Memories of Ushaw Moor: Roy Lambeth Nov 30th 2003

Memories of Ushaw Moor: Roy Lambeth Nov 30th 2003.

Having failed my 11+ exam, in September 1959 I went to Whinney Hill Secondary Modern School (i was living in Musgrave Gardens in Gilesgate, Durham). Some of the more senior boys tried to make us feel welcome by fiding out our interests and introducing us to senior with similar interests. Being a trainspotter I was introduced to the late Stephen Dent who lived at 22 Whitehouse Lane in Ushaw Moor (he was related to the Tallentyre Dent family - the bakers shop at the cross roads). His Father worked as a clerk with British Railways in Newcastle. One saturday I was invited to go with him to meet some of his railway friends. I went from Durham to Ushaw Moor by bus (United No.44), found Whitehouse Lane and headed up the back street as instructed. Since very few gates had numbers on them I soon lost count so I asked directions from an elderly lady, but before I got my information I was ushered into her kitchen and fed homemade cakes with a cup of tea. Being from a housing estate in Durham, this surprised me but I was to find out that it was typical of mining communities. Then I learned why I was in the back street. She told me that the front door was only used for "Hatches,Matches & Dispatches" but the back door was ALWAYS open.



Having found Stephen, he took me down to Ushaw Moor Railway Station and introduced me to Jack Railton the station porter. The station had been closed to passengers for many years but it was kept open 5 1/2 days a week for parcels. There was a very old passenger coach in the siding that customers would use to leave parcels if the office was closed. Jack took us over the wooden viaduct to meet Jack Hammill (don't know his spelling) the signalman at New Brancepeth Signal Box (see my picture in the Gallery).

***See more of Roy Lambeth's Photo's HERE

From this first meeting in late 1959, until the closure of the Deerness Valley line I was a regular visitor to both station and signal box. In July 1960 I even travelled out to Ushaw Moor on Miner's Gala Day and went to The Big Meeting by train. During the next few years until the line's closure I would meet Stephen en-route to Esh Winning where we would go to The Big Meeting by train from Waterhouses Station at Esh Winning. In later years I spent several happy afternoons with Jack during his retirement at his home at Langley Moor. Stephen joined the Railways when he left school and had periods as Station Inspector in the Manchester area and Blackburn before going to the Bristol area where I lost touch with him. Several of his extensive collection of signal box photographs have been published in the railway magazine Backtrack where one day I saw the credit "The late S.C.Dent"