- 2 weeks ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00I'm Si King and I've always loved transport, especially bikes and trains.
00:13Here in Britain, we have every reason to be proud.
00:16This is where the railway was born, 200 incredible years ago.
00:23Change the points, 26 bus, it's all happening here.
00:27But for too long, the real stars of that story, our railway stations, have been overlooked.
00:34I'm never going to look at a train station the same way again.
00:37It's where adventures start and end, where lives change and where extraordinary human stories unfold.
00:45The camaraderie you have with the passengers, I love that.
00:49I'm joined by architect Damien Burrows and transport historian Siddy Holloway.
00:55Together, we'll uncover their hidden history.
00:58Oh, wow. This is a sight you don't see very often.
01:03Stunning architecture.
01:05What an explosion of light and engineering.
01:09And meet the people who keep them alive.
01:12Volunteers, families who have worked the rails for generations and their communities.
01:18I haven't been to many train stations where I've ended up harvesting fresh veg.
01:24From glorious coastlines to soaring peaks, it's a journey full of surprises.
01:29Now that's a pretty majestic view from a railway station.
01:32So join me to celebrate Britain's favourite railway stations.
01:37This week, we're visiting four unique and iconic railway stations.
01:56From literary connections to awe-inspiring architecture, historic milestones and engineering marvels.
02:07These stations are destinations in their own right.
02:12While I'm travelling to the dizzy heights of one of the UK's tallest peaks...
02:17Can you believe that that is a train station?
02:19Cities in Yorkshire uncovering the nostalgic charm of Haworth.
02:24Woo! I'm turning on lamps!
02:27There we go!
02:29Damien will be exploring one of the most beautiful stations in the UK.
02:34Even today, this is still standing up as an impressive piece of engineering.
02:38Very much so.
02:39And we couldn't forget one of the most important stations in the whole of the world.
02:45Hyington here is the world's first railway station.
02:49Each destination will tell a captivating story.
02:55I'm off to Wales, North Wales to be precise, visiting one of the most beloved national parks in Britain.
03:02The Errerie National Park.
03:04With a peak over 1,000 metres, Erwythva, or Snowdon, is one of the most loved mountains in the UK.
03:16With over 600,000 people climbing it every year.
03:20And guess what?
03:21It has its own railway.
03:23And with it, its own incredible railway stations.
03:29Now that's a pretty majestic view from a railway station.
03:32Wouldn't you agree?
03:34Perched on the top of Erwythva is Summit Station.
03:37The highest railway station in Wales.
03:39Sat at approximately 3,493 feet.
03:45The station and its visitor centre showcased thoughtful architecture that seamlessly blends into the mountainside.
03:55But in order to reach this impressive station, it all starts at the bottom of the mountain.
04:01I've been told that you can get four seasons in one day here.
04:06And they weren't telling fibs, were they?
04:09I'm in Clan Berres to visit the Snowdon Mountain Railway.
04:13This area is most well known for its history of slate mining.
04:20But in the 18th and 19th centuries, tourism was also on the rise.
04:25And by the end of the 1800s, a railway brought something to the area never seen before.
04:32At the foot of Erwythva is Clan Berres Station.
04:37The first in a series of stations that take excited passengers on a journey to reach the summit.
04:44And it's here that I hope to understand how the railway and its stations came to be.
04:48I'm here at the Snowdon Mountain Railway Station.
04:52It's iconic and also a huge tourist attraction for the area.
04:57But most importantly, we've got a ticket office and a railway that takes you to the top of an iconic mountain.
05:05What a beautiful station and I'm looking forward to finding out a bit more about it.
05:10And the first port of call is to speak to one of the 85 hard-working team members who have come from all over to look after this Heritage Railway, its station and its trains.
05:25Mark, one of the dedicated train crew, is keen to help.
05:30Good day, Mark. Good day.
05:32Good day.
05:33Nice to meet you.
05:34And thanks for the invitation. This is fantastic.
05:36So, what do you do here?
05:38I'm a locomotive fireman.
05:41Various steam and diesel locomotives are used to climb this 4.7 mile long railway to Summit Station.
05:48But firemen, like Mark, are essential to bring the steam trains safely to the top.
05:54It's a question of keeping my water levels and pressure gauges reading favourably for us to make forward motions.
06:03So, it's highly skilled.
06:05Mark joined the team a decade ago and often thinks about the impressive railway workers that came before him.
06:13The railway's been here since the Victorian period, 1890-odd?
