[Source: Alan Young]
Keswick Station Gallery 1: c1910 - June 1947  Keswick station looking east from island platform 2 c1910. The station building and hipped, glazed roofing of generous proportions are seen on the down platform to the right. The tall gables of the station building are dwarfed by the commodious Keswick Hotel which adjoins the station. On the island platform the buildings are covered by a large hipped slate roof extending to shelter the platform. The station is electrically lit. Far right, the wagons are standing on the siding which serves the cattle dock.
Copyright photo from John Alsop collection  
c1865 1: 2,500 OS map. Keswick station is shown shortly after it opened. The main building is on the down (south) platform and the large 'Railway Hotel' (actually called 'Keswick Hotel') is adjacent, to the south. The subsidiary building can be seen on the up platform. Goods traffic is handled in the yard to the west on the down side of the running lines, and one of the sidings passes through the goods warehouse with access to a wagon turntable beyond. An adjacent siding handles coal, as indicated by the cross bars representing coal cells. This siding ends with a wagon turntable providing connection to the siding which passes through the goods warehouse. Two sidings are shown on the up side, also west of the passenger station. Click here for a larger version.
1899 1: 2,500 OS map. Keswick station was partially rebuilt on a grander scale in the 1890s as shown here. The original main building has its ground floor rooms indicated. A new island platform has been reconstructed with substantial buildings; once again, the map helpfully shows their internal layout within the limitations of the scale. The hatching represents the glazed platform roofing. Additional sidings are found on the down side, west of the station, handling livestock: cattle pans are named and drawn in. To their south the Coal Depôt is named. A yard crane is shown between these two sets of sidings. The area of sidings on the up side has expanded considerably and includes a turntable. Signal boxes are located at the west and east ends of the station, both of them on the down side.
Click here for a larger version  Keswick station has altered little since the turn of the century. The expansion of the Railway Hotel is the most conspicuous change. Click here for a larger version.
An excursion from Newlands Adventure Centre is ready to depart from Keswick station in 1907. Newlands opened in 1905 and provided full board accommodation and guided walks for the workers of the large industrial areas of the North and Midlands as well as church and youth groups.
Photo from Jim Lake collection 
This wonderful panorama is seen from the slopes of Latrigg. The view is south-westward with the railway, including the station and the prominent Keswick Hotel, at the near end of the town. Beyond Keswick are Derwent Water with Catbells (1,481ft) and the lofty Derwent Fells in the distance. The wooded Derwent Isle can be seen in the lake, and Lord’s Island appears on the far left of the view. The photograph is undated.
Photo from John Mann collection 
A poignant photograph entitled ‘Off to the Front’ taken on 14 September 1914: a scene repeated that month at stations across Britain. Vast numbers of young men assemble on the up platform at the beginning of their journey to war. Some of them might have eventually returned. This east-facing view shows the main station building and platform roofing clearly as well as the electric lighting.
Photo from Mike Hussey  Keswick station looking east on the island platform. In the LMS era. The electric lighting is still in the globes installed c1900. The locomotive heading the westbound passenger train at platform 1 is a Class 2F 0-6-0 Webb-designed ‘Cauliflower’; it carries a four-digit number which cannot be identified. This class of locomotive was originally known as the ’18-inch Goods’ and introduced in the 1880s. Although intended for hauling goods they were frequently employed on passenger train duties, as here. The last few of the class lasted until 1955, well into British Railways days. ‘W528’ indicates that the train is a special working such as an excursion or private charter; the ‘W’ refers to ‘Western’, which in this LMS context refers to the former LNWR lines. The lamp code signifies ‘local’ or ‘stopping’, suggesting that this might be a Sunday excursion with cheap fares from local stations. Such trains, as with this one, were often composed of a motley collection of rolling stock. The first two vehicles are 8-Compartment Non-Gangwayed; the third looks like a 6-wheeler and appears to be a Luggage Brake with a centre brake compartment, or the same with passenger accommodation.
Photo from John Mann collection 
Looking east on platform 1, circa late 1930s. Ex-LNWR Webb-designed Class 2F 0-6-0 ‘Cauliflower’ No.8547 heads the passenger train at the platform. This class of locomotive was originally known as the ’18-inch Goods’ and introduced in the 1880s. Although intended for hauling goods they were frequently employed on passenger train duties, as here. The last few of the class lasted until1955, well into British Railways days. The loco seen here was built in September 1900 at the LNWR Crewe works and originally carried the LNWR number 432. She just survived into BR days and was allocated, but never carried, BR No.58408 being withdrawn in May 1948.
