Northiam railway station

]] Northiam was one of the original stations on the 12 mi line opened by the Rother Valley Railway between Rolvenden and Robertsbridge in 1900. All the original three stations were slightly remote from the villages which they were purporting to serve; Northiam, which was in fact closer to Newenden, lay 1.75 mi to the north of Northiam village. As with all K&ESR stations except , Northiam had a simple wooden-frame, corrugated iron clad station building. A long curving passing loop ran between two platform faces; Northiam was the only station south of Tenterden to be afforded such facilities, possibly on account of its location half-way between and Tenterden. Two sidings led into a small…

Passenger services returned to Northiam on 19 May 1990 when the Kent and East Sussex Railway Preservation Society extended its operating line to the station. The project had required extensive repairs to the bridge over the River Rother on the Kent/East Sussex county boundary which, at 66 ft, is the longest bridge on the line. The extension project featured in a 1989 episode of Challenge Anneka, the challenge being to restore within 48 hours the extant station building and lay sufficient track to allow a train to enter. The deadline was met and at 6.15pm on Sunday 23 July 1989, SECR P class locomotive no. 1556 was the first locomotive to return to Northiam station. The episode was broadcast…