Newick and Chailey railway station

Newick and Chailey
Location
Place	Newick
Area	Lewes District, East Sussex
Grid reference	TQ400210
Operations
Pre-grouping	London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways
Platforms	2
History
1 August 1882	Opened
29 May 1955	Closed
7 August 1956	reopened
17 March 1958	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Newick and Chailey was a railway station located about halfway between the villages of Newick and Chailey in East Sussex, England. It was part of the East Grinstead to Lewes line, more popularly known as the Bluebell Railway.

Facilities

The station was located on the single line, but consisted of two side platforms on a loop line. There were substantial station buildings on each platform with a pedestrian footbridge connecting the two. The old Up platform had a restaurant facility and toilets until rationalisation in the 1930s which removed all the buildings on this platform and the footbridge span.

Closure

Following the withdrawal of the services on the line in 1955, a Chailey resident, Margery Bessemer, forced its re-opening in 1956 for a short period when she discovered that the original Acts of Parliament which authorised the line's construction imposed a statutory obligation on British Railways to continue running services. British Railways responded by running the most meagre timetable possible, the so-called "Sulky Service". Parliament did eventually repeal the original Acts and the line closed in 1958.

The track was removed in 1960 and the station buildings were demolished in the mid 1960s. The site of the station platforms in a cutting was subsequently infilled and covered by housing. Their site is identified in a road still today called Lower Station Road. Despite the reopening of part of the line by the Bluebell Railway, an extension south now seems improbable, although the possibility has not been ruled out.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Sheffield Park Line closed, station open		London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Lewes and East Grinstead Railway		Barcombe Line and station closed

References

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons