Garsdale is a railway station in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, England (historically in the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
), on the
Settle and Carlisle Line
Settle or SETTLE may refer to:
Places
* Settle, Kentucky, United States
* Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England
** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district
Music
* Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania
* ''S ...
, which runs between and via . The station, situated south-east of Carlisle, serves the village of
Garsdale
Garsdale is a dale or valley in the south east of Cumbria, England, historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is now within the South Lakeland local government district, but is still a "Yorkshire Dale" for planning purposes. In t ...
and town of
Sedbergh
Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The 2001 census gave the parish a population of 2,705, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,765. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies about east of Kendal, no ...
,
South Lakeland
South Lakeland is a local government district in Cumbria, England. The population of the non-metropolitan district was 102,301 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 103,658 at the 2011 Census. Its council is based in Kendal. It includes ...
in Cumbria, and the
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
of
Hawes
Hawes is a market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, at the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, and historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The River Ure north of the town is a touri ...
,
Richmondshire
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Richmondshire District
, type = District
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png
, blank_emblem_type = Coat ...
in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
. It is owned by
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
and managed by
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...
.
History
The station was designed by the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
company architect
John Holloway Sanders
John Holloway Sanders FRIBA (1825 – 16 October 1884) was an architect based in England and chief architect of the Midland Railway until 1884.
His date of appointment as Chief Architect to the Midland Railway is not known, but he is recorded as ...
, though not in the same style as used elsewhere on the route.
It opened on 1 August 1876 as ''Hawes Junction''.
Adjoining the station are sixteen Railway Cottages built for its employees by the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
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). Unusually, the station waiting room was once used for Anglican church services, and the
railway turntable
In rail terminology, a railway turntable or wheelhouse is a device for turning railway rolling stock, usually locomotives, so that they can be moved back in the direction from which they came. Naturally, it is especially used in areas where ec ...
had a wall of
sleepers
''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...
built around it to prevent locomotives being spun by strong winds: this happened in 1900 and was the inspiration for the story 'Tenders and Turntables' in the book 'Troublesome Engines' in
The Railway Series
''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twen ...
by
Rev W. Awdry.
The
Hawes Junction rail crash
The Hawes Junction rail crashHawes Junction station is now called Garsdale occurred at 5.49 am on 24 December 1910, just north of the Lunds viaduct between Hawes Junction (now known as Garsdale station) and Aisgill on the Midland Railway's ...
of 1910 occurred near to the station, which was originally named Hawes Junction, as it was the junction of a branch line to . This line was closed in March 1959, though it is the long-term aim of the
Wensleydale Railway
The Wensleydale Railway is a heritage railway in Wensleydale and Lower Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England. It was built in stages by different railway companies and originally extended to railway station on the Settle-Carlisle line. Since ...
to extend their rails along the former route from
Redmire
Redmire is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about west of Leyburn in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales.
Transport
Redmire is the terminus of the Wensleydale Railway. The Ministry of ...
to connect with services here, allowing through journeys to
Northallerton
Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...
on the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
. The
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
(opened just a few months before the Christmas 1910 accident) on the northbound platform is still in use today.
Stationmasters
The 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.
*H. Smith 1876 - 1880
*George Wooding 1880 - 1881
*W. Foster 1881 - 1886
[
*William Henry Bunce 1886][ - 1919 (formerly station master at Horton in Ribblesdale)
*J.F. Ferguson ca. 1938
*Daniel May ca. 1945
*Douglas Cobb ca. 1950
*Cyril Breeze
]
Facilities
The station is unstaffed, but waiting rooms are available on each platform. They are linked by a ramped subway and are therefore fully accessible for disabled travellers. Tickets must be bought in advance or on the train as no ticket machines are available (though TOC Northern are intending to install one and PIS screens by 2020 as part of a wider station improvement programme). Train running information can be obtained from timetable posters or by phone from the station signal box. A bus service to and from Hawes connects with selected train departures each day.
Signal box
The signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, 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. 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. Refurbishment began in June 2021, and is expected to take three months.
Services
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 ), namely eight northbound and seven southbound trains on weekdays and Saturdays, and five each way on Sundays. The station is also served by DalesRail
DalesRail is a railway passenger service operated for tourism in the summer months across Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire, England. The service routinely uses the current freight-only line between Clitheroe and Hellifield, offering the ...
trains between Blackpool North/Preston and Carlisle on Sundays during the summer (one train each way in the summer 2019 timetable).
Statue of Ruswarp
The southbound platform features a life-size bronze statue of a Border Collie dog named Ruswarp (pronounced ). 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. 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.Press Release on the Statue Unveiling and Re-opening of the station buildings
Network Rail Media Centre; Retrieved 23 March 2009 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.
See also
* Listed buildings in Garsdale
References
External links
*
*
{{Railway stations served by Northern Trains
Railway stations in Cumbria
DfT Category F2 stations
Former Midland Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1876
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1970
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1986
Reopened railway stations in Great Britain
Northern franchise railway stations
Dog monuments
Beeching closures in England
Wensleydale
John Holloway Sanders railway stations