Bootle Station - Cumbrian Coast Line (4th November 2022)

Hello Everyone, my final journey on the Cumbrian Coast Line for this year was to the beautifully remote station and market town of Bootle. The railway station is just over a mile to the north-west of the town and is close to the hamlet of Hycemoor. I was interested to see the Grade 2 listed Signal Box and Waiting Shelter on Platform 2 as well as some of the original features such as the station clock and Goods Shed. The story about the explosion of a goods train just to the south of the station on 22nd March 1945 was particularly poignant and is commemorated by a plaque. Following in the footsteps of my 1861 George Bradshaw’s Illustrative Handbook, I visited the town which gained its Market charter in 1347 and is said to be the smallest market town in England. Bradshaw also recommended a visit to St Michael’s Church which was restored by the Lancashire architects Paley, Austin and Paley (the same architects that designed the waiting shelter at the railway station). Other videos from stations along this line include Maryport; Flimby; Workington; Harrington; Parton; Whitehaven; Corkickle; St Bees; Sellafield; Seascale; and Drigg. They are all available to watch on my You Tube channel ‘Stephen Bennett’s Railway Adventures’.