists who can decorate the surroundings. The object is to communicate, include and engage with the wider community.
The CRP had invited Megan to join them at the recent Community Rail Awards event and she had the opportunity to meet other station adopters and gather more ideas. She said, “there was so much achieved in Manchester, and I am looking forward to the future”.
The plan to form close working between Manors and Haltwhistle, includes mobile workshops. A group from Manors could start with a session on the train on the way to Haltwhistle followed by a session for people from the Haltwhistle area.
The partnership has already started as Manors has secured a two week visit from the cyclo machine at the SVP centre from 29 October. The cyclo machine project is designed to encourage active travel, explore travel by rail whilst knitting scarves to keep warm.
It is envisaged that with the opening of the Northumberland Line in 2024, more trains will stop creating more travel opportunities for people in the area.
Dr Megan Nottingham said, “I am delighted, this opportunity helps to develop our role in the community in a very visible manner – making Manors’ adoption a true co-production project, focused on building resilience, well-being and the shared creative outcomes”.
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We are pleased to announce that the film "It Started with a Train Ride" has been been premiered to many of the people who have been involved in the project and you can now watch it on our YouTube channel or here on the website.
Thousands of children were evacuated by train to new homes in rural parts of the country during World War 2. Some were children living in Wallsend and North Tyneside, who travelled to their new lives in the Haltwhistle area by train along the Tyne Valley Railway.
Back in 2019, we were inspired to start a project to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the evacuation and this film is the result of that project.
Wallsend Local History Society undertook research, locating and interviewing more than 30 former evacuees, who had so many fascinating stories to tell. This video has only been possible because so many people recounted their memories, so a huge thank you to them. With financial help through crowdfunding and from North of Tyne Combined Authority, the project to create this film began. Haltwhistle Film Project and FilmAble (a film production company run by and for people with learning disabilities) recorded interviews with the evacuees, created animations and then with the help of young people from the Haltwhistle area, recreated scenes of the evacuation.
A train ride continues to bring together urban and rural communities and this project has brought together people of different generations and abilities.
The film has been shortlisted in the 2022 Community Rail Awards in the Involving Diverse Groups category.
We are indebted to all the evacuees who shared their memories, to members of Wallsend Local History Society, to our funders and rail industry supporters (CrossCountry and Northern), to the film makers, Gareth Davies Jones for the music and the young people of the Haltwhistle area - brownies, rainbows, scouts and the Young and Sweet youth club.
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Updated 6 December
There is some good news! The line will reopen to/from Carlisle on Wednesday 7 December.
If your journey on the Tyne Valley Railway was curtailed by Northern's Do Not Travel message on 12,13 or 19 November, you can claim compensation for the unused part of your ticket. You must do so within 28 days of of the date of travel. Find out more on Northern's website. However, please note that you can only make a claim from the retailer from whom you bought your ticket.
Following the derailment of a freight train on 19 October near Carlisle, trains on the Tyne Valley Railway and Settle Carlisle route are unable to operate in or out of Carlisle Station.
Passeng
er services along the Tyne Valley Railway will operate, where possible, to/from Haltwhistle with rail replacement buses connecting Carlisle to/from Haltwhistle calling at Brampton and Wetheral. West of Hexham has been reduced to an hourly service, this will impact on the number of trains calling at stations Newcastle to/from Hexham.
It is not possible for coaches to access the parking areas adjacent to Brampton and Wetheral Stations, find out where the rail replacement buses pick up and drop off passengers close to these station here. We understand a bus coordinator will be on site at Haltwhistle to assist passengers with transfers between trains and buses (although there may be times when a coordinator is not available).
Derailment timetables are available by clicking on the dates below:
(to be updated soon)
Please be aware that there are numerous timetables for the Newcastle-Carlisle route on Northern's website and some of them have been superseded by the emergency derailment timetables. Our advice is to make sure you scroll to the timetables at the bottom of the list to check for the derailment timetable.
Journey times will be extended. If your journey is delayed more than 15 minutes, please consider the Delay Repay scheme for delayed journeys. Here is the link for more information and to claim
You are advised to check before travel to see the impact on your journey. It is suggested that you check updates on Northern's website or at National Rail. Please note that as the emergency timetable is in place, service updates on these websites reflects any changes to that timetable (not the original May-December times).
If you have questions about a late or non running rail replacement coaches or other issue, please contact Northern's Customer Experience Centre:
Tel 0800 200 6060 Twitter or Facebook @northernassist
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All the wagons have been removed - the last three being recovered by crane. Watch Network Rail's video of this operation here
Before some of the wagons can be removed, their load of cement was transferred to road transport. A crane was built adjacent to the incident site to remove some wagons. Infrastructure repairs will also need to be undertaken.. As some derailed wagons were in the river, additional checks to assess environmental issues were undertaken. Media reports indicate there has been no cement contamination of the river.
Watch the recent interview with Northern's Regional Head of Trains &Stations and Hexham TV
We will endeavour to post any updates on Facebook and Twitter
Here are some of Network Rail's images of the incident.
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Working with the local branches of Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), we have created a leaflet to publicise pubs and hotels along the route of the Tyne Valley Railway who are renowned for serving real ales.
We encourage you to drink responsibly, be smart about your alcohol consumption, act responsively and show respect to others, especially when travelling on trains along the Tyne Valley Railway