Steve Roberts
The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in the north of England was the star of the famous 1970 film. STEVE ROBERTS looks for clues that the inspiration for Edith Nesbit’s book was further south
“Nesbit visited her step-sister in New Mills in the High Peak. The famous scene when the children save a train following a landslip could be based on a real landslip that occurred in a nearby village.”
“Never before had any of them been at a station, except for the purpose of catching trains…” The three children descended the hill from their new home, sat on a fence to watch a train emerge from a tunnel, then hopped over to walk alongside the line to the station.
And so, authoress Edith Nesbit drew her ‘Railway Children’ to their adopted station, which would play such a significant part in their young lives. In RAIL 812 I visited Carnforth to see where
Brief Encounter was filmed. My purpose this time was different. I wanted to see not film locations, but where Nesbit was inspired to write her book. Did she live near a railway line and station, so is it based on a real place somewhere?
Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) is revered for that one book, The Railway Children, serialised in
The London Magazine (1905), then published in book form the following year. That serialisation is an early clue that maybe we’re looking at the south of England, not the north.
I mention the north deliberately. The book has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 version is most famous - a stellar cast included Dinah Sheridan as the mother, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren as the young triumvirate, and Bernard Cribbins as the porter Perks. The real star, however, was the railway, and this film was firmly in the north on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, with Oakworth station masquerading as the children’s playground. We should also mention the 2000 TV version, where Jenny Agutter crossed the parental divide to play the mother. That used the Bluebell Railway for filming the railway sequences.
Nesbit, a Londoner, began composing poetry, but is best known for children’s stories, which baulked against the era’s namby-pamby moralising. Although The Railway Children seems twee reading it today, it is nevertheless
If Nesbit watched Polhill tunnel being excavated, then everything’s in sync, with tunnel to the right and Knockholt station to the left and London that way.
a tale of courage and fortitude.
The book’s plot is straightforward. Harmonious family life is interrupted when father is hoiked off to prison on spying charges (the children only know that he is ‘away’). Circumstances necessitate a move from London to the country, where mother sustains them by writing. The children’s adventures fill the pages until father is acquitted and reunited (in an atmospheric cloud of locomotive smoke in the 1970 film). Dad’s arrest was almost certainly inspired by the Dreyfus Case (1894), when a young French officer was falsely accused of betraying secrets to the Germans.
Nesbit’s life was full of contradiction and, in some ways, it’s surprising she wrote the book. She’s been described as ‘an indifferent mother with a string of lovers’, yet depicted idealised family life. Her own father died before she was four and young Nesbit found herself peripatetic before settling at Halstead Hall (near Knockholt, in northwest Kent). She would be here for three years (1872-75), the location that some say provided the inspiration for the book. At least we know the origin of the lost father theme, plus being poor and uprooted.
When Nesbit was aged 20-odd, her family moved back to London, bringing an abrupt end to the Kentish idyll. In 1877 she met Hubert Bland, fell pregnant in 1879, and was married in 1880. They would have five children, and that theme of poverty returned for the young mother. There is little doubt that the mum in the book, struggling to make ends meet, is autobiographical, yet Nesbit never had the close, loving relationship with her children of the fictional matriarch.
Nesbit was a political animal. She was a founder member of the Fabian Society (1884), a British socialist organisation, which might explain the mother taking in a Russian émigré in the story. The Russian who appears at the station was inspired by the exile, Sergey Stepniak (1851-95), who murdered the chief of Russia’s secret police (1878) and later became the Blands’ friend. Curiously he died at a level crossing at Chiswick in 1896, when hit
What is undeniable is that Nesbit wrote her story with a setting in mind. But where? There are plenty of clues in the book.
by a train, having apparently not heard the guard’s warning - a reminder it’s always dangerous straying on the tracks (although the Railway Children do just that).
With the Blands living apart at first (the relationship was tempestuous), Nesbit tellingly resorted to selling stories and poems. Most of her married life was spent in a ménage
à trois with Bland’s lover, Alice Hoatson, a sub-plot Nesbit kept well away from her children’s book. Nesbit took other lovers, too - for example, young George Bernard Shaw, so this was no happy, conventional marriage. For all that, Nesbit was Victorian. She disavowed the Suffragettes, perhaps believing peaceful agitation was the way.
