Liddesdale History

Problems with Liddesdale History website

2010-11-10T02:58:00.000-08:00

I am having problems with my web host wetpaint.com

So, for the moment, the website can only be viewed at http://www.liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/ and not at http://www.liddesdalehistory.co.uk/

I can be contacted by email at liddesdalehistory@btinternet.com

Waverley Route passenger train timetable 1963 - 1964

2010-02-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

The working timetable of passenger trains for Scotland, 9th September 1963 to 14th June 1964, shows more details than the published timetable.

In the case of the southern end of the Waverley Route this includes timings for trains calling at the line's three unadvertised stations - Parkhouse Halt, Harker and Whitrope Siding.

Parkhouse and Harker served the needs of the workforce of nearby munitions depots, and Whitrope was for the benefit of railway staff and their families. Whitrope had no platform, and passengers boarded and alighted from the trains using a ladder.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Waverley+Route+Passenger+Trains+1963-1964

Waverley Route Train Timetable August 1923

2010-01-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

1923 was an eventful year in the history of Britain's railways. From 1st January that year, most railway companies were combined into four large companies - London & North Eastern, London Midland & Scottish, Southern and Great Western. This event was called "The Grouping".

Liddesdale's railways, previously part of the North British network, were merged into the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER).

The timetable for August 1923 has been added to the website at this page:

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Waverley+Route+Timetable+August+1923

Building the Liddesdale railways 1859-1862

2009-10-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

After a long period of inactivity, I have added another article to the Liddesdale History website. This one is about the building of the railways through Liddesdale, a process that took three years. The new line opened in stages from the Carlisle end with complete opening on 1st July 1862 the same day as the new Border Counties line from Hexham to Riccarton. The newspapers of the time and the 1861 census returns for Castleton parish are a rich source of information for progress on the line's construction and stories about some of the people involved in the work.
http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Building+the+Liddesdale+railways+1859-1862

Liddesdale railways : developing the route south from Hawick

2008-09-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

Between 1855 and 1859 several attempts were made to build rail links south from Hawick to Carlisle and Newcastle. To reach Carlisle, there was a choice between the Langholm and the Liddesdale routes. The choice was complicated by competition between the North British and the Caledonian railway companies. The Langholm route would probably have generated more local traffic than the Liddesdale route, and both lines would have served the Canonbie Coalfield, but the potential of the Plashetts coalfield could only be realised if the Border Counties Railway being developed to link Hexham with Hawick were completed. Although local opinion was largely in favour of the Langholm route, local financial backing was insufficient to build the line. Eventually the choice was made by the North British Railway Company who put their money behind the Border Union scheme which linked with the Border Counties extension line up the North Tyne to join the Liddesdale line at Riccarton Junction. The Border Union also enabled the North British to reach a west coast port (Silloth) independently of its rival, the Caledonian Railway. Proposals to extend the Border Counties Railway northwards to Jedburgh or Hawick via Rule Water and a tunnel under the Note 0' the Gate never reached fruition.

An article about this episode in the railway history of Liddesdale can be found at

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Railways+of+Liddesdale%3A+developing+the+routes+south+from+Hawick

Map of Liddesdale 1654

2008-08-26T02:03:00.000-07:00

Timothy Pont's map of Liddesdale published in 1654 in Blaeu's Atlas of Scotland is available in digital form via the National Library of Scotland website. A link has been added to the Liddesdale history website.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Links+to+history+sites

Roads of southern Scotland

2008-08-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.oldroadsofscotland.com/index.html provides an overview of the history of roads and tracks in Scotland, particularly southern Scotland. Its focus at present is on identifying the course taken by roads and tracks in different historical periods but it is hoped eventually to provide some analysis as to the reasons a route developed and the factors that influenced the course it took. Further sections are planned on roads in different time periods as well as a history of legislation relating to roads and traffic. Includes some material relevant to Liddesdale.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Links+to+history+sites

Railways of Liddesdale: proposals in the 1830s and 1840s

2008-08-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

In the 1830s and 1840s many proposals were made for railways to link Glasgow and Edinburgh with England. Two of these schemes would have passed through Liddesdale : Hexham-Kielder-Note o' the Gate-Galashiels-Edinburgh and Gilsland-Liddesdale-Edinburgh. Neither was built. The article explores the schemes and why they did not succeed.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Railways+of+Liddesdale%3A+proposals+in+the+1830s+and+1840s

Waverley Route Train Timetables

2008-05-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

After a gap of several weeks, I have now created a new page on my website, features railway timetables for the Waverley Route which ran through Newcastleton, serving also Kershopefoot, Steele Road and Riccarton Junction.

Today I have added scans from the LNER Passenger Services timetable dated "October 6th 1947 until further notice".

This timetable comes from my grandfather's collection.

Liddesdale flood of 1846

2008-04-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

On a street corner in the main square of Newcastleton is a memorial stone set up to commemorate a disastrous flood that devastated Liddesdale and surrounding areas in July 1846. I have added a page to the website about this flood, based mainly on contemporary newspaper reports. The accompanying photograph shows the Liddel in its normally calm state.

Some Newcastleton train tickets

2008-04-07T01:34:00.000-07:00

Having acquired a scanner, I am now able to add some images to my website.

Today's addition is a selection of tickets to or from Newcastleton, plus one for the last ever train from Langholm to Canonbie.

New website address

2008-03-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

My website can now be found at www.liddesdalehistory.co.uk .

