A special event is being held to mark 40 years since Garsdale Station was reconnected to the national railway network for passengers.
The remote upland station, which serves communities across Upper Wensleydale and the Sedbergh area on the Yorkshire-Cumbria border, officially reopened to regular passenger services on 14 July 1986 after being closed for 16 years.
Garsdale was one of eight stations on the Settle-Carlisle line to shut in 1970, before a successful campaign helped secure its return to the railway map.
To celebrate the anniversary, the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line’s Footsteps in Time team is organising a free walk and illustrated talk on Wednesday, 1 July.
The event will begin at Garsdale station at 11am, where participants will hear the story behind the statue of the famous collie Ruswarp, which stands on the platform. The group will then walk beneath the impressive Dandry Mire Viaduct to Hawes Junction Chapel.
At midday, Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line vice-president Pete Shaw will give an illustrated presentation exploring the history of the station, its reopening and the volunteer efforts that helped restore its facilities in the late 1980s.
The talk will include stories of visits by senior politicians, including a Home Secretary and a Transport Minister, as well as a collection of historic railway photographs.
Visitors will also be able to view reproductions of original Midland Railway bridge diagrams for the Garsdale to Hawes branch line, alongside botanical artwork by Selina Thorpe inspired by the Yorkshire Dales landscape.
Following the talk, attendees will have the option of joining a guided five-mile walk through Grisedale to the old Quaker burial ground at Scale.
Mr Shaw said: “For the last 40 years Garsdale station has provided an important link into the UK public transport network, both for the outbound local community, and also for inbound visitors. We often use the slogan ‘Trains Go Both Ways’.”
Further details about the event are available through the Footsteps in Time Facebook page.