One of Nesbit’s later residences was in Grove Park suburbia, throwing up another possible candidate for that railway location. She lived here between 1894 and 1899, with a garden sloping down towards the railway line that may have inspired her writing. It certainly inspired other writers and luminaries to visit her - Shaw, Beatrice Webb and HG Wells to name but three.
Returning to The Railway Children, how much of the story really came from Nesbit’s own imagination? Oswald Barron, a journalist at the London Evening News, was struck on Nesbit, co-wrote with her, and, allegedly, provided the plot for Nesbit’s finest hour.
Nesbit also had help from the family. The dedication is to eldest child Paul. “To my dear son Paul Bland, behind whose knowledge of railways my ignorance confidently shelters.”
Paul was largely ignored by his father for being ‘dull’. Perhaps he found solace in the railways. But the happy tale of frolicking children conceals troubles - Paul took his own life, aged 60. There was also an accusation of plagiarism emerging in 2011. Did Nesbit filch the idea? The House by the Railway (Ada J Graves) was published in 1896 then serialised in 1904, the year before The Railway Children first appeared.
What is undeniable is that Nesbit wrote her story with a setting in mind. But where?
There are plenty of clues in the book. The house, dubbed Three Chimneys, is described as ‘white’, has a cobblestone rear yard, with a garden behind stables, and fields to the front. From the bedroom skylight it’s possible to see the railway cutting.
It’s downhill to the railway line, which is visible, along with a long double-track tunnel (to the right), of three turns, through a smooth-topped hill, preceded by the rocky face of the cliff, but not the station (which we presume is to the left, as the children walk to the station, but not through the tunnel). This is later confirmed as ‘Up’ trains exit the tunnel, heading left for the station and beyond. There is a flight of steps leading down the bank (or cliff) to the tunnel entrance. Also visible is the road between the station and the village, and the gate leading to Three Chimneys.
The station has two platforms, with main buildings on the Up side. There’s the booking office and general waiting room, plus Perks’ porter’s room. There is a mere shelter on the Down side. The green railway banks add colour. There’s a curve after the station on the Up side. There are crossing lines, a yard, trucks and piles of coal (some of which Peter nicks when the family can’t afford a fire), a water tank for thirsty locomotives and a level crossing. There’s a brake van and ‘GN&SR’ wagon, which is a cop-out - Great Northern & Southern Railway - that could be anywhere ma’am!
Mention of a Staveley Colliery wagon points us towards Derbyshire - the fact Nesbit had some Peak District connections has opened up a new line of enquiry, with this part of the world now also having its advocates. Of course, the coal wagon could have legitimately been in a yard down south, having delivered its raw material.
There’s also a signal box at the station, although Nesbit talks of boxes as there was another distant (near the tunnel entrance, as Peter and Phyllis emerge to seek assistance from the signalman, when a schoolboy lies injured inside). A canal, towpath and aqueduct are also described, which again is suggestive of Derbyshire and the Peak Forest Canal, which runs through the country where Nesbit stayed. What of the environs? The village pub is the
Rose & Crown and ‘Brigden’s Farm’ is nearby. Other stations are mentioned, Stacklepoole Junction and Maidbridge, where the grammar school is. And when was the story set? Well, it was in the era in which it was written and published. There’s a clue early on with the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) mentioned and later on 1905 is confirmed.
Some say it was Nesbit’s walks to Chelsfield station (1868) that inspired her.
This would place the genesis back in her late-teens, for Chelsfield is the next station up from Knockholt (1876). Nesbit allegedly observed the construction of a cutting and tunnel (Chelsfield) between today’s stations - significant perhaps, as both feature in her book, especially the tunnel where a boy from the local school falls during a ‘hare and hounds’ race.
There are other candidates for that tunnel: there’s the Polhill tunnel a bit further south, then the Sevenoaks tunnel, burrowing its way through the North Downs’ main ridge (the latter’s more than two miles long, the Southern system’s longest). There are cuttings and tunnels aplenty, suggesting we might be in the right place. If Nesbit watched Polhill tunnel being excavated, then everything’s in sync, with tunnel to right and Knockholt station to the left and London that way. There’s fine views over Kent countryside; another clue perhaps.
