24 | January | 2012 | you don't choose your family

This is a postcard from my own collection. It is a real photograph published by Joanes Publications, Broomhouse, George Nympton, South Molton, Devon.

The postcard is unused and in very good condition.

The image is of steam engine number 45522 ‘Prestatyn’ with a train from Carlisle at Horton in Ribblesdale station and is dated 27 July 1962.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog you might remember that Horton in Ribblesdale is an important location in my ancestry. This is where my nannie, Florrie Musgrove, was born in 1897 – here’s a recent post about Foredale Cottages where she lived.

Horton in Ribblesdale railway station was built in 1876 during the construction of the 73 mile long stretch of line between Settle and Carlisle by the Midland Railway Company. The line runs through remote regions of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, and is considered to be the most scenic railway in England. The drama of its history and construction mean that it is regarded as one of the culminating symbols of Victorian enterprise and engineering.

All the station buildings along the route were designed by Midland Railway Company architect John Holloway Sanders. The general design was known as Derby (or Midland) Gothic because the company was based in Derby.

There were three sizes of buildings in all, reflecting the relative importance of the station stops. Horton in Ribblesdale was a Type C station.

In 1963, Beeching Report into the restructuring of British Rail recommended the withdrawal of all passenger services from the line. Some smaller stations had closed in the 1950s. The Beeching recommendations were shelved, but in May 1970 all stations except for Settle and Appleby were closed.

Over the next two decades the Settle – Carlisle line faced the threat of closure by British Rail as passenger number reduced and the cost of repairing viaducts and abandoned station buildings grew. A very public campaign against the closure was eventually successful and the Government finally refused consent to close the line in 1989.

Meanwhile refurbishment work had already begun at Horton in Ribblesdale station and it was reopened in 1986.

There is one other family connection with this post. The Midland Railway Company was merged into the London Midland & Scottish Railway, with the LNWR also forming part of the new company. My granddad, Joseph Dawson, worked for LM&S, first as a fireman then a driver. He’s the one in the photograph with a x on his arm.