Over the past week or two I have been adding some images to the site - a 19th century drawing of the natural bridge over the Black Burn which collapsed in 1810, a couple of views of the Townfoot Church. More images will be added when I get the time.

Origins of the Townfoot Kirk

2008-02-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

Latest addition to the website is an account of the founding and early years of the Secession Church in Liddesdale. In common with parishes all over Scotland, the catalyst for the breakaway was the appointment of a minister to the parish church without the approval of the members of the congregation. The fledgling congregation sought help from both branches of the Secession. An initial link to the Antiburghers proved shortlived, but the people settled with the Burghers in the end.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Townfoot+Kirk+%3A+Origins+of+the+Congregation

Rev James Fletcher

2008-02-26T14:55:00.000-08:00

James Fletcher was the first minister of the Secession Church in Liddesdale and resigned his charge in 1801 when accused of what the church authorities considered to be heresy. I've added an article to the website which reviews his life and some of the influences that affected his opinions.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Rev+James+Fletcher

Oakshaw Colliery

2008-02-11T00:53:00.000-08:00

I've added in a note to the 'Newcastleton in 1852' article to explain why a carrier was going to Nether Oakshaw every week. The reason has to be to fetch coal from the Oakshaw Colliery, which operated there from the mid 1800s until 1948.

Newcastleton in 1852

2008-02-04T08:09:00.001-08:00

Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory and Topography of Scotland, 1852 presents a picture of the village a decade or so before the railway was built.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Newcastleton+in+1852

Newcastleton United Presbyterian Church

2008-02-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

So far all that appears on the website about this church is a link to a photograph showing the church in the 1870s, in an unfamiliar guise predating the major alteration of the 1890s.
The photograph is held by the National Archives of Canada.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Newcastleton+United+Presbyterian+Church

In the future I plan to add a more extensive feature on the history of the church, plus information about its memorable first minister, the Rev James Fletcher who resigned when faced with accusations of heresy. Mr Fletcher is also said to have been an inventor.

Crime in Liddesdale in the early 1800s

2007-12-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

During the first year of Queen Victoria’s reign, Parliament passed an Act enabling small debts to be more easily recovered in the Sheriff Courts. This established circuit courts in each county and to begin with Newcastleton was one of the four towns in Roxburghshire where this itinerating court was held. Hawick and Kelso each had Small Debts Court six times a year, Melrose four times, and Newcastleton three. Small debts don’t make news, so the pages of the Kelso Mail are virtually devoid of references to the subject but there were plenty of other crimes reported which occurred in Liddesdale or involved Liddesdale people.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Crime+in+18th+century+Liddesdale

Animal Feats

2007-12-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Lunchtime reading a few years back was old issues of the Kelso Mail. The National Library of Scotland holds copies for 1802-1841, and as it was the only newspaper published in the Borders in those days I hoped it would contain information on Liddesdale. There was plenty.
Four light-hearted stories caught my attention – all to do with animals - and this article is the result.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Animal+stories

Newcastleton in 1837

2007-12-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

Pigot & Co’s National Commercial Directory of Scotland 1837 gives a much fuller picture of Newcastleton than its predecessor in 1825 with a longer list of prominent citizens (gentry, principal farmers and clergy) plus the names of about 60 traders. The impression is of a small but thriving rural market town which despite being only 40 years old has reached a degree of maturity and prosperity. Industry seems to be confined to the activities of a few handloom weavers.

Pigots’s comment about recent repairs paid for by the Duke of Buccleuch at Hermitage Castle can be confirmed by the Kelso Mail (July 28, 1834).

The Duke’s interest in rebuilding the castle ruins may have come about as a result of his visit to Liddesdale the previous year (March 15,1833) for a ‘great meeting’ of his tenantry and friends from Eskdale, Teviotdale, Canonbie,Ewes and Liddesdale.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Newcastleton+in+1837

Newcastleton in 1825

2007-12-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

The earliest directory known to list details for Newcastleton is Pigot & Co’s New Commercial Directory of Scotland 1825/26 when Newcastleton was still a relatively new settlement.

This article is a reworking of one I originally wrote for the Copshaw Clatter back in February 1984. It looks at what the directory tells us about the village and dips into other information sources to create a broader picture of what life was like nearly 200 years ago.

http://liddesdalehistory.wetpaint.com/page/Newcastleton+in+1825

Getting started

2007-07-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I was asked to write a history of Newcastleton Congregational Church. This was for published in instalments in the church's magazine The Messenger. The church's first minister was a most interesting character - James Fletcher by name. Not only was he suppsed to have been an inventor, but he was also forced to resign from his ministry for heresy. Of course. Mr Fletcher didn't think there was anything wrong with the views he was expressing - indeed, he thought they were perfectly compatible with the Bible. But the Associate Synod ( the highest court of his branch of the Scottish church) disagreed. Rather than have the Synod cast the whole congregation out of fellowship, Mr Fletcher resigned. Fortunately the story of how all this came about is recorded in the church records (they are in the National Archives of Scotland) and in Fletcher's own book The Orthodox Scheme which he published in 1803 shortly before he died. There is a copy in the National Library of Scotland.

Introducing this blog

2007-07-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

The idea of this blog is to bring together people who are interested in the history of Liddesdale. Liddesdale is a valley in the Scottish Borders, more or less synonymous with the parish of Castleton. Its main town is Newcastleton, known to the locals as Copshawholm.

Maybe you are a resident of Liddesdale, or you lived there in the past, or your family comes from the area. Here you can ask questions and share research results.

I look forward to hearing from you.