The YouTube algorithm can be very annoying; it draws you in to certain stories leaving you anxious for your next fix/instalment; one remembers the trials of Johnny Depp, Kyle Rittenhouse and Derek Chauvin as prime examples from a few years back.
So why did it suggest I take a look at what was occurring at a small, out of the way station in the mosquito plagued badlands of Northern Scotland? Perhaps it was sense of injustice, perhaps there was a hint of police (albeit British Transport Police) overstepping the mark or possibly a connection to the little man fighting against the system? Who knows, but I do know I became intrigued by this strange story of a couple who had bought a cottage adjacent to a railway line and then apparently struck gold by discovering that the cottage brought with it āownershipā of a large parcel of surrounding land (allegedly) which just happened to include the station platform.
Of course the plot of a good story needs to be full of twists and turns, and it is here that Altnabreac doesnāt disappoint. Itās kind of Midsomer Murders meets Shetland in terms of plot construct.
First of all there is the couple, who we hear a lot from in the videos but we donāt see, and whose back story is shrouded in intrigue and mystery.
The female is a former Manchester Police Detective, who, we are told found religion, left the force and went missing before turning up in Scotland with her new partner.
The partner seems to be less well known and Iām not sure he isnāt acting under an alias. There is a story of an alleged missing inheritance in Ireland, a house sold on paper for much less than it is apparently worth and a flight across the Irish Sea to seek solitude in the far North of Great Britain.
Iām not going to go into all of that. I accept I came in late to the party and there are other YouTube channels covering āthe journey to Station Cottage Altnabreacā in fine detail.
No, what fascinated me was the land registry side, the differences between Land Registry in Scotland to England, and the intriguing idea that the couple have discovered an ancient deed that gives them the right to claim ownership of the station platform and apparently much more besides.
Iām not qualified to give you an authoritative account of property ownership law in Scotland (or England for that matter š) but it is clear that Scotland went through a major revision at the turn of the millennium when the system of feudal land ownership was abolished to be replaced by the concept of absolute ownership. Now we shouldnāt take the fact that feudal land ownership was abolished in England in 1660 to suggest anything detrimental about Scotland, but it is a useful point of reference.
Iām sure on the ground it didnāt make a great deal of difference. From my own experience in England I can see Estates owning large pieces of rural land covering many farms which were presumably operated by tenants and which were sold off in the 1920s either to pay off debts due to WW1 or as a result of the rise of socialism across Europe.
In Scotland compensation was paid to the old rights owners by the new property owners. It doesnāt look like it was a huge sum per household but if you were a large owner presumably it was worth the hassle of collecting.
We cannot discuss land ownership in Scotland without mentioning the General Register of Sasines, established 1617, and recognised as the oldest national public land register in the world. The Sasines Register was based on a text description and the register is gradually being replaced by the map based Land Register of Scotland. Completion is reported at ~90% although there a number of initiatives in place to push this to 100%. The main way that land moves from the old register to the Land Register of Scotland is by property sale.
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Watch how you go
Ā© AI generated image |
So where does that leave the station at Altnabreac? A search of the Scottish Land Registry against postcode KW12 6UR yields six addresses covering four titles. And if youāre very clever you can click on the map and it will tell you that there is nothing registered yet in the area you've selected and that you possibly need to refer back to The Sasines Register. One of the areas that this is applies to is the rail track and the station platform.
Now if youāre a common sense sort of person you might assume that the rail track and the station platform belong to the railway operator. But as you know, when it comes to land ownership disputes, common sense sometimes goes out the window.
What we can see is that CTH5589 was created to cover all the land alongside the railway track between Badnaheen and Altnabreac "Station House" and included a number of properties in the area including what is now Station Cottage. It definitely does not include the track and the platforms.
As shown in CTH5589 six parts were sold off in 2018 with Station Cottage going in with the deer larder and Badnaheen to form CTH7265. Station Cottage was further split off from CTH7265 in March 2019 to form CTH7726.
