Newark: Where a King choked on too many peaches
But it might have been binge drinking ... or being poisoned by a toad
At first glance Newark Northgate station doesn’t appear too remarkable. A handy place to change trains towards Lincoln. But take a walk towards Newark Castle station on the other side of the town and a surprising history reveals itself.
More tales from my new book On the Tracks of the Flying Scotsman. Published just last week by Great Northern Books. Available online and from all good bookshops. Here’s a taster of what you can find within its pages.
Newark Northgate station provides a useful connection for trains to Lincoln, but it is worth a brief walk into the town and its pleasant marketplace. The tall spire of St Mary Magdalene Church offers a useful guide. There is a hole in the spire that is the result of a civil war cannonball being fired at it, as the spire was being used as an observation post. The town’s castle is also worth the walk, standing on the banks of the River Trent, it was here in 1216 that King John died after eating too many peaches. His death is also blamed on binge drinking on sweet ale and being dosed with poison from a toad. Whatever caused his demise, as he was one of the most despised kings in English history, not too many tears were shed for the late monarch.
Newark Flat Crossing is the last remaining example on Britain’s rail network. The Nottingham to Lincoln line crosses the East Coast Main Line on the level, constraining capacity on both lines. Many schemes have come and gone to replace it, but its location, adjacent to the River Trent and a more recent addition, the Newark bypass, make such a scheme challenging to say the least. Within seconds of the flat crossing, the broad road River Trent is crossed. The adjacent disused warehousing a reminder that Newark was once a thriving inland port.
An advertisement. Over the coming year I’ll be travelling the length of the route, giving talks on the journey and indeed my own journey, from signalman to author. If you have a bookshop, organise speakers at your local venue or run a literature festival, please get in touch. Have rail pass, will travel!