Look â reader, i understand this about as much as you do. It just popped up in my recommendations
one day. I watched the entire series of videos this is apparently a part of, and i still donât feel
like i get it. Something about James Dean and evil national landmarks?
This is one of the better-done things in the recent wave of âanalogue horrorâ that has been
circulating the interwebs â short, spooky videos taking inspiration from late-night public
television or other media of the past. I just think it's neat. Anyone else want to go through the
WASHINGTONWORMHOLE?
I've decided that the only people who are allowed to do the Youtuber voice are the
Vlogbrothers. Everyone else has to learn to talk like a normal human being.
It often feels like, as soon as the calendar ticks over from 22 to 23 September, that autumn, having
hidden its face for months upon months, all of a sudden decides to come out all at once. Auburn
leaves begin to fall, telling the time until winter like an hourglass; the days get shorter and the
nights come earlier, the air gets that particular autumn crispness, and, of course, it begins to
rain.i
Not that iâm complaining. Autumn is, in my view, the most wonderful season of the year: yes, summer
is nice and warm, and winter is the time for comfort and gezelligheid with family and
friends, but autumn is when our festivities are perhaps the closest to how they were millennia ago.
Echoes of the last harvest festivals of the year still ring (school assemblies for the young,
pumpkin spice for the jaded), and whatever you want to call it â Halloweâen, All Hallowsâ Eve,
SamhÂain, Day of the Dead â the atmosphere about that midautumn celebration
beats even Christmas for the best time of the year; for a whole month, the western world lets itself
get a little morbid for a changeii, and the celebrations have the good sense
to get out of the way quietly once November shuffles along.
So. Happy autumn, everyone! Enjoy it while it lasts.
It's been far too long, hasn't it? (Rest assured, i have been continuing my walk along the Blyth and
Tyne railway â just at a rather glacial paceâŚ)
Last time on The Garden: the axe falls on the Blyth and Tyne line, and i foolhardily decide to walk its lengthâŚ
Our journey begins at NorthÂumÂberÂland Park, in North Tyneside. Though itâs the
first station weâll be visiting, it was the last to be constructed, having only opened in 2005 â and
itâs quite easy to tell, even after sixteen years of wear and tear; the place is outfitted with
modern amenities, lifts, ticket machines flush with the wall, and, more lately, pandemic-themed
graffiti opposite the platform. This unassuming metro station will, according to the county
councilâs plans, serve as the interchange between the old and new lines, heavy rail and metro
meeting one last time before splitting apart and going their separate ways.
Setting off from there, the first thing that caught my eye were twin giants: a frosted glass-covered
car park and a red-brick Sainsburyâs, unexpected icons of the modern British condition. It didnât
get much better from there; down the road lies an American-style strip mall lined with bookmakers
trying to get people to piss away all their money.
This sorry-looking trolley was, i presume, abandoned from the local Sainsburyâs.
This southernmost tip of NorthÂumÂberÂland is criss-crossed by innumerable public footpaths, cycle
paths, bridleways, and other routes for non-metal-box-related transport; ducking onto one of the
reclaimed
âwaggonwaysâ once used
to transport coal, i found myself on the site of the second station on the list.
The leafy suburb of Backworth has a habit of burying its history.
A hoard of offerings from Roman times
was found underground in the 1810s, the last vestiges of the colliery that once was are long gone,
and the tale of this sorry ex-station is rather similar. Opened in 1864 to replace a nearby station
closing the same day, BackÂworth station served its community for over 100 years, surviving the
Beeching cuts. But when the Tyne and Wear Metro was announced to come to town, the old station
finally closed⌠for good. It wasnât until the opening of NorthÂumÂberÂland Park that there would be
a replacement.
As i wandered through the village's verdant streets, i couldnât help but think of its resemblance to
the straight, cycle-friendly streets of my old hometown. A little greenery can go a long way.
The graffiti reads âMonty Brown is a grassâ. I would never say such unkind things about Mr
Brown.
Network Rail were hard at work at the site of the aforementioned original BackÂworth station, whose
plot of land now sits vacant, marking the cityâs last hurrah; the further i walked along the dirt
back roads, the further the sounds of bustling cars receded, until, ducking under a shady underpass,
i found myself utterly alone amongst pastoral fields (and the overwhelming scent of manure).
That peace and quiet was swiftly interrupted by a troupe of boy racers on motorcycles and
quad-bikes, but you canât win them all, you know?
