I say, Celia, they've turned back the clock on our Brief Encounter

By GRAHAM KEELEY

THE setting for one of the most romantic stories in British cinema is to have its own happy ending. Carnforth Station, where Brief Encounter was filmed in 1945, was just a few months away from being demolished. But it has been saved thanks to the efforts of volunteer fundraisers. And there are now plans to turn it into a tourist attraction. Film fans travel from around the world to see the station in Lancashire which provided the backdrop for David Lean's classic tale of two strangers who meet on a railway platform. fall in love, but choose duty.

Many are shocked, however, to find the spot where Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson first set eyes on each other has deteriorated dramatically over the years. Volunteers from the Carnforth Station and Railway Trust have raised £900,000 to save the main buildings and plan to restore the station to how it was in the film. Railtrack has contributed £550,000 towards the rescue plans and is to share the rebuilding work. Trust chairman Peter Yates said: 'We want to get the station as near as possible to the station as it looked in the film.
'It is such a romantic destination right on the edge of the Lake District, but the station itself has fallen into disrepair.
'This could be a major tourist attraction and we think It will bring lots more people, not just because of the film, but because of our location on the edge of the Lakes and the history of steam railway at Carnforth.'

A major railway junction in the days of steam, Carnforth is still a working station.
But many of the features immortalised in the film are unrecognisable.

The tea room, where much of the film romance is played out, Is now boarded up and daubed with graffiti. The trust wants to reopen it as a visitor centre complete with the bentwood chairs, cast Iron stove and mahogany counter from the film.

They have also tracked down the original machinery from the station clock which told the lovers their time was up and plan to buy it back from a London collector. A Rail-track spokesman said: 'We are happy to work with the trust to rebuild the station.
'Time was running out because of our regeneration programme which is due to start in June.'

The David Lean Film Trust, one of the cinema bodies which the trust has approached for help, is considering making a donation to recreate the original station.
Anthony Reeves, from the trust, said: 'We would look at this because of the David Lean connection. 'It would tie in with the principles of the trust.'

Brief Encounter, which came second in the British Film Institute list of 100 great British films, was written by Noel Coward and filmed at the end of the war after David Lean scoured the country looking for suitable locations.

© DAILY MAIL January 15th, 2000

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