A classic love story could prove the saviour of a Lancashire railway station

Railway romance

THE Lancashire railway station which was the setting for one of the best loved British films of the century is on track for a �2 million plus revamp which would turn it into a major tourist attraction.
Carnforth Station was the main location for the Classic 1943 tearjerker Brief Encounter starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson which was voted one of the 100 greatest movies ever made by The Guardian newspaper this year.
It tells the story of a doomed relationship between a housewife and a doctor who fall in love during a chance meeting at Carnforth.
Since then the station has attracted visitors from all over the world. notably the Japanese who love the film.
When Brief Encounter was made Carnforth was a bustling main line location with a station master. teams of porters. repair shops and offices.
However. it is now run-down and largely deserted. There are no station staff and the whole place has an air of quiet desolation.
All this will change if the Carnforth Station and Railway Trust Co. Ltd. established in 1996 with the aim of saving the station. gets its way. The Trust. which is represented by Irvine Taylor chartered surveyors of Lancaster. wants to restore Carnforth to its former glory to bring in the tourists.
Its proposals include:
* A restaurant / refreshment room based of a Brief Encounters theme
* Six retail/craft units geared to visitors
* A centre displaying Carnforth's railway and industrial heritage, its use as a film setting - most notably for Brief Encounter- plus further exhibitions and a multi-purpose meeting room / cinema / exhibition space for community and educational use.
* The project is also intended to improve facilities for rail travellers and to upgrade the whole appearance of the station.
Total costs are �2.2 million and the Trust has to raise around � l.6 million.
The project has the financial backing of organisations such as Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council, the North West Development Agency. the Railway Heritage Trust and others who have contributed �236.000. Requests for cash help totalling more than �1 million are being considered by other organisations in the North West and the Trust is hopeful that some Lottery money might be forthcoming. All the finance must be in place by this summer to meet a Railtrack deadline.
The Trust believes that if the full scheme goes ahead as planned the station and its new facilities will attract more than 50,000 visitors a year.

	Carnforth is synonymous with railways. In 1846 the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway was opened and a small station was built near the site of the present one. Shortly after the Furness Railway was opened. with Carnforth as its terminus linking Barrow and the Furness Peninsula with the main West Coast London to Scotland route. The present station was built in 1880 and took a unique position in railway history serving as the junction of three railway companies. Carnforth grew as a railway town with extensive sidings and engine sheds for each company and alongside this the iron. steel and mineral extraction industries developed taking advantage of Carnforth's strategic location.
Carnforth station is famous the world over as the setting for Brief Encounter
	In the 1960's Carnforth's importance fell. The electrification of the West Coast main line in 1970 saw the closure of the main line platform. Since then the station has fallen into decline and today the fine stone and slate buildings with their neo-Jacobean mullioned windows are in an advanced state of deterioration and the station While still operational is unmanned. This strategic importance of Carnforth continues today. Not only is it the junction linking Carnforth by, rail with Lancaster. Preston. Manchester. Barrow and Leeds and the railways encircling the Lake District. the station is within one and a half miles of the M6 motorway.

* Visit Carnforth Station and see the Friends of Carnforth Station. display about the project. It costs �8 to become a Friend with family membership �12.
The Friends or Carnforth Station can be contacted c/o Ratcliffe and Bibby (Solicitors). 3 - 11 New Street. Carnforth. LA5 9BU.
Black and white stills from the film courtesy of Carlton International Media Ltd.

Lancashire Life, August 1999

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