After the county borders were hacked up in 1974, this line became the divider between rural
Northumberland and ostensibly-urban Tyne and Wear.
The (post-1974) border town of Seghill occupies only the tiniest fragment of the
collective English consciousness, popping up briefly in an anti-scab minersâ folk song called
âBlackleg Minerâ:
Itâs in the evening after dark, when the blackleg miner creeps to work With his
moleskin pants and dirty shirt there gans the blackleg miner!
[...]
So, divvint gan near the Seghill mine Across the way they stretch a line, to catch the
throat and break the spine of the dirty blackleg miner
[...]
So join the union while you may Divvint wait till your dying day, for that may not be
far away, you dirty blackleg miner!
For our purposes, itâs chiefly notable for the fact that itâs the first disused station on the list
whose buildings are still intact and in use, this time as a corner shop, from which i of course
bought a copy of the local rag â prominently including a
Q&A about the restoration of service on the line, which i
thought a fitting reminder of why i set out on this silly old journey in the first place.
After getting some well deserved rest, i headed on off towards the next town over, awaiting what
fresh stories i would find...
Next time on âWalking the Blyth and Tyneâ: your author is reminded of her own mortality, finds
himself in the company of a noble family, and shudders at the thought of having to go to Blyth,
of all places on Godsâ green Earth
Maart, 1963. Groot-BrittanniĂŤ zit in de greep van de koudste winter in twintig jaar, een nieuwe
gezicht bestuurt de Arbeiderspartij, The Beatles hebben net hun debuutalbum uitgebracht, en diep in
de krochten van Westminster zit Dr. Richard Beeching een verslag te schrijven â een verslag die het
bindweefsel van het land voor altijd zal veranderen.
Dr. Beeching is voorzitter van de Britse Spoorwegen, een staatsbedrijf belast met de exploitatie van
het spoorwegvervoer, en zij hebben een klein financiĂŤel probleempje. De
BS beheren ongeveer 25.000 kilometer spoor tussen 4.500 stations, en de
enige manier waarop ze zoân grote operatie kunnen runnen is met royale subsidies van de overheid -
iets waar de regerende Conservatieven nooit erg blij mee zijn.
Dus legt hij, met een pen in de hand, zijn metaforische bijl aan het netwerk. Duizenden stations
zijn klaar om te sluiten. Het is niet prettig, maar het moet gebeuren â mensen kunnen toch gewoon de
auto nemen naar de dichtbijste station.i
Zo reden een jaar later de laatste passagiertreinen over 8.000 km spoorlijn door het hele eiland.
Dat omvatte de lijnen tussen de mijnsteden van het industriĂŤle hart van Northumberland. De Tyne
& Wear Metro opende in 1980 en liet sommige heropenen in de buitenwijken van Newcastle en
(relatief) welvarende kustplaatsen. Maar een paar km noord ligt de oude Blyth- en Tynespoorweg, al
die jaren later nog steeds dicht. Tot nu.
Het lot heeft beslist dat de graafschapsraad en Westminster nu akkoord zijn om deze steden opnieuw
te verbinden met de metropool. De Blyth- en Tynespoorweg, nu bekend als de
Northumberlandlijn, zal, als alles volgens plan verloopt, in 2024 weer open gaan. Om dit historische moment te
vieren, dacht ik te kijken wat er geworden is van deze oude stations. Ik heb er veertien
geĂŻdentificeerd, verleden, heden en toekomst. Ik zal tussen elk van hen lopen en elk van hun
verhalen vertellen. De lijst bevat:
Northumberland Park, een metrostation dat klaar is om het knooppunt van de
nieuwe lijn te worden
Backworth de tweede
Backworth de eerste, al lang gesloten tijdens de bijl van Beeching
Seghill
Seaton Delaval, gepland om te heropenen
Hartley Pit/Hartley, twee oude stations slechts en paar meter van elkaar
Newsham, gepland om te heropenen
Blyth, op een oude aftakking
Blyth Bebside, gepland om te heropenen
Bedlington, gepland om te heropenen
Noord-Seaton
Ashington, gepland om te heropenen
Woodhorn: stond op de eerste plannen voor heropening, maar is sindsdien mysterious verdwenen
Newbiggin: het station bestaat niet meer, maar de route is veilig gesteld voor het geval
Itâs March of 1963. The island of Great Britain is in the throes of its coldest winter in two
decades, senior frontbench MP Harold Wilson was recently handed the
reins of the Labour party, the Beatles have just released their debut album, and, somewhere in the
bowels of Whitehall, Dr Richard Beeching is writing a report that will change the countryâs
connecting tissue forever.