06:171896, the railway was opened Easter Monday.
06:21Great.
06:22They built the railway in about 14 months.
06:26150 men, two viaducts, several bridges, and they got to the summit in 14 months' time.
06:32Wow.
06:33So, it was an epic, epic build.
06:35My God, that's ridiculous.
06:36Treated engineering.
06:37Yeah.
06:38Yeah.
06:39I mean, that is engineering excellence.
06:40After all this effort for the railway to reach the summit of Erwitva, only a collection of wooden huts offered shelter at the top of the mountain.
06:48And these weren't sustainable.
06:511930s, sort of, they did a redesign and built a purpose-built restaurant and hotel up there.
06:57But, sort of, that became, to the end of its working life, they wished to solve the consistent problems you have at working at that altitude.
07:05So, they went into partnership with the National Parks, built the current iteration of the summit cafe in 2009.
07:15And while the new summit station is more fit for purpose, it's also a warm welcome needed for those reaching the top of the mountain.
07:24Before I journey up to the iconic summit, I'm keen to understand how on earth a train can climb up Wales' tallest mountain.
07:37So, I'm visiting the railway's locomotive shed, here in Llanberis, where I'm told Rodney is the man to speak to.
07:46So, this is our workshop. As you can see, it's quite old as well.
07:51I think it is. It is.
07:52When the railway first opened, there was seven steam engines.
07:56OK.
07:57Here. We're down to three now, at the moment.
08:01Several of the engines did back to when the railway first opened, so Rodney needs a skilled team to keep those locals running.
08:09Rodney, how many is the work here?
08:11We've got seven in the workshop this time of year, the summer period.
08:16And we've got about 14 to 15 winter period. A lot of people who work here, they're local guys.
08:24Local engineers applying that craft in that community. How brilliant is that? I love it.
08:29A railway supporting a local community of workers is impressive, although the railway itself is another feat.
08:38A train track typically has two main parallel steel rails for trains to run on.
08:43But here, they use an ingenious track system called rack and pinion, with a special third toothed rail in the middle of the track.
08:53The engines that use this railway have a gear underneath that helps lock it into the rail's teeth, so it can climb steep slopes without slipping.
09:03Perfect for mountain journeys like this one.
09:06Rodney has promised me a demonstration.
09:11It sits into the rack like that.
09:13So that and then this pinion sits on the axle.
09:16Yeah.
09:17And with the steam, the axle's driven.
09:21Yeah.
09:22And then that gets these things up a very steep hill.
09:25Yeah. So it just keeps going into that.
09:28Wow.
09:29So that is what drives the train up the inclines without it slipping on the track.
09:35Yeah.
09:36So in essence, Rodney, it's like a Swiss clock, but just on steroids, isn't it?
09:40That's the one, yeah.
09:41Definitely.
09:43From Tasmania to India to Switzerland, rack and pinion railways are found across the world.
09:50But this one, starting in Llanberis, is the only public rack and pinion railway in the UK.
09:56And without it, thousands of passengers wouldn't be able to reach their ultimate destination.
10:02Summit Station.
10:05Our great British railway stations are more than just stops on the line.
10:23They're iconic landmarks that welcome visitors, connect communities, and stand proudly at the heart of every journey.
10:32I'm in North Wales, known for its mountain peaks and knockout views.
10:38But why I'm here is for something else quite remarkable.
10:43Can you believe that that is a train station?
10:46The Aruri National Park sat on the top of Wales.
10:52A bucket list stop for people from around the world.
10:56And the same can be said for where Siddy is off to next.
11:01150 miles away in West Yorkshire is a village that brought some of our greatest literary works to life,
11:07and is home to a wonderful community railway.
11:11This is Bronte country, where the rolling hills and wild moors inspired some of our nation's most beloved novels,
11:19penned by three trailblazing sisters.
11:22I'm in West Yorkshire, where steam still drifts through the valleys,
11:26and cobbled streets lead to stories that shaped world literature.
11:31This is Howarth Station.
11:36Opened in 1867, this picturesque village station is part of the five-mile-long Keeley and Worth Valley Railway.
11:44A must visit for railway lovers like me.
11:48This is such a lovely example of an authentic Victorian Yorkshire station.
11:53Just the stone itself already feels very much from this particular area.
11:58But really what's striking me walking here is that this has been meticulously brought back to life.
12:05As the railways faced competition from the roads, Howarth Station and its train line were closed in 1962.
