History

(From hand written research by P Empsall)

Scotby Station from the railway bridge

Stairs went up to two bedrooms, which were under the eaves. The full first floor as we have it now did not exist. However, changes were made before long, it is thought largely due to pressure from station master's wives, who thought their social standing in the community warranted a better home.

A proper first floor was created, the stairs were turned round, to ascend from back to front of the house as they now do and the front door was moved to its position at the side of the house. Later the kitchen was added at the back with the main bedroom above it and later still the pantry and the washhouse, our cloakroom and utility room were added.

Soon passenger trains stopped at the station bringing up to 50 people per day to work in the village and to take business men who owned the large houses in Scotby and Aglionby, into Carlisle.

Photograph of Scotby Station taken from The Carlisle Journal

The station closed in 1959 and the platform and station buildings were removed. We are not sure what happened to the station house for some time after this.

Mr and Mrs Carruthers, from whom we bought the house in 1982, had lived in it for about 10 years. When they bought the house there was one gas point and one cold water tap.

In the kitchen was a large cooking range which Mrs Carruthers used until she could no longer obtain parts to maintain it. Mr and Mrs Carruthers divided the two large bedrooms at the front of the house into three bedrooms and a bathroom.

The small windows in each of the present front bedrooms were repeated on the other side of the chimney breast (this feature is still to be seen on one or two of the station master's houses between Carlisle and Newcastle). These windows were enlarged to serve the third bedroom and the bathroom and the smaller window was introduced in the living room, to give a view of the length of the garden.

(Extract from a letter to S Storey from C Harwood)

"...Mother remembers the Station House when the original front door was in existence, it was green and had a brass knob but the white fencing in the photograph was not there. She didn't recall much about the inside of the house but described the garden as very long and and going to a point at the top where there were gooseberry bushes. Also there was a large pear tree growing against the side of the house. I gather that must have been where your porch is now. She remembered the foot bridge which went across the track, the remains of which you pointed out to me. Apparently she used to like standing on the bridge when a train was passing and making smoke or steam."

Note: Joseph Foster, the station master, was the grand father of C Harwood's mother-in-law. As a girl she made visits to Scotby, but never actually lived there.