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Station draws crowd as it turns the clock back to -
by NADIA Brief Encounter. JEFFERSON-BROWN NOSTALGIA filled the air over the sound of chattering voices as Carnforth Station's Brief Encounter tearoom enjoyed another spell in the spotlight Original cast members from David Lean's 1940s, love story gathered for the opening of the heritage centre and 'old-look' cafe – refurbished to look like the film's refreshment room. Carnforth station basks in history as the place where Trevor Howard met Celia Johnson in the wartime romance and removed grit from her eye. But the once-important junction fell into disrepair two decades ago, becoming of little more than a branch station. When restoration began pigeon droppings covered platforms, overhead canopies were devoid of glass and the underpasses were dismal. Now, a plaque in the entrance lists institutions that have contributed to the station's facelift. The old tearoom is part of the station's new Heritage Centre, which also features a gift shop, exhibition centre, new meeting and conference rooms  RETRO STYLE: Business is brisk in the "new" look tea room at Carnforth Station. Margaret Barton, who served tea as Little Beryl in the film, declared the centre and refreshment room open at a ceremony on Friday, hailing the restoration as `a brilliant job, absolutely marvellous'" As I walked in here for the first time it was just like walking on to the set." Peter Yates, chairman Carnforth Station and Railway Trust, urged guests to take full advantage of the building, warning: "If we don't use it, we will lose it-" Antiques specialist and black-and-white film buff Peter Crossley spent 12 months hunting down vintage items for the tearoom. Margaret Barton was very pleased when she walked in - that rubber-stamped it for me;' he said. Carnforth's Elaine Maudsley, who worked in the original tearoom while Brief Encounters was filmed, said: "It is lovely to be here. When 1 think of this station in my day and see it now, I can't believe how it has altered It is wonderful" She added: "I had a walk-on part in the film, and I met my late husband John on set. But that wasn't a brief encounter. It was a lovely 47 years."  ABOVE: Elaine Maudsley who met her husband at Carnforth Station - but their "Brief Encounter" lasted 47 years
Pictures by Robert Underdown Station draws crowd as it turns the clock back to - Brief Encounter. The Citizen Thursday October 23 2003
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