12:13But thankfully, a preservation society was quickly formed,
12:19and after only six years, Howarth and its sister stations were reopened to passengers as a heritage railway.
12:28This local treasure was even used as a filming location in the 1970s classic, The Railway Children.
12:35I mean, it's really transporting you back in time just walking here.
12:39Even the signage, it all looks like you're back in the 19th century.
12:45And they even have gas lamps.
12:47I wonder if they function.
12:49I bet they do.
12:50I've heard the best person to speak to is the station master in charge, Aaron Hendry,
12:56who's one of the volunteers looking after this little piece of history.
13:00Aaron.
13:01Hello, Sidney.
13:02Nice to meet you.
13:03Nice to meet you.
13:04What a beautiful spot to be meeting you at.
13:06It is.
13:07It is.
13:08Now, tell me, how old were you when you first got involved with the railway?
13:11Well, I was 17 years old when I joined the railway.
13:14I joined as a volunteer.
13:15And how old were you when you became station master?
13:17I was elected station master at 18 years old.
13:20That's where my interest came.
13:22I wanted to preserve this little piece of heritage.
13:24Oh, look at that.
13:25Yeah.
13:26Yeah, one of the old northern places.
13:30At the time, Aaron was the youngest station master in the country.
13:35Today, he and hundreds of other dedicated volunteers continue to make the station a success.
13:41What other things do you think make it so special?
13:45The fact that it connects to a beautiful cobbled main street, where the Bronte sisters were from.
13:50The Bronte sisters, during all the railway mania, they invested a lot of their money in this early railway before it was built.
13:57Really?
13:58They bought shares like everyone else.
14:00That's incredible.
14:01And now we have a beautiful, thriving railway here.
14:03Yeah.
14:04And it's quite, I mean, it tugs at your heartstrings to think that this was saved by volunteers who didn't want it to be lost.
14:12Yes.
14:13So do you have any favourite part of the station?
14:16I like the gas lamps.
14:17Yeah, I noticed those.
14:18That is my favourite.
14:20Oh, I would love to light some of those gas lamps up.
14:23Can we do that?
14:24Yeah, let's go.
14:25Beautiful.
14:26For over 60 years, the Preservation Society has worked their magic on this beautiful station, restoring and maintaining its historic features, including the gas lamps.
14:38Oh, you know, I've never turned a gas lamp on.
14:41Have you not?
14:42Oh, they're fun.
14:43There we are.
14:44Oh, OK.
14:45So three switches connecting to different parts of the gas lamp circuit.
14:51Do you need to switch them on in any particular order or whatever?
14:54Yeah, left to right.
14:55Oh, OK.
14:56Do you want to have a go?
14:57Yeah.
14:58Can I?
14:59I thought you would.
15:00I mean, it's...
15:01OK.
15:02Start with blue.
15:03Blue first.
15:04That's it.
15:07Let there be light.
15:08Oh, my goodness.
15:13I'm turning on lamps.
15:14There we go.
15:15Even in daylight, the gas lamps are so special, and they're part of what gives Howarth Station its unique charm.
15:24But this Grade II listed building is also the headquarters for the whole railway line.
15:29So, to better understand how the station functions behind the scenes, I'm looking for Ellie, who I've been told has nearly 10 years of volunteering under her belt.
15:39Very nice vehicles in here.
15:41Hi.
15:42You must be Ellie.
15:43Yes, I'm really nice to meet you.
15:44Nice to meet you, too.
15:45So, tell me about how did you start working with the railway?
15:48So, I started working here when I was quite young.
15:50I was only 13 in the young persons group.
15:53What?
15:54Yes, I was only a little one, and I've been here quite a while now.
15:57Yeah.
15:58And it's great to be shaped into such a space where you're given so much exposure to all different parts of this railway.
16:03Yeah.
16:04Whether that's stations work, catering, locomotive sides, or working in the civil's department, engineering, the scale is very broad.
16:13The Keely and Worth Valley Railway encourages volunteers of all ages to get involved.
16:19Ellie was doing such a good job, she was offered a permanent position here aged just 16.
16:25I would assume when you first started working that you were one of the few women working on the railway.
16:30How does it feel to be kind of a female in a largely male dominated field?
16:36Right now, I would say, it doesn't make much of a difference to me, it just comes as second nature.
16:40Yeah.
16:41But when I was younger and I first started, it is slightly daunting, but there's people around you that nurture you and mentor you into feeling that sense of belonging.
