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Hawes railway station is a disused
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
that served the town 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 ...
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 ...
, England. It was closed in 1959 and now forms part of the
Dales Countryside Museum The Dales Countryside Museum is a local museum for the Yorkshire Dales National Park in Northern England. Run by the National Park Authority, it tells the story of the people who have lived and worked in the Yorkshire Dales for over a 1,000 year ...
. Since 2015, the museum has rented the building to a business operating a bike shop and later, also a cafe.


History

The station was opened in October 1878 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 ...
(MR) as the terminus of their branch line from Hawes Junction. The MR branch made an end-on junction there with the North Eastern Railway (NER) line from
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 ...
via
Bedale Bedale ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the district of Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is north of Leeds, south-west of Middlesbrough and south-west of the county town of ...
which had been opened as far as
Leyburn Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in the district of Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'Ley ...
by 1856 and then extended onwards to Hawes in the summer of 1878. Although the station belonged to the Midland, the NER (and later the
LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...
) operated most of the passenger services from there — the MR section being worked as an extension of the service to/from Northallerton. The only exception to this was a single daily return service between Hawes and
Hellifield Hellifield is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England (). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village was once an important railway junction on the Settle-Carlisle Railway between th ...
that for much of its life was known by the somewhat unusual nickname of ''Bonnyface''. The NER section of the line lost its passenger service in April 1954, but the station retained a nominal service of one train each way from Hawes Junction (by then renamed ''Garsdale'') until final closure to passengers on 16 March 1959. Goods traffic from the Leyburn direction continued until complete closure in April 1964, after which the track was lifted and the buildings left to fall into disrepair. However, after many years of disuse, the site was purchased by the
Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales. Most of the park is in North Yorkshire, with a sizeable area in Westmorland (Cumbria) and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designat ...
Authority and converted into a museum and tourist information centre in the early 1990s, a role it continues to fulfil to this day. As part of this scheme, the station buildings and platforms were refurbished, a short length of track relaid. A preserved industrial tank locomotive, cosmetically painted in British Railways colours, together with a pair of ex-BR Mark 1 coaches, were installed as a static exhibit (see accompanying photo). Although isolated from the national rail network for over fifty-five years, 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 ...
hopes to one day eventually rebuild, re-instate and re-open the currently abandoned and derelict section of line between
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 ...
and
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 ...
(thus would involve restoring the station to its former glory and active use). However, the train with three carriages which currently resides in the platform would have to be removed and placed in a newly-constructed siding, because the project involves re-instating the entire station to its former use.


Stationmasters

Originally the station staff were provided alternately by the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway, but from 1 January 1901 it was agreed that the later would take on this responsibility. *Charles E. Robinson 1878 - 1883 *Henry Smith 1883 - 1895 (afterwards station master at Lee Mills) *Henry Brodie 1896 - 1903 (afterwards station master at Pontefract) *C.E. Dawson 1903 - 1905 *Joseph Whitfield from 1905 *John W. Sellars ca. 1911 *F. Raine until 1919 (afterwards station master at Hornsea) *W. Milner 1919 - 1920 (formerly station master at Bolton-on-Dearne afterwards station master at Eastrington) *J.R. Thackray from 1939 (formerly stationmaster at Brompton)


Notes


References

*Body, G. (1988), ''PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2'', Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, {{ISBN, 1-85260-072-1 *Houghton, F.W & Foster W.H (1965 Second Ed) ''The Story Of The Settle - Carlisle Line'', Advertiser Press Ltd, Huddersfield. Heritage railway stations in North Yorkshire Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1878 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1959 Hawes Wensleydale