Helston railway station was the terminus of the
Helston Railway in
Cornwall, United Kingdom, which opened on the 9 May 1887 and during its time of operation was the most southerly railway station on the UK mainland. The line was operated by the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
and was absorbed by that company in 1898.
It closed to passengers on the 5 November 1962 and to freight on the 5 October 1964. Despite being a terminus station, Helston was built in the same manner as other stations (
Praze and
Nancegollan) on the line as a through station. This came from the original plan that the line would head towards
The Lizard but this never happened and the station remained unchanged and always looked like a 'through' station until closure. The station secured its place in history when it became the first place in the country with a railway-operated bus service. These
GWR road motor services met trains at the station and carried passengers on towards The Lizard.
Description
The station building was constructed of stone with a slate roof and four chimneys. On the platform side of the building a cantilever canopy ran for the full length of the building while a small canopy supported on brackets was provided over the main entrance. A
post box was located on the end of the building. Opposite the station building was the goods shed, and at the up end of the platform was a
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'' ...
of brick and timber construction and an
engine shed built of stone of sufficient size for a single engine with a water tower immediately in front.
Further goods facilities were provided with a short good platform and a crane in the goods yard. The very furthest part of the line, and thus the most southerly point of any railway in mainland
England was occupied by a carriage shed which was beyond the platform. When constructed, this was the only building within the Helston rural district, the boundary of which passed between the carriage shed and the platform.
The site of the station is now part of an old people's home. Part of the platform survives, along with the goods shed. There are still some rails embedded as boundary markers in the local area.
Station Masters
The following people are known to have been Stations Masters at Helston Station.
*Lawrence C.W. Reed 1887 - 1889 (afterwards station master at Camborne)
*W.J. Cowan 1889- 1902
*Dan Silvester 1902 - 1909 (afterwards station master at Liskeard)
*F.W. French ca. 1910 - 1929
*Frederick Reginald Sherman 1929 - 1935 (afterwards station master at Redruth)
*C.H. Grant 1935 - ca. 1945
*W.H.S. Reynolds until 1950
*Arthur L.B. Bower from 1950
(formerly station master at Monmouth)
References
External links
Helston station on navigable 1946 O. S. map
Disused railway stations in Cornwall
Former Great Western Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1887
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962
Helston
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