Photo
from John Mann collection
Looking west on platform 1 at Keswick circa late 1930s. Two ‘Cauliflowers’ stand on the up line at platform 2 beside the station’s water tank. The leading locomotive is No.8589; she carries an express passenger lamp code suggesting that the two locos have arrived with a passenger train or are about to work one. The steep gradients east of Keswick possibly made double heading necessary. The number of the second locomotive cannot be deciphered. The Webb-designed Class 2F 0-6-0 No.8589 was built in March 1901 at LNWR Crewe works and was numbered 553, being renumbered as 8589 in August 1925 and 28589 in January 1943. At nationalisation in 1948 the loco was resident at 12C, Penrith. Under BR she received a ‘2’ prefix, but she never carried the new number 28589. In November 1952 she was withdrawn from duties.
Photo from John Mann collection  Looking north-west on platform 1 (the down platform) of Keswick station in June 1947. The generous platform roofing is shown well in this view. Class 2F 0-6-0 Webb-designed ‘Cauliflower’ No.28547 is standing at the up (island) platform beside the elevated water tank with a passenger train to Penrith. The locomotive was built at the LNWR Crewe works in October 1900 and was withdrawn in May 1948 – the early months of British Railways – from 12D Workington shed. The leading coach is an LNWR Brake Third followed by what appears to be a Lavatory Composite.Photo by H C Casserley Click here for Keswick Station Gallery 2:
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Notes: Few English towns enjoy a lovelier setting than Keswick. To the south is Derwent Water, flanked by woodland and fells, whilst to the north is the massif rising to the bare summit of Skiddaw (3,053ft). The town itself is of modest size, with 4,821 residents in 2011, and it has scarcely expanded since the 1930s thanks to planning restrictions imposed when the Lake District National Park was designated in 1951. Even before the railway arrived in 1865 Keswick was attracting tourists, but the opening of the station and the adjacent, imposing Railway Hotel made the town much more accessible. Visitors by rail would generally arrive from the Penrith direction and be enthralled by the exquisite approach to the town, heralded by the huge bulk of Blencathra (or Saddleback) dominating the northern horizon shortly before Threlkeld was reached, and followed by two miles in the wooded gorge where the train repeatedly rumbled over iron bridges crossing the River Greta with its gushing water and boulder-strewn bed. The visitor would also not fail to appreciate the charming approach to the railway from the town centre of Keswick along Station Road, built by the CK&P Railway through Fitz Park and crossing the River Greta by an elegant cast iron bridge. 
Apart from the slightly larger Cockermouth, Keswick was the only intermediate town on the Penrith – Workington railway, and these two stations were substantially larger than the others on the route, contrasting with the standardised cottage buildings used elsewhere. In 1863 the contract for constructing Keswick station was awarded to Boulton & Sons (the contractors for the railway) and it was based on a plan presented by the line’s Engineer, Thomas Bouch. The station opened with the line on 2 January 1865 and from the outset was a crossing point on the otherwise single-track railway. The main building on the down (south) side of the tracks was a pleasant two-storey structure but, in Biddle’s (2003) opinion ‘a substantial but undistinguished building’ in squared random stone and ashlar trim. Bowtell (1989) describes it as ‘a workmanlike stone building … using local materials’ and ‘well gabled, ostensibly much the sort of building which a comfortably-off local Director might have built for his own occupation’. 
The building was commodious, not only because it served a population centre but because it accommodated the CK&P offices. On the upper floor, the Boardroom was in the west wing and the office of the company Secretary was under the west gable of the central block. The Traffic Manager’s office was under the next gable and the Accountant used the east wing. On the exterior elevation the entrance was recessed between gabled projections and sheltered by a glazed portico which was added to Bouch’s design before construction was under way. Soon after the station opened, a refreshment room was added, but it operated only until 1873; Bowtell speculates that a rowdy and drunken element on days when several excursion trains were handled might have hastened its demise. A first class gentlemen’s waiting room and additional lavatory took the place of the refreshment room which itself had already surrendered space for a second class ladies’ waiting room and modified lavatories. In 1870/71 a W H Smith bookstall opened.
Hard by the station building was the impressive, four-storey Keswick Hotel. Prior to the opening of the CK&P its Board was determined to have a hotel of grand proportions and they inspected hotels at Grasmere, Windermere and Ullswater to ensure that theirs would not be outclassed. Its design was drawn up by the company’s architect, John Ross. The station and hotel were connected by a glazed passageway bearing portraits of famous painters in coloured glass. The hotel was leased to a separate company headed by the railway’s Chairman.
The facilities at Keswick station proved inadequate for the increasing traffic and were expanded between 1890 and 1895. Accommodation of excursion train engines and carriages was needed between their arrival towards noon and early evening departure, and through carriages resided overnight at the station to be attached to trains in the morning. The up platform was moved back and rebuilt as an island, its central portion of ample width to handle many passengers. A range of timber buildings was constructed on this platform. A loop served the north side of the island, with another beyond it used for engine run-round or stabling a train. A short bay road was constructed at the up end of the island and a bay in the western end of the main down platform. A substantial length of the down and the island platforms was given roofing which contributed greatly to the character and comfort of the station. The broad, deep canopies were carried on decorated iron columns and were of glazed ridge-and-furrow design on the down platform but hipped and slated on the island. The down platform was widened by about 7ft 6in in front of the station buildings. A narrow timber extension at its east end probably dates from this time. 
