Did Sherlock Holmes have even the most elementary knowledge of Horsham?

My former home town of Horsham is featured in the Sherlock Holmes story “The Five Orange Pips”. Surprisingly, in this story, the illustrious detective proves that he is not too well read about the town.

The story largely centres around the murders of members of the Openshaw family. John Openshaw visits Holmes on a stormy night in September, 1887, to seek advice concerning these events. In view of the opening comments from the detective, I am a little surprised that Openshaw stayed for very long. Holmes remarks at the start of the conversation,“You have come up from the south-west, I see." Openshaw replies with “Yes, from Horsham”. This, of course, immediately struck me as strange as Horsham is situated due south of London and is most definitely in the south-east and not the south-west.

Sherlock Holmes then comments that the “clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quite distinctive”. As someone who spent their childhood in Horsham I can say that I never encountered chalky soils in all my misadventures spent digging holes and playing on building sites. Openshaw, to his credit, does not make a direct reply to this comment. He was probably beginning to wonder why he had travelled up from Sussex on a wild and rainy night to listen to such drivel. In view of the weather, it also seems probable that all muddy deposits would have been washed from Openshaw's shoes long before he reached 221B Baker Street.

At the conclusion of the interview, Openshaw departs to catch the train from Waterloo to Horsham. This turns out to be a disastrous decision as he is murdered on his way to the station. If he had succeeded in reaching Waterloo, he may have been disappointed to find that there were no direct trains to Horsham. The line from Waterloo to Horsham runs via Dorking and then through the Betchworth tunnel. Unfortunately, records show that the Betchworth tunnel collapsed on the 27^th July, 1887, and remained shut for over six months. It would, thus, not have been possible for Openshaw to make his journey in September of that year without a number of changes of train. It is more than surprising that neither Holmes nor his client seem to be aware of this event.

Sherlock Holmes does not visit Horsham during the course of his investigations and eventually succeeds in identifying the murderers from inquiries made in London. This is perhaps a shame as he obviously could have learnt a lot from even the shortest of visits.

Walking from Haltwhistle to Alston along the South Tyne Trail

I have always been interested in disused railway walks and was delighted to find that it was possible to walk between Haltwhistle and Alston almost entirely along the former line between the two towns.  In fact, the only sections not along the original route are in the area of the Haltwhistle bypass and around the station at Lambley.  Taking advantage of the relatively good weather on Friday, 21st March, 2014, I walked the fourteen miles between the two towns along the South Tyne Trail.

The first part of the route is entirely on well metalled footpaths with easy gradients.  Some good views are to be had of the Alston arches immediately upon leaving Haltwhistle.  After a few miles, Lambley viaduct is reached.  Some steep paths have to be negotiated as the route avoids the privately owned Lambley station.  Fortunately, it is possible to walk over the viaduct and some spectacular views are to be had of the river and the viaduct itself as shown below.

Beyond Lambley, the path is mainly of gravel construction but makes for easy walking.  The old platform is still visible at Coanwood station.  A substantial pair of buffers are also still sited there.
The countryside is a mixture of moorland and woods until Slaggyford is reached.  A typical view of the countryside along the trail is shown below:

The largest settlement on the route is Slaggyford.  Whilst there do not appear to be any services for walkers in the village, the station is quite well preserved and worth stopping at for a few minutes.  The station building on the left of the photograph below is showing decided signs of having seen better days but presumably will be renovated once the South Tyne Dale railway reaches Slaggyford in the next few years.

The cycle trail turns off the railway line just south of Slaggyford and it soon becomes apparent that there is a good reason for this.  The footpath is very boggy for about a mile and makes for hard going and wet boots.  Considerable drainage works will be required before the railway can be reinstated in this area.  Thankfully, the boggy section does not continue for too long and a firm footpath is reached before the point that the narrow gauge railway starts just north of Lintley Halt.  The slightly unexpected start of the railway is shown below:

 

The firm footpath continues from Lintley Halt alongside the railway to the terminus at the wonderfully preserved Alston station.

 

The walk took me five hours at a moderate pace with a couple of breaks for sandwiches and coffee.  Admittedly I did the walk in March but I only saw six other walkers and no cyclists over the entire day.  I would certainly recommend the trail as a pleasant and relatively easy walk through stunning moorland scenery.  If you also have an interest in railway architecture, you are in for a memorable and enjoyable day.