In Land Registry terms Station Cottage and Station House are now totally different entities although I suspect the two names refer to the same building. Of course it doesn't help that the postcode on CTH7625 for Station Cottage is KY12 6UR and not KW12 6UR but I'm assuming that was just a typo.
The fetching pink and blue colours applied to station cottage on the plan go back to CTH5589 with the pink requiring station cottage to be fenced and gated to the satisfaction of the British Railways Board (and their successors) and a right of access retained for vehicular and pedestrian traffic over the strip of land tinted blue to allow use of the station. The only problem I see with that is that access to the blue strip is only possible from within CTH5589, and I wonder if in reality it was supposed to form a bridge between the now infamous cattle grid and the platform. In other words it was a drawing error.
Alternatively I can see people coming to a "local agreement" to come in to the station via the cattle grid and not via the official "blue route" and thereby avoid the Station Cottage back door. Certainly the access on Land Registry doesn't tie up with the station information boards which is probably why Network Rail have decided to install the diversion path while this all gets sorted out.
As we know CTH7726 applies to Station Cottage, Altnabreac, registered in the partner's name on on 25th June 2021 for Ā£162,000. CTH7726, Burden 2 still makes reference to the pink and blue tinting.
The main argument that the couple had was that the railway company had no right to access the station via the cattle grid and gate at the south of their property. Looking at the Land Registry of Scotland map and overlaying the satellite image you'd have to agree they had a point. But at the same time the footpath access appears to be just outside their title so the jury is literally out as to whether they were right if they blocked off all access at that point.
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Station Cottage is under the pink and blue tint
Ā©Land Registry Scotland |
While that can all presumably be resolved, where things appear to have taken a strange twist is that the couple are now claiming to own land outside of their title as defined in CTH7726, specifically the station platform which they now refer to as their garden. This is all based on being granted solum rights, which from what I can see applies to the soil directly underneath your property but which in this case is being applied to land outside their their title. We wait to see how that works out.
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Station Cottage without the tints
Ā©Land Registry Scotland |
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Satellite Image overlaid on CTH7726
The access track is within title but the North side of the cottage is outside
Ā©Land Registry Scotland |
I know from experience when you own an old house in England outright you can get given all sorts of ancient deeds which helped establish your epitome of title. I imagine the same has happened here, and theyāve dusted off some ancient deed and plan to use that as the basis of their solum rights claim. The fact that we havenāt seen it might mean it doesnāt exist or it might mean theyāre keeping their powder dry for now - who knows?
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Back when Stamp Duty made sense?
Ā©Harveywetdog |
So what of Land Registry in Scotland compared with Land Registry in England? Well certainly itās much cheaper to buy copies of documents in Scotland. For example a basic title and plan can be purchased for Ā£3.60 whereas in England the price would be Ā£14.00. But itās the interactive map thatās the real winner for Scotland as it allows you to interrogate much more detail than the English counterpart. Iām not sure if the English map becomes more interactive if youāre an account holder with Land Registry, my view is very much what I can see as a member of the public.
Interestingly when it came to Planning Maps it seemed to be the other way around with English authorities providing searchable maps showing the history of planning applications in your area, a level of detail which appeared to be missing from the planning maps I looked at for the Highlands.
Scotland clearly has a proud history of land registry, and despite embracing modern technology has managed to retain an air of feudal mystery by reference to Sasines and Solum rights; and doesnāt it sound better to know your deeds are watched over by The Keeper, rather than Gloucester Land Registry Office š
Late news
I've now worked out how do use the map for searches in England; it's not as good as the Scottish system, but it's made things a bit easier. Oh, in England they just tell you the land isn't registered if you draw a blank rather than saying look in the Register of Sasines.
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Harveywetdog/Author - David Robinson CEng FIET
David spent approaching 50 years in Her Majesty's Electricity Supply Industry before retiring
He was part of the highly successful design team on the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Project before spending 25 years producing safety cases to keep our aging AGR fleet generating for the good of the nation
He is responsible for the Harveywetdog YouTube Channel which he maintains as an outlet for his creative talents
David is now in remission from blood cancer but refuses to be a victim
All views are of course his own but might be influenced by the medication he's had to take
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