If this is correct, the book is drawing on the happiest period of Nesbit’s own childhood, a relatively settled time when she was at Halstead, staying in a four-bed detached cottage (Halstead Hall being not quite as manorial as it sounds). Nesbit wrote poems and walked to the station with her brothers, although not without some risk apparently. The house is closer to Knockholt station than Chelsfield, but given the former was not built until 1876, one feels it should be Chelsfield we’re looking at, which at least was open when Nesbit resided at the ‘Hall’.
Teasingly, Knockholt was not far behind, though. Nesbit saw workmen digging the tunnel, as they built the line between Denton Green and Knockholt, as well as constructing the station and station house (for the station master), which was once connected to the platform via a flight of steps.
Apparently Nesbit sat on the banks overlooking the line, watching the navvies dig out the tunnel. Sometimes she was there alone, sometimes with friends. The family returned to London in 1875, with station and house completed the following year. Nesbit may not have seen trains call at Halstead for Knockholt as it was first termed ( being The view of Knockholt station from the footbridge, with Platform 1 on the right. This setting resembles the station described in The Railway Children, with the main station buildings on the London-bound platform and a shelter on the other platform. The station master’s house is on the high ground just to the right of the bridge in the background. The station and station master’s house were both nearing completion when Edith Nesbit lived in nearby Halstead.
nearer to Halstead, with Knockholt some five miles away), but she saw buildings nearing completion.
It was time to get on the rails and try to work out which location was most likely to have inspired Nesbit. I drove to Knockholt, the southernmost of the stations I was interested in. Handily, all the stations I needed to visit were on the same line between Charing Cross and Hastings.
I drove to each, pondered, then took the train. I would be following the South Eastern Railway’s (SER’s) cut-off line through Grove Park, Chislehurst, Orpington and Sevenoaks to Tonbridge. Opened in 1868, this cut 13 miles off the SER’s original route via Redhill and owed its existence to competition, with the London, Chatham & Dover Railway (LC&DR) providing a shorter line to Dover via Canterbury. The SER had no option but to build a quicker route - either this or lose passengers.
I began in Kent. At Knockholt (Old London Road) I found a two-platform station (1876) where buildings have received a modern makeover, yet original features remain. The main building on the Up Platform 1 was vandalised and burned down in the early 1980s, and both passenger numbers and services have fallen as London commuters seem to prefer their own vehicles.
There is a farm bridge at the southern end of the platforms, which reminds me that there used to be sidings behind Platform 1, used for offloading manure and other organic substances from London - everything from road sweepings to felt hat trimmings. I’m not sure what Sir Waldron Smithers MP (18901954) would have made of the aroma. One daily express used to stop at Platform 1, the 0904 to Cannon Street, allegedly so that the VIP could board!
The rural area is exemplified by famous beech trees (the Knockholt Beeches). Until the 1960s lots of hikers alighted for that countryside, with upwards of a thousand piling off trains on a Bank Holiday. It is said some misinformed folk were disappointed when they reached the trees, expecting to see the sea instead (for ‘beeches’ read ‘beaches’).
A photograph of January 1934 shows ‘Schools’ Class 918 Hurstpierpoint heading through here with a Down train to Hastings. It was snapped passing Knockholt signal box, which was at the northern end of Platform 2. It had probably been working hard, as checking out the contours I surmised that I was at the cut-off line’s summit. There’s a steep gradient heading southeast from the Polhill tunnel down to Dunton Green, then Sevenoaks.
Station House, the station master’s dwelling, looks down on a line whose modern commuting time to London is less than 30 minutes. It can be seen on the high ground at the station’s southern end. The formidable station master of the book could have been modelled on one here. Shortly after the station’s opening, a photograph captured the incumbent… top hat and all!
The ‘Halstead’ bit in the original station name is understandable, but was dropped in 1900 due to confusion with the place in Essex. It wasn’t even intended to have a station here, but local fruit-growers and farmers prevailed as they needed access to London markets. Fair play, as they raised the £ 2,000 needed for the station’s building via subscription.
Halstead Hall played host to the village’s most famous resident, the house around 1½ miles from the railway. My visit to the village was fruitful, as it was here I felt I found the heart of The Railway Children.
All the ingredients are here. The village sign incorporates an image of a steam train and those three children.