Dr Beeching, you see, is the chairman of British Railways, the state-owned company in charge of rail
transport, and theyâre in a spot of financial trouble. British Railways are in charge of running
fifteen thousand miles of track shuttling between about four and a half thousand stations, and the
only way they can do that is via generous subsidies from Her Majestyâs Government â something which
the governing Conservatives, as a rule, are never too happy about.
So, pen in hand, he takes a metaphorical axe to the network, marking about half of the islandâs
stations for closure. Itâs not pleasant, but it has to be done â and, after all, people can just
take the car to their nearest station if their townâs is shut.i Iâm sure it
wonât be too bad.
That's how, a year later, the last passenger trains ran along 5,000 miles of railway across England,
Scotland, and Wales, including those connecting the mining heartland of industrial Northumberland.
The Tyne and Wear Metro, opened in 1980, allowed some of these lines to reopen in Newcastleâs
suburbs and (relatively) affluent coastal communities. But just a few miles north, the former Blyth
and Tyne Railway has lain dormant ever since the axe fell⌠until now.
In recent years, the stars have aligned, and both the county council and Westminster have agreed to
reopen the line, finally bringing these proud towns back together. The Blyth and Tyne Railway, now
rechristened by the more attractive name of the
Northumberland Line, is set to reopen by 2024. To celebrate this historic moment, i thought iâd see what has become of
the stations and towns that were. Iâve identified fourteen stations, past, present, and future,
along the line, and iâll be walking between each of them in turn, seeing what stories they tell. The
list includes:
Northumberland Park, the metro station ready and waiting to become the new
lineâs interchange
Backworth (the second)
Backworth (the first), already long closed by the time the axe fell
Seghill
Seaton Delaval, planned for reopening
Hartley Pit / Hartley, two old stations just metres apart
Newsham, planned for reopening
Blyth, on an old branch line
Blyth Bebside, planned for reopening
Bedlington, planned for reopening
North Seaton, now subsumed within Ashingtonâs town area
Ashington, planned for reopening
Woodhorn, listed on early plans for reopening but mysteriously disappeared since
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, no longer in existence but with the route there safeguarded just in case
Als de maand endigt en de zomer ten einde loopt is het weer tijd voor de maandelijk recap van alles
dat is gebeurd. Dit was augustus.
Bekeken films
Wes Andersons The grand Budapest hotel (2014) â Ik wil binnenin deze film
wonen, en als dat niet mogelijk is, zal ik een manier vinden om het hele film aan mijn muur te
hangen. Een sterke kanshebber voor mijn tweede favoriete film allertijden. (A+)
Quentin Tarantinoâs Inglourious basterds (2009) â Ik moest me wel afvragen of
hun Duits en Frans eigenlijk wel goed was. (A)
Ilya Naishullers Nobody (2021) â Een goed actiefilmpje met leuke scènes die
ik vermoedelijk zal vergeten binnen de jaar. (C)
James Gunns The suicide squad (2021) â Ik ging naar de bioscoop voor de
eerste keer sinds de pandemie begon om dit te zien - ik zou alles geaccepteerd hebben! (B)
Beluisterde albums
The Beatlesâ Sgt. Pepperâs lonely hearts club band â (Classic/10) [Beste
nummer: âA day in the lifeâ]
Chvrchesâ Screen violence â Het is âŚ. okĂŠ? Niet hun beste, niet hun
slechtste. (C) [Beste nummer:
âBetter if you donâtâ]
Green Dayâs American idiot â Tegen het einde begint het allemaal een beetje
hetzelfde te klinken. (C+) [Beste nummer:
âAmerican idiotâ]
Will Woods The normal album â Chaotisch Goed. (A-) [Beste nummer:
âI / me / myselfâ]
Diverse fotoâs en videoâs
De saaie â maar uitstekend fotografeerbare â stad Bedlington.
Genomen vanaf de Tyne Bridge. Ik kan alleen maar hopen dat de winkeleigenaar me niet gaat
aanklagen.
Het prachtige uitzicht vanuit de metro over de rivier Tyne.
