Ebberston Station around 1910 courtesy of www.forgevalleyrailway.co.uk
Ebberston Station
Ebberston Station has been fully restored and there are three train carriages that have been renovated which sit alongside the old platform.
The station building and platform are in excellent condition and this station is the one on the Forge Valley line that most resembles how the station would have looked 100 years ago.
The station was originally called Wilton and the closest village to it is Allerston!
The reason it was not built in central Allerston is because the majority land owner at the time did not want the railway line built at all. Whether this was the reason the station was not named 'Allerston' is unclear.
Forge Valley Railway
The Forge Valley Railway connected Pickering to Scarborough between 1882 and 1950.
In total there were nine stations along the 16 mile route.
They were:
Scarborough
Seamer
Forge Valley
Wykeham
Sawdon
Snainton
Ebberston
Thornton Dale
Pickering
All the stations along the route between Forge Valley and Thornton Dale were built to a uniform design and all exist for various uses today.
This series of caches focuses on the six defunct stations on the Forge Valley Line.(Scarborough, Seamer and Pickering are still active train stations)
Forge Valley Station, and indeed the entire Scarborough - Pickering route, opened on 1st of May 1882. Just 68 years later on 3rd of June 1950 the route and all* the stations between Scarborough and Pickering closed despite strong objections from Pickering councillors.
The track between Seamer and Thornton Dale was lifted in 1952 - 1953.
When the final train to travel along the Forge Valley Line left Scarborough the Scarborough Evening News, reported: (on 9th of June 1950)
"There was an unofficial ceremony on Platform 7 of Scarborough station on Saturday, when a small crowd gathered to watch the departure of the 6.40 and wave goodbye to the 100 villagers aboard."
As the train travelled along the line for the last time the Evening News continued with a description that perfectly captures a true sense of community spirit.
"At the little village stations small crowds of people cheered the train on, workers in the fields waved, motorists at the crossings waved, and everybody in the train waved back."
The cache is placed just across the road from the old Ebberston Station which has been completely renovated and is in great condition. The station building itself is probably in the best state of any on the old Forge Valley Line, so it is recommended you have a look from the roadside.
Please note: the station building is now privately owned so please don't actually venture onto the premises
There is plenty of room to pull up in a car next to the cache location if you want to be quick. If you have more time (and its a nice day) there are even a couple of picnic benches underneath the trees that provide a wonderful setting to enjoy lunch.
The picnic benches and the grassy area surrounding the cache are suitable for wheelchairs. However, due to where the cache is hidden this would not be suitable for wheelchair users.
The cache is a small clip lock box with a few small swappable items and a log book with pencil.