Garsdale is a railway station in Cumbria, England (historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire), on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between Carlisle and Leeds via Settle. The station, situated 51 miles 29 chains (82.7 km) south-east of Carlisle, serves the village of Garsdale and town of Sedbergh, South Lakeland in Cumbria, and the market town of Hawes, Richmondshire in North Yorkshire. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
Garsdale  | |||||||||||
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 A British Rail Class 47 locomotive no.47561 hauling diverted inter-city West Coast train passes Garsdale signal box and disused station on the Down Main line in March 1984 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | Garsdale Head, South Lakeland England | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 54°19′17″N 2°19′35″W / 54.3214617°N 2.3263682°W | ||||||||||
| Grid reference | SD788918 | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Network Rail | ||||||||||
| Managed by | Northern Trains | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Station code | GSD | ||||||||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Original company | Midland Railway | ||||||||||
| Pre-grouping | Midland Railway | ||||||||||
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Rail (London Midland Region) | ||||||||||
| Key dates | |||||||||||
| 1 August 1876 | Opened as Hawes Junction | ||||||||||
| 20 January 1900 | Renamed Hawes Junction and Garsdale | ||||||||||
| 1 September 1932 | Renamed Garsdale | ||||||||||
| 4 May 1970 | Closed | ||||||||||
| 14 July 1986 | Reopened | ||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||
| 2019/20 |  15,800 | ||||||||||
| 2020/21 |  2,684 | ||||||||||
| 2021/22 | 12,424 | ||||||||||
| 2022/23 | 14,494 | ||||||||||
| 2023/24 | 15,112 | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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History
editThe station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders, though not in the same style as used elsewhere on the route.[1][2] It opened on 1 August 1876 as Hawes Junction.[3]
Adjoining the station are sixteen Railway Cottages built for its employees by the Midland Railway around 1876, the year the Settle-Carlisle Line opened. A further six cottages were added near to the Moorcock Inn soon afterwards. In the days of steam-hauled London-Scotland expresses, the locality once boasted the highest water troughs in the world (just along the line at Ling Gill, at an altitude of 1140 feet above sea level). These were removed just before the end of steam traction on British Railways in 1968. Unusually, the station waiting room was once used for Anglican church services, and the railway turntable had a wall of sleepers built around it to prevent locomotives being spun by strong winds:[4][5] this happened in 1900 and was the inspiration for the story 'Tenders and Turntables' in the book 'Troublesome Engines' in The Railway Series by Rev W. Awdry.[6]
The Hawes Junction rail crash of 1910 occurred near to the station, which was originally named Hawes Junction, as it was the junction of a branch line to Hawes. This line was closed in March 1959, though it is the long-term aim of the Wensleydale Railway to extend their rails along the former route from Redmire to connect with services here, allowing through journeys to Northallerton on the East Coast Main Line. The signal box (opened just a few months before the Christmas 1910 accident) on the northbound platform is still in use today.
Stationmasters
editThe station master at Garsdale possessed water-gauges, barometers and other meteorological appliances on the western slopes above the station, and collected data a few times each day and transmitted this to the Meteorological Society in London.[7]
Facilities
editThe station is unstaffed, but waiting rooms are available on each platform and toilets on the southbound platform. There is no link between the platforms and the northbound platform is not easily accessible for disabled passengers, although there are no steps and the surface is not metalled and is uneven. Tickets must be bought in advance or on the train as no ticket machines are available, although Northern, who operate the station, is planning to install one. Train running information can be obtained from timetable posters and the customer information screens and there is public address to announce incoming trains. A bus service to and from Hawes connects with selected train departures each day.[10]
Signal box
editThe signal box, a 4c type as designed and built by the Midland Railway Company, was installed in June 1910 and is made from timber with a Welsh slate roof. It was given grade II listed status in 2013.[11] The box was significant in the 1910 Hawes Junction crash, which led to the introduction of track circuits to prevent that type of tragedy happening again. Its heritage status was awarded partly due to its involvement in the accident. In June 2020, Network Rail applied to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to carry out repairs on the decaying structure.[12] Refurbishment began in June 2021, and is expected to take three months.[13]
Services
editNorthern Trains Route 7 |
|---|
Settle & Carlisle
& Bentham lines |
Garsdale has seen a modest improvement in service levels in recent years, with an extra morning and evening service in each direction. This brings the service level up to that seen at various other stations on the route (such as Langwathby), namely eight northbound and seven southbound trains on weekdays and Saturdays, and five each way on Sundays.[14] The "DalesRail" Sunday service that formerly called here in summer no longer operates due to a lack of available train crew to operate it.[15]
Statue of Ruswarp
edit
The southbound platform features a life-size bronze statue of a Border Collie dog named Ruswarp (pronounced /rʌsəp/). Ruswarp belonged to Graham Nuttall, one of the founding members of the group that saved the Settle-Carlisle Railway from closure. The dog was featured in the campaign, signing the petition to save the line with a paw-print. Nuttall disappeared while walking with Ruswarp in the Welsh Mountains on 20 January 1990. His body was found on 7 April; Ruswarp was still alive after standing guard over his owner's body for 11 weeks and died shortly after attending the funeral.[16] The sculpture by Joel Walker is a memorial to both Graham Nuttall, Ruswarp and the campaign to save the line from closure. It was unveiled on 11 April 2009, 20 years after the line was saved from closure.[17] The station waiting rooms, previously out of use due to leaking roofs, were also refurbished and reopened to the public as part of the ceremony.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Notes by the Way". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Garsdale". Settle Carlisle Railway website. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- ^ Settle-Carlisle Railway: the Midland's Record-breaking Route to Scotland, p.46. (1966). Clapham (North Yorks.):Dalesman. W. R. Mitchell and David Joy.
- ^ The Settle-Carlisle Railway: Derby Gothic (ref. Toothill and Armstrong 15) (The Victorian Web)
- ^ The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine Real Stories Database [1]
- ^ William, Frederick Smeeting (1885). Our Iron Roads: Their History, Construction and Administration. Bemrose & Sons, Derby. p. 304.
- ^ "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 744. 1871. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ a b c "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 50. 1881. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Little White Bus, Service 855: Garsdale to Hawes" Getdown.org; Retrieved 28 November 2016
- ^ Historic England. "Garsdale Signal Box (Grade II) (1412055)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Minting, Stuart (19 June 2020). "1910 railway disaster signal box linked to be preserved". Darlington & Stockton Times. No. 25–2020. p. 72. ISSN 2516-5348.
- ^ "Settle and Carlisle Railways Garsdale Station Grade II listed Signal Box to be refurbished". RailAdvent. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ GB National Rail Timetable May 2023, Table 35 (Network Rail)
- ^ Dales Rail July 2023 Update Ribble Valley Rail website news article; Retrieved 9 August 2023
- ^ "Statue will honour hero dog Ruswarp". Pendle Today. Johnston Press Digital Publishing. 15 April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
- ^ Press Release on the Statue Unveiling and Re-opening of the station buildings Archived 2 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Network Rail Media Centre; Retrieved 23 March 2009
External links
edit
Media related to Garsdale railway station at Wikimedia Commons- Train times and station information for Garsdale railway station from National Rail
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dent | Northern Trains Settle and Carlisle Line |
Kirkby Stephen | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Terminus | Midland Railway Hawes Branch |
Hawes | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Dent | Midland Railway Settle and Carlisle Line |
Kirkby Stephen | ||
 Proposed Heritage railways
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| Terminus | Wensleydale Railway | Hawes | ||