As the month winds up and summer draws to a close, it's time again for the menstrual (not that kind!) look back on the month that was.
Films watched
Wes Andersonâs The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) â I want to live inside of this film,
and if that is not possible, i will somehow find a way to hang the entire thing on my wall. A
strong contender for my second favourite film ever. (A+)
Quentin Tarantinoâs Inglourious Basterds (2009) â You do have to wonder if their German
and French was actually any good. (A)
Ilya Naishullerâs Nobody (2021) â A good action film with fun setpieces which iâll
probably forget i ever watched. (C)
James Gunnâs The Suicide Squad (2021) â I went to the cinema for the first time since
the pandemic began to watch this â I think i would have taken just about anything! (B)
Albums listened to
The Beatlesâ Sgt. Pepperâs Lonely Hearts Club Band â I am not entirely sure i could
give this album an objective ranking after all these years of it being talked up, so, uh,
(Classic/10) [Best track:
A Day in the Life]
Chvrchesâ Screen Violence â Itâs.... fine, i guess? Not their best, not their worst.
(C) [Best track: Better If You Donât]
Lucy Dacusâs Home Video â Beautiful. Just beautiful. (B+) [Best track:
Triple Dog Dare]
Green Dayâs American Idiot â By the end of it it all starts sounding a bit same-y. (C+)
[Best track: American Idiot]
Will Woodâs The Normal Album â Chaotic good. (A-) [Best track:
I / Me / Myself]
Miscellaneous photos and videos
The dull but eminently photographable town of Bedlington.
Surreptitiously taken from the Tyne Bridge. I can only hope the shop owner isnât going to sue
me.
The beautiful view from the Metro over the river Tyne.
Richard in a Hat, a blog where a passionate collector of hats posts photos of himself wearing said hats â this
is what the internet was made for, i feel
(via the ever-excellent, but unrelated,
Language Hat)i
Best i could do was 8 out of 15, only one better than the gentleman in the video.
You could make a good webpage out of quizzes like these â i donât know if iâd be willing to risk the
copyright claims, but if anyone else wants a go at it, youâre very welcome to the idea.
The Victoria Tunnel runs beneath the streets of Newcastle, from the Tyne up to the Town Moor. It
traverses not only space, but time, through nearly every corner of Englandâs history: built to
transport coal in the Industrial Revolution, on the site of an old Roman spring, it was used during
the second world war to house those fleeing German bombs. It was even considered for use in the cold
war, before the government realised that some musty old coal tunnels would probably not provide the
greatest protection against a nuclear blast.
And now you can go down it. In 2007, Newcastle City Council decided to refurbish the tunnel and open
a small stretchâof it â the rest is either unsafe for sending humans down or currently in use as a
sewerâââup for public tours. Entry is via a side street along the Ouseburn, where the guides will
cheerfully show you a map and some old photographs of the entrance. Once you get inside the tunnel
itself, hard hats and torches are compulsory, and covid restrictions are still in full force. This
was both a benefit and a malefit: yes, the tour was shorter than it would otherwise be, and masks
get quite uncomfortable when youâre wearing them for an hour in a dank, dark tunnel, but on the
other hand, our small group of family and friends got the place practically all to ourselves,
without having to be shepherded alongside other members of the public.
The water from the ancient Roman spring is directed through a side channel, to avoid it getting
all over the tunnel floor. Sometimes it even works!
The tunnel is just barely wide enough to fit three people side-by-side, and if, like me, youâre of a
certain height, bumping your head on the roof is practically guaranteed. By every blast door,
thereâs a plaque about whatâs above you, and how it factors into the tunnel and the cityâs history,
stories with which the guides will gladly regale visitors (including some rather grim tragedies).
Coming back out the entrance, i felt more informed about this wonderful countyâs industrial history
â just in time to pop over to a gentrified vegan âsuperfood pubâ. The wonders of modern life.
Price: ÂŁ9â11 per adult depending on the length of the tour; ÂŁ4 per child
Address:
Victoria Tunnel Entrance, Ouse St., Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 2PF
â just next to the CrossFit gym.
Accessibility: The tunnel was built in the 19th century and without
accessibility in mind, so is not wheelchair-accessible. The Ouseburn Trust do, due to the
pandemic, offer a virtual tour.
Getting there: The Q3 bus from the centre of town
stops nearby; otherwise, getting there poses a bit of a hike, due to its location.
