Station Name: PADSTOW[Source: Martin James]
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A postcard view entitled 'Hotel Metropole and Padstow Harbour' from the 1904-10 period. The appearance of the railway in this view was coincidental and probably because the station was out of view to the right. Visible at the lower level in the centre of the picture are the buffer stops just beyond the north end of the station platform. The sloping station approach and the roadway leading round to the quay had been hewn out of the cliff, the area on which the railway was built having once been creek. A number of railway vehicles are visible, most obviously the LSWR wagons on the quay. To the right of the hotel and on the lower level a crenellated building can just be made out, that with two windows facing the camera. To the right of this and again at a lower level part of the roof of the Fishermen’s Mission can just be seen. The site is today Padstow Memorial Hall. The crenellated building still stands stands today but is minus the crenellations. Such buildings are useful references for 'then and now' comparisons. On the right and beyond the railway part of what was a dry dock for ship repairs can be seen. The gap is where a gate once stood, the dock being flooded and drained by the tides. The gate was removed at around the time the railway arrived at Padstow and the gap widened but this view appears to show the gap prior to widening as the wall ends are still square. They were rounded following widening. One would assume these changes came about to provide a conventional wet dock for the benefit of fishing vessels unloading beside the fish shed, which is out of view to the right. The ornate gas lamps, typical of the time, will be noted as will the female walking along the lower road. Her clothing is typical Edwardian but the detail suggests she was in domestic service.
Photo from Malc McCarthy collection
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