Hawes railway station

Hawes railway station served the town of Hawes, in North Yorkshire, England. It was closed in 1959 and now forms part of the Dales Countryside Museum. Since 2015, the museum has rented the building to a business operating a bike shop and, later, a cafe.

1. History

The station was opened in October 1878 by the Midland Railway (MR), as the terminus of their 6-mile (10 km) branch line from Hawes Junction. The MR branch made an end-on junction there with the North Eastern Railway (NER) line from Northallerton via Bedale, which had been opened as far as Leyburn 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 London and North Eastern Railway) 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 that for much of its life was known by the nickname 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.

1. Stationmasters

Originally, the station staff were provided alternately by the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway; from 1 January 1901, it was agreed that the latter would take on this responsibility.

Charles E. Robinson 1878 – 1883 Henry Smith 1883 - 1895 (later, stationmaster at Lee Mills) Henry Brodie 1896 – 1903 (later, stationmaster at Pontefract) C.E. Dawson 1903 - 1905 Joseph Whitfield from 1905 John W. Sellars ca. 1911 F. Raine until 1919 (later, stationmaster at Hornsea) W. Milner 1919 – 1920 (formerly stationmaster at Bolton-on-Dearne and, later, stationmaster at Eastrington) J.R. Thackray from 1939 (formerly stationmaster at Brompton).

1. The site today

After many years of disuse, the site was purchased by the Yorkshire Dales National Park 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, with a short length of track relaid. A preserved industrial tank locomotive, painted in British Railways colours, together with a pair of Mark 1 coaches, were installed as a static exhibit. Although isolated from the national rail network for over half a century, the Wensleydale Railway hopes to eventually reopen the currently abandoned and derelict section of line between Redmire and Garsdale; this 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 would involve reinstating the entire station to its former use.

1. References


1. = Citations =


1. = Sources =

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.