CARNFORTH CLOCK HAS A BRIEF ENCOUNTER

12 July 2002

The Carnforth Clock, made famous by its appearance in the 1946 David Lean film 'Brief Encounter', was restarted at Carnforth Station Lancashire on Friday 5th July.

Geraldine Smith MP, Niki Penney (Chair Lancashire County Council) and Eileen Blamire (Mayor Lancaster City Council) helped to pull the lever of the original clock along with Ian Dawson the last man to wind the clock before it fell into disuse.

Carnforth Station took a step back in time with a re-enactment of Laura and Alec, the two lovers destined never to consummate their relationship in Brief Encounter, meeting on the platform.

The highlight of this scene was the emotional rendition of the poem 'Brief Encounter: Him to Her', commissioned by First North Western and written by Sophie Hannah, under the famous clock.

Before the ceremony, Carnforth North Road Primary School entertained the guests with songs especially for the occasion, whilst Paul Bunting Commercial Director for First North Western, spoke on the significance of Carnforth's past and future role as a community based station.

The clock was restarted at 3:00 PM precisely and the crowd watched pensively as the clock moved to 3:01 PM. This was a historic occasion as the clock has been in disuse since the 1980's.

This event and the restoration of the clock were organised by the Friends of Carnforth Station and are part of the on-going station restoration.

History of The Carnforth Clock

Carnforth Station's most famous feature is the station clock built in the early 19th Century by Joyce of Wilchurch, but the exact date of the Carnforth Clock has never really been established.

In 1880 the London and NorthWestern Railway Company spent �40,000 to rebuild and enlarge Carnforth Station. During the rebuild the station roof and the wall containing the clock was demolished and rebuilt.

The station re-opened on 2nd August 1880 and The Carnforth Clock was most certainly designed to hang off the new roof.

The clock stayed in this position for another 30 plus years until the station became unmanned with Ian Dawson being the last man to wind the clock. Then in the late 80's, there was no one left to continue winding the clock so it eventually stopped.

The Clock was removed but reinstated when the people of Carnforth protested.

The face had been removed and replaced by fibreglass and the clock and the clockwork mechanism had also been taken.

In 1996 The Carnforth Station and Railway Trust was formed and began searching for the missing parts. Eventually they were found and were purchased by the Carnforth Station Trust.

Along with the clock drum and case, the parts were renovated by local Carnforth people. So "Welcome Back Father Time".

The Carnforth Clock- "Father Time"

For centuries there was no need for time to be measured accurately. The day started with sunrise and ended with sunset- midday being the highest point of the sun in the sky.

Sunset was 15- 20 minutes earlier on the East Coast of Britain than the West Coast, so when clocks where introduced time became 'local'.

Local' time was adequate until the railways were introduced and when travelling across Britain commuters found that time did not make sense.
Railway companies set their clocks to London time and it became known as Railway Time.

Eventually Railway Time became known as Greenwich Mean Time and became legal on 2nd August 1880.

Carnforth Station and its clock were also opened on the day time became legal, which makes the Carnforth Clock the 'Father of British Time'.

Brief Encounter and Carnforth Station

In 1846 Carnforth was a small village when the Lancaster to Carlisle Railway was opened.

Over the next twenty years the significance of Carnforth as a railway centre grew following the opening of the Furness line to Barrow and the line to Wennington and on to Leeds.

By the 1880's Carnforth Station was in much the same form as it is today.

The Second World War gave Carnforth the opportunity for international fame when it was used as the set for the 1946 Noel Coward film 'Brief Encounter'.
This story of the romance between a doctor (Alec) played by Trevor Howard and a housewife (Laura), who are accidentally thrown together on "Milford Junction" railway station has remained a favourite throughout the world.

This is due to nostalgia for pre-war England and the thrill and disappointment of unrequited romance on a steamy railway platform.

The film had originally been set to shoot at a London Railway Station but they decided on Carnforth Station, as it was less busy and less prone to air raids.

The station was ideal as it was relatively undamaged by the war.

The Clock at Carnforth has its own famous scene:

"The scene dissolves to Milford Junction Station and the clock on platforms 2 and 3 forms the foreground of the shot. The clock shows that it is six minutes to ten as Laura goes into the refreshment room." (Screenplay, 'Brief Encounter').

Carnforth plan to develop the Brief Encounter theme further when they open a Brief Encounter trail in mid 2002.

This trail will follow the camera positions so the actual views of the film can be seen. To add to this a Brief Encounter Refreshment Room will be opened in late 2002.

The film focuses on the Refreshment Rooms of 'Milford Station' where Laura talks with Alec.

The refreshment rooms will replicate the interior of the original film set.

First North Western recently commissioned Sophie Hannah to write a poem for National Poetry Day and to mark the naming of a new Class 175 train after the film 'Brief Encounter'.

Carnforth clock has a  Brief Encounter 12 July 2002 - First North Western Website

Reproduced by kind permission of First North Western.

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