16:48Mm-hm.
16:49Especially, like, it doesn't matter how old you are, how young you are, whether you're male, female, anything, you are really accepted widely across the whole railway.
16:57Love that.
16:58It's so inspiring to hear from these young volunteers that are keeping Haworth and this Heritage Railway alive.
17:05And just like Ellie, I'm curious about the pioneering women that came before her.
17:11Before I leave, I couldn't miss hearing more about the village's famous past residence, the Bronte family.
17:18Rebecca?
17:19Hello.
17:20Hi, nice to meet you.
17:21Nice to meet you too.
17:22What are you reading there?
17:23Wuthering Heights.
17:24Probably about the 15th time.
17:26Oh my, well, it's very apt for where we are today.
17:29It is.
17:30Rebecca is the director of the Parsonage, the former home of the Bronte family.
17:34Now a museum in Haworth dedicated to preserving the area's literary heritage.
17:39They're an extraordinary family who lived in Haworth from 1820.
17:44And the house is preserved as it was in the 1840s, which is when the Brontes are writing their famous novels, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and the Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
17:53And we have a good working relationship with the railway.
17:56And there's a lovely other connection is that the Parsonage was actually the doctor's house in the original Railway Children film.
18:03Oh, that's interesting.
18:05The Bronte family also had connections with the local railway.
18:09After Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre became an incredible success, she used some of her wealth to buy shares in the booming railway industry.
18:17And her younger brother Branwell was briefly a clerk at nearby Sowerby Bridge Station until he was dismissed for his accounting errors.
18:27It's interesting. I mean, this railway dates from maybe slightly later than the heyday of the Bronte sisters, but they would have known that they were coming.
18:34And I guess it would have been a big change for this village getting the railway in the 19th century.
18:41Oh, and just as we're speaking, here's the train now.
18:46You know, it's really been mind blowing to me today to see the passion that the volunteers here have, that you have for the museum, all of that.
18:57I mean, it truly feels like a place that really celebrates history and the past.
19:03Yeah, it does celebrate the past, but it also looks to the future.
19:06And I think, you know, the railway here and the museum itself are inspiring younger generations to take an interest in the books that were written and the trains that were built and the railways and get involved.
19:16And I think it's something that's going to be here for a long time to come.
19:19Let's hope so.
19:22Howarth Station might have been lost forever if it wasn't for the hardworking dedication of its volunteers.
19:28But they've created a place where steam and storytelling comes together in perfect harmony.
19:33Back at Llanberis Station, there's still more to uncover along this fascinating railway.
19:54I've been told it's not just the track that makes this place special.
19:58This railway and its stations use a canny signalling method that I want to get a sneak peek at.
20:05Gents.
20:06Hello, how are you?
20:07Hi.
20:08Listen, I hope you don't mind me intruding, but I'm just really nosy.
20:12What goes on in here?
20:14So this is the traffic control office.
20:16Okay.
20:17This is where we control all of the movement of the trains on the mountain.
20:21O'Wine has worked here for three years, both as a guard and a traffic controller.
20:26Today he's working alongside supervisor Nigel to ensure everything runs smoothly.
20:33Let me just get this straight.
20:35So there's one track.
20:37Correct.
20:38Lots of trains.
20:39Yes.
20:40And they pass each other at particular points on the mountain.
20:45Is that right?
20:46That's correct.
20:47The whole railway line here has five stations in total.
20:52Llanberis at the bottom.
20:54The iconic summit station at the top.
20:57And three stations along the way which the trains use as passing points on the single track.
21:03What's the piece of paper here?
21:05What is that?
21:06This is the graph.
21:07There's a new graph for every day.
21:08Oh, okay.
21:09Basically it tells me every train on the mountain is all colour coded.
21:13Right.
21:14Like for instance, number nine is a yellow, ten brown, and so on and so on.
21:20Right.
21:21Traffic controller then, we know where everything on the mountain is every minute of the day.
21:26Ah, okay.
21:27There's three passing places on the mountain.
21:29There's Hebron, Halfway and Clogwyn.
21:31Yeah.
21:32Every time a train comes to one of them stations, we either tell them to remain there, or if there's nothing coming down in the upper section, we then tell them to proceed to the next station.
21:43So the more trains you've got money, the graph will change because you've got more trains on the track.
21:47Exactly.
21:48We know how it works.
21:49And it's a fail-safe.
21:50So the one to Mobile 