A sign people will never forget legend; Performance in signal box draws crowds.

Byline: Tony Henderson

ADMIRERS of Robert Stephenson lined up the perfect venue for the performance of a railway ghost story in his honour. As part of a series of events to mark the 150th anniversary of engineer and railway visionary Robert's death, a signal box was booked for the performance of Charles Dickens's tale The Signalman.

The listed box is part of Norham Station in north Northumberland, which closed in 1965.

In the story, a signalman is visited by a ghost, whose appearances precede a tragedy on the railway line.

Berwick History Society decided to include a performance in their programme of events for Robert Stephenson, who designed the town's Royal Border Bridge.

They opted for the signal box at Norham, whose surviving buildings are now used as a railway museum.

"We had planned a single performance in the signal box but we were so overwhelmed by demand that we have run it for four nights," said project officer Tim Kirton.

Last night the capacity audience of 11 squeezed into the box, which will be lit by a vintage railway oil lamp, for the final show.

"With the one oil lamp, the mist coming down and the platform dimly lit by other oil lamps, it was all quite spooky," said Tim.

"The Signalman is one of my favourite stories. It is quite chilling, and we thought the signal box would be a most appropriate setting."

Norham Station opened in the mid-19th Century and the last station master and signalman was Peter Short, who began work in 1952.

He and his wife Katherine stayed on after the station closed, and Peter used part of the site to run a coal business.

They used some of the station buildings to house railway items and turned them into a quaint museum. Peter died 18 months ago, but Katherine kept it going.

The museum is open from April to September by appointment.

Another of the 150th events has been the showing of railway films in Berwick's Maltings centre.

One proposal is to mark the 160th anniversary next year of the Royal Border Bridge by showing rail films in Tweedmouth Engine Sheds. Talks are also advanced between Berwick History Society and Northumberland County Council on the prospect of permanently illuminating the bridge from March next year.

CAPTION(S):

SPOOKY NIGHT Chris Green gets ready to welcome an audience to see a performance of The Signalman the signal box at Norham Station, inset.