Meeting planned to stop ‘nutty neighbours’ closing remote rail halt
David Leask
Tuesday November 21 2023, 12.01am, The Times
Transport
The Flow Country may become a Unesco World Heritage site. Liz Howe, above, and Ian Appleby blocked access to Altnabreac station
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A meeting has been called to find ways to reopen Scotland’s most remote railway station after it was closed by “nutty neighbours”.
Services to the tiny train stop of Altnabreac, in the Caithness Flow Country, were suspended last week because a couple who live near the platform will not let workers carry out repairs.
Rail, police and council officials will meet politicians next week to decide how to end a standoff that has caused tension in the Highland community of half a dozen homes.
Network Rail, which is responsible for maintaining the station, has already secured an interim interdict against two locals,
dubbed the “nutty neighbours” locally, to ensure its staff can get to the platform.
Raymond Bremner, the leader of
Highland council, praised the railway authorities for their “tolerance” of the situation but the Wick and East Caithness councillor stressed that the community, which is miles from the nearest road, needed its trains.
“Nobody has the right, the moral right, to shut off parts of Scotland or Caithness to its communities and its people,” he said.
“The name Altnabreac means ‘speckled burn’ in English, we are talking about the heart of the Gaelic heritage of Caithness. It has a huge place in our culture and must be accessible.
“What is happening just now is that part of the culture and history and heritage of Caithness has been shut off. In real terms not a lot people use the station but we have to ensure the accessibility to our remote communities for travellers, tourists, walkers.”
Scotland’s railway community has been buzzing with speculation about the future of the station. The meeting on Monday will include politicians, business leaders, Network Rail,
ScotRail, Police Scotland, the British Transport Police and other stakeholders.
Altnabreac railway station is the gateway to “getting away from it all”
JOHN LUCAS/GEOGRAPH
One possible outcome is for authorities to issue a compulsory buy-back order on the property, effectively evicting the couple from their home.
The householders who are blocking access are Liz Howe, a former police detective from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and Ian Appleby. They live in the station cottage right on the platform, which they bought in 2021 after a holiday in the area.
Darren Bruce, the former owner of the railway station house, is in dispute with Howe and Appleby
DAVID WARD
Howe made headlines in 2020 when she was reported missing after “turning to God”. She was found safe and well in the Highlands after a UK-wide police hunt.
Darren Bruce, 39, a businessman who sold them the house and says he still has property near by, is in dispute with the couple.
“As soon as you go anywhere near, they are out roaring and shouting,” he told The Sunday Times, “They are always coming out with Bible stuff; hexing people. I don’t know what is wrong with them.”
The Times was unable to reach the pair for comment.
Bremner, who has walked all over the Flow Country, said there were “routes of discovery” all around Altnabreac.
Colin Baird, a travel writer, suggested a long cycle ride from Altnabreac in the latest Lonely Planet
Scottish Experiences guide.
“It is a truly unique place where you can really get away from it all where you can find real solitude if that is what you are looking for,” he said. “The sky is huge and the only sounds you will hear are insects.”
The Flow Country, once seen as a wasteland, is now a candidate to be a Unesco world heritage site. The
Far North Line is considered one of the great railway journeys of Scotland.
Frank Roach, manager at regional transport partnership Hitrans, said: “We are keen to see a resolution to the access problem at Altnabreac.
“For almost 150 years access to the site by rail staff and non-motorised would-be passengers has not been a problem. I hope that normal service can be resumed soon.”
Transport