Grisedale

Grisedale (sometimes Grisdale, or Grizedale [archaic]) is a south east facing Dale in Cumbria, England, 8 miles (13 km) east of Sedbergh, and 7 miles (11 km) west of Hawes. Grisedale Beck, which drains Baugh Fell, flows down the dale eastwards, and on reaching the valley floor at Garsdale, forms the River Clough before turning westwards towards the Irish Sea. A small part of the north-eastern side of the dale is in North Yorkshire, however, until 1974, all of the area around, and including Grisedale, was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The dale was largely depopulated of its working farmers during the 20th century, however, some of the houses have been re-occupied by non-agricultural inhabitants. The subject of the farm workers moving out prompted Yorkshire Television to commission a film about the last farmer in the dale (The Dale that Died), with its director, Barry Cockcroft, remarking that Grisedale was "the most romantic dale in all of Yorkshire."

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Hawes Junction rail crash

The Hawes Junction rail crash occurred at 5.49 am on 24 December 1910, just north of Lunds Viaduct between Hawes Junction (now known as Garsdale station) and Aisgill on the Midland Railway's Settle and Carlisle main line in the North Riding of Yorkshire (now Cumbria), England. It was caused when a busy signalman, Alfred Sutton, forgot about a pair of light engines waiting at his down (northbound) starting signal to return to their shed at Carlisle. They were still waiting there when the signalman set the road for the down Scotch express. When the signal cleared, the light engines set off in front of the express into the same block section. Since the light engines were travelling at low speed from a stand at Hawes Junction, and the following express was travelling at high speed, a collision was inevitable. The express caught the light engines just after Moorcock Tunnel near Aisgill summit in Mallerstang and was almost wholly derailed. Casualties were made worse by the telescoping (over-riding) of the timber-bodied coaches, and by fire which broke out in the coaches, fed by the gas for the coaches' lights leaking from ruptured pipes. Twelve people lost their lives as a result of this accident, some of whom were trapped in the wreckage and were burned to death.

Garsdale Head

Garsdale Head is a hamlet mainly within the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority of Cumbria, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the hamlet is now on the border with North Yorkshire. It lies within the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Garsdale Head is mainly within the civil parish and valley of Garsdale, and on the A684 road between Sedbergh, approximately 8 miles (13 km) to the west (ten miles by road), and Hawes, 5 miles (8 km) to the east. The hamlet's chief landmark is Garsdale railway station on the Settle to Carlisle and Wensleydale Railways. Until the branch line to Hawes was closed in 1964 the alternative name for Garsdale Head was Hawes Junction, a name which remains in common use. Sixteen cottages were built by the Midland Railway Company for its employees soon after the opening of the line in 1876. Another six "Moorcock Cottages" were built in similar Victorian style half a mile away over the border in Richmondshire. Just before the border, in a matching building style (because it was built by Midland Railway contractors), is Mount Zion Chapel, a Primitive Methodist meeting-place which is still used for special events. Apart from one Edwardian building, Clough View, all buildings in the hamlet are older, or are renovations of older properties. The Moorcock Inn, at the junction of the A684 and the B6259 to Kirkby Stephen via Lunds, Mallerstang and Nateby, is the only public house in the 16-mile journey between Sedbergh and Hawes, and has an adjoining Bed and Breakfast establishment. The inn, in the Hawes civil parish of Richmondshire, is 400 yards (370m) east from the border with Cumbria, and 1,480 yards (1,350m) north-east from Garsdale railway station. According to The Yorkshire Post, the Moorcock Inn dates to the 1740s. West of the inn towards Garsdale station is Dandry Mire Viaduct (alternatively called Moorcock Viaduct) on the Settle–Carlisle line, over which passed, on Christmas Eve 1910, the St Pancras to Glasgow Express which collided into the rear of two engines. The twelve dead from the crash were kept in the Moorcock Inn cellar before burial in Hawes churchyard. There are toilet facilities at Garsdale station, and an original public red telephone box at the bottom of a steep hill to the station. There was a post office at Garsdale Head between 1881 and June 1963. About 1911 it was located in a shop within a stone-built house, but in 1934 it was described and pictured as being "nothing but a tin hut, nine feet by six". The office was replaced in 1963 by one at Garsdale, which has since closed. The Coal Road, which joins Garsdale Head to Dent railway station at the north-east of Cowgill, and skirts the north west slopes of Great Knoutberry Hill, is a scenic single-track route, suitable for walkers, cyclists and motor vehicles except when there is snow or ice, when its steep surface becomes treacherous.

Lunds Viaduct

Lunds Viaduct is a five-arch railway bridge in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct was built for the Midland Railway and carries the Settle to Carlisle railway line over South Lunds Sike, being named after the fell and hamlet of Lunds, just to the east. Work started on the viaduct in April 1874, and it was completed by July 1875, with the line opening for traffic in August 1875. Initial workings over the line were on a single track, but this had been doubled by October 1875. Just to the north of the viaduct was the point of the collision of the Hawes Junction rail crash.

Garsdale railway station

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 in Cumbria, and the market town of Hawes in North Yorkshire. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.