Beeching's Axe - Everingham Station Traditional Geocache
Beeching's Axe - Everingham Station
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Size: 
(small)
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A small click and lock box located on a public bridalway with car park access within 50 yards.
The Selby to Market Weighton rail link was opened on August 1st 1848 then continued to Driffield on May 1st 1890. One of the stations on the original line Harswell Gate was renamed on 1st Sept 1874 as Everingham. Although it seems that this station has been called Harswell in recent years there is no evidence to support it being renamed to that.
The line became a victim of the Beeching Axe and was closed on June 14th 1965. One of the platforms remains and the station house now privately owned has been renovated and sits proudly on it.
The 'Beeching Axe' is an informal name for a program of cuts to British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The cuts, amounting to a third of the network, were proposed in The Reshaping of British Railways by Dr Richard Beeching as Chair of the British Railways Board, and took place during most of the 1960s and early 1970s. The cuts were controversial when proposed, and remain controversial today
When Beeching was chairman of British Railways he initiated a study of traffic flows on all the railway lines in the country.
This study took place during the week ending 23 April 1962, two weeks after Easter, and concluded that 30 per cent of miles carried just 1 per cent of passengers and freight, and half of all stations contributed just 2 per cent of income..
The report The Reshaping of British Railways (or Beeching I report) of 27 March 1963 proposed that of Britain's 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of railway, 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of mostly rural branch and cross-country lines should close. Further, many other rail lines should be kept open for freight only, and many lesser-used stations should close on lines that were to be kept open. The report was accepted by the Government.
At the time, the controversial report was called the Beeching Bombshell or the Beeching Axe by the press. It sparked an outcry from communities that would lose their rail services, many of which (especially in the case of rural communities) had no other public transport.
The government argued that many services could be provided more cheaply by buses, and promised that abandoned rail services would have their places taken by bus services.
The station forms part of The Howdenshire Rail Trail
The trail starts to the West of Market Weighton on the A164 at Gallymore and runs for 9 miles to Bubwith. Passing through the agricultural landscape of Howdenshire it is virtually straight and flat. Some of the sections are wide open while the majority is made up of woodland which is in itself a valuable green corridor for wildlife, so help keep it this way and clean up after your dogs. It is full of interest and like the other trails it as been colonised with all manner of wild flowers, shrubs and trees. This route is a permissive bridleway so you can walk along it, or cycle and ride your horse.
With car parking available at Bubwith Highfields, Lincoln Flatts and Harswell Station.
This trail can be wet and muddy in winter mouths so be prepared.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ng gur raq bs gur cyngsbez qba'g pebff gur genpx.