Memorabilia

Here is something that usually lives in my desk drawer. It is a North Eastern Railway guard's whistle dating from around 1905, and it was used by a guard on the 'Stainmore Line' back before World War I. It was given to me by my grandfather about fifty years ago.

It still works too! If  I see any of the dogs in our neighbourhood trespassing onto our vegetable allotment I occasionally give them a good blast on it from the study window! Even from 200 yards it soon gets their attention and they slope off with a "It wasn't me guv'nor! Honest!" look about them. Dogs the world over always know when they are where they are not supposed to be ...

There must be thousands of such items around that people keep to bring back memories either of the line or these days perhaps more likely of members of their family that worked on the railway.

In August during the 'Stainmore 150' weekend we will be holding an exhibition of memorabilia associated with the railway and if you do have such items we would love to hear from you so that you can bring it along to be displayed over the three days in a secure environment. To plan the exhibition and get display cards made we need to know in advance what you would like to bring. Drop me an e-mail to iain@stainmore150.co.uk and I will forward it to the organisers, or drop in any Saturday or Sunday at Kirkby Stephen East and chat to Mike or Sue.