Keswick station was soon to benefit from electric lighting which was provided by the Windermere & District Electric Supply Company. The contract was agreed in late 1899. At this time very few stations in Britain were electrically lit, and Keswick remained the only station with this form of lighting on the CK&P until the intermediate stations to Penrith were converted shortly before closure.
All significant changes to the yard were made before the end of the nineteenth century. A short platform was constructed beside the siding serving the coal cells to enable side-door wagons to be unloaded. At the west of the shed a matching goods office was built c1877 and the short track was cut back to accommodate it. Three cattle pens appeared on the loading bank and the track next to the down running line effectively became a bay platform line. Around 1880, a headshunt was added at the west end to enable shunting to be carried out in the yard without obstructing the through lines. A wagon weighbridge was added to the line beside the loading bank. Close to the goods warehouse a weighbridge for carts and lorries was constructed inside the road entrance in a delightful style resembling a pagoda. Before World War 1 a small oil store was added near the southern boundary of the yard. 
As at most British stations, Keswick’s goods yard handled substantial quantities of inbound coal, much of it carried by NER trains and delivered in that company’s bottom-opening wagons which could discharge their load directly into coal cells. The town gas works was a principal customer. Slate from the Honister Quarries (Buttermere Green Slate Co) was a major outbound mineral which was hauled by road to the station, originally by horse and cart and later by steam lorry. Planks produced by local sawmills, pit props, timber for Briery Bobbin Mill (rail-served between Keswick and Threlkeld) and pencils manufactured in Keswick also contributed to outbound traffic. Supplies for West Cumberland Farmers’ Trading Society arrived by rail bound for their depot.
During World War II Keswick was considered a place of safety to which school children were evacuated. Newcastle Central High School girls (including the author’s mother) spent several years billeted on local families and sharing the facilities of a school in the town. Of greater railway interest was the translation of Roedean School girls and their teachers to the town; Roedean’s elevated site on the English Channel coast near Brighton was requisitioned by the army (and was subsequently passed to HMS Vernon, a naval shore establishment). The displaced Roedean community used the Keswick Hotel (and two others nearby) for accommodation and rooms in the station itself for classes. In the main station building the five upstairs rooms and a waiting room below served as classrooms. Apparently, railway passengers might blunder into this waiting room and immediately withdraw, whilst others of a bolder disposition might linger to enjoy the warmth of the fire and acquire some learning! Dances in the Greek manner were occasionally staged on the platform. Further classrooms were improvised in the hotels and even in the covered way between the station and the hotel. These details are from Bowtell (1989) where further information on the Roedean era may be enjoyed. Inevitably, the Roedean girls were provided with special beginning and end of term special trains. The final departure of Roedean was at the end of November 1945 at the beginning of a lengthy Christmas holiday.
Starting long before the LMS era, but continuing during and after it, special trains ran to and from Keswick to convey participants in the Keswick Convention. The Convention was first held in 1875 and has continued for up to a week each summer (except for wartime interruptions) to the present day; it is an inter-denominational Christian gathering, drawing participants from all over the world, but large numbers from southern England. The Convention trains first ran in 1899. After World War II one return journey from London sufficed and continued until 1969 – steam hauled until 1967. 
Keswick station, along with most of the others on the Workington – Penrith line, was fitted with BR(LM) maroon vitreous enamel nameboards and totem lamp tablets, probably in the late 1950s. As part of a BR policy to close goods facilities, Keswick and the other stations on the Penrith-Workington line which still possessed goods yards ceased to handle this traffic on 1 June 1964. Although the ‘Beeching Report’ of March 1963 recommended the closure to passengers of the entire Penrith – Keswick – Workington line, in January 1966 it was announced that only the section west of Keswick would close, and the following timetable would prove to be the last in which trains ran between Keswick and Workington. From 18 April 1966 Keswick became the terminus of a branch from Penrith. 
From 4 December 1967 the Keswick branch was operated as one long siding and the remaining signal boxes closed. From 1 July 1968 all five branch stations became unstaffed, no distinction being drawn between the minor intermediate stations and Keswick itself. Considering that in their later days Nottingham Victoria (closed 1967) and Birmingham Snow Hill (closed 1972) were reduced to unstaffed ‘halts’ – albeit for only two months in Nottingham’s case - the indignity suffered by Keswick station seems less significant. At Keswick the island platform was taken out of use, and only the track serving the down platform was left in place. The timetable shown below would be the final one for the station.
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