history of the garden station
Formerly Langley Railway Station,
this charming building has now found new life
as The Garden Station - one of Hexham's historic visitor attractions
where you can enjoy a lovely day out.
History
The first train sets off in 1867. It is the lead line built to serve the smelt works in the Langley Woods – a considerable employer in its time. When the line is built an unusual bridge must be constructed: the flue bridge, which still stands as a glorious arch, renovated by English Heritage and now marking the Eastern end of The Garden Station’s Woodland Garden. The flue itself runs over a mile up the fields to reach the 100-foot Stublick Chimney on the top of the hill.
On 1st March 1869 the first passenger train runs from Hexham to Allendale. The ‘Hexham Courant’ of the time reports that, ‘the journey was a pleasant one, the weather being extremely fine, old Sol shining in all his refulgence. The inhabitants of the district testified their joy at the auspicious event in a befitting manner...[and at Langley Station] the rejoicings were very demonstrative. Cheer after cheer was heartily given, and the Langley Band struck up a most enlivening air.’
For 61 years the passenger service continues. It makes a profit on a Tuesday, when it transports livestock between the villages and the market in Hexham, where Tuesday is still market day. At other times, barely a handful of tickets are sold, and the proposed continuation of the line to Allenheads never happens. The ticket office at Langley doubles as the village post office, and this continues until 2000.
No-one caught the last train in 1950. It was the largest ever to run on the line, and it was collecting the paraphernalia of the goods and parcels service which had continued after the passenger service had stopped (apart from occasional excursion trains). Fortunately the buildings remained, as they had been built to last.
Herstory
The last person to run Langley Post Office from the Station was Jane Torday. In 2000, faced with probable closure of the Post Office, she decides on another incarnation for the Station. In collaboration with Ingrid Gifford, she designs and plants a garden between the platforms and creates a school of leisure courses, including gardening and art. Art works begin to adorn the Station building and the areas outside. ‘The Garden Station’ is born.
Over seven years, Jane develops The Garden Station. It acquires a regional and national reputation as a garden of unique character, and the planting continues down the track under the two bridges. Jane’s design and choice of plants meet the unusual challenges of shade and damp within the railway cutting which is in turn bordered by the mature trees of Langley Woods. A garden design group working with Jonathan Archer, estate manager at the nearby Whitfield Estate, contributes a water cascade in 2007, and in the same year an environmentally-sound extension to the Station is built by Geoff Jackson of Langley Furniture Works, and Jane embarks on lunches for visitors on summer weekends. The courses go from strength to strength and The Garden Station has developed links with many local and regional artists.
Ourstory
At the end of 2007, Jane decided, for family and personal reasons, to put The Garden Station on the market. Mike Winstanley, a former teacher turned restaurateur, bought the business, the transaction completing the day before it re-opened, in March 2008. Hours and the opening season have increased substantially in the café, but the courses and the commitments to art continue.
The gardens have continued to attract visitors from far and wide and have survived the challenges of a summer which saw Northumberland towns flooded. In their natural surroundings, the woodland and garden plants are harmonious in appearance and the aim is to have a garden which is exemplary in terms of environmental responsibility within a few years. ‘Let’s Get Growing’, a local organic gardening business employed by The Garden Station, will help in the objectives of achieving a welcoming habitat for wildlife, doing no damage to surroundings or soil, and creating both aesthetic pleasure and environmental peace.
A sense of peace has always been one of the great attractions of The Garden Station. Working with nature in the garden is only one aspect of this: the café, too, is run with the utmost environmental care, using local and organic ingredients, avoiding air-freight, powered entirely by electricity from renewables, cleaned with environmentally-responsible products. And in human-to-human terms, too, peace is the commitment: where human rights and fair trade are valued, peace prevails. So The Garden Station is part of Fairtrade Hadrian’s Wall, prefers to do business with co-ops, and avoids all companies which make excessive profits.
So come up and have a great time – this place is the place of our story, and, with your help, it is the story of a future for the Earth.