Halstead Hall is in the village centre. From the front gate you see The Cock Inn on the corner of Station Road, leading to Knockholt station. The house is on a crossroads. Opposite is Otford Lane where you see a second pub, the Rose & Crown (as per the book).
In Church Road, which runs alongside the house, is the old village school and Widmore House Farm. All the ingredients are here. The village sign incorporates an image of a steam train and those three children.
In 1952 England suffered severe flooding, with Kent badly hit. Sea defences were beefed up in the aftermath so tons of chalk were dug out, wherever it was handy. It was at this time that the cutting north of Knockholt was significantly enlarged. Goods trains departed loaded with chalk around the clock.
I took a walk north of the station, where the A21 roars over the railway today. I looked down on the station site. Across four lanes of speeding traffic I could see the ‘cliff’ of Nesbit’s cutting and the tunnel entrance. It’s all here.
One stop further north is the two-platform Chelsfield (Station Approach). It’s difficult getting in the zone here as the station building is modern (1970s), its predecessor having been damaged by fire. I was still in ‘Schools’ territory, another picture from January 1934 featuring an Up train from Hastings, hauled by 921 Shrewsbury. The Golden Arrow Pullman boat train also tore through here. Perhaps Nesbit admired and was inspired?
Looking towards Sevenoaks, the platform on the left once had a siding behind it, but that was taken up shortly after that image was taken, with an electricity sub-station plonked down in its place. This was in preparation for third rail electrification, which arrived the following year.
The fields to the left continue to be farmed, while the village of Chelsfield lies around a mile away behind the tree-line, visible beyond the sub-station. However, this place is not very redolent of The
Railway Children, with a busy shopping parade just up from the station. I’ll stick with Knockholt.
There is another candidate. Grove Park has a 200-metre footpath named Railway Children Walk commemorating the novel. This path connects Baring Road (via a footbridge over the railway) with Reigate Road. Grove Park, its station (1871), and environs, stakes its own claim to be Nesbit’s inspiration. A heritage trail sets out the case.
The house in the book was Three Chimneys; Nesbit’s house in Grove Park was Three Gables. Both dwellings overlooked the railway line. Is it plausible for Grove Park to proclaim itself, the ‘Home of the Railway Children’?
The station (Baring Road) struck me instantly as not being like that in the book. We’re much closer to London here - there are five platforms, one serving the Bromley North branch, and the others the Charing Cross to Hastings main line.
Sources disagree about the station’s opening - 1868 is also posited. A photograph of 1888 shows today’s one-storey building overlooked (from across the road) by the Baring Hall Hotel, which fell into disrepair but which is being returned to its former glory following reopening in 2013. Nesbit would have been pleased to clock that Grove Park had a bookstall from 1899, although a later stall in the booking hall dated from just before or after the First World War and was previously at Elmers End station.
The trip between Knockholt and Grove Park is 18 minutes by rail. It’s apt that today’s trains are Southeastern, aligning with the line’s history. Heading back to Knockholt, where I’d left my vehicle, the journey was just long enough to formulate a theory that Nesbit’s setting ( Three Chimneys, station, tunnel) was a composite of her experiences as both lateteen and adult, with Three Gables taken from Grove Park and the station from Knockholt, where she had her tunnel at hand. Knockholt, with signal box and station master’s house, provided most inspiration, station-wise. Halstead village supplied the essential community element.
As well as the Nesbit claim, Grove Park has other reasons to feel special, as it was also home to cricketer WG Grace, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and England’s last workhouse. Sadly, we can’t admire Three Gables, as it has disappeared, replaced by either the Ringway (Community) Centre or the next-door block of flats (Stratfield House), which is actually next to Railway Children Walk. I’ve seen both suggested. They lie a short walk north of Grove Park station, in the same road - Baring Road.
Then there’s Derbyshire. I feel I need to make a foray to check out Strines station, once of Derbyshire, now within the Borough of Stockport and on the outskirts of Greater Manchester.
Research has shown that Nesbit visited her step-sister in New Mills in the High Peak. Her step-sister lived in a hamlet in the hills above, where there is a house called Three Chimneys. The famous scene when the children save a train following a landslip could be based on a real landslip that occurred in a nearby village. Then there’s that canal…
And finally what of Nesbit? She was a heavy smoker, dying of lung cancer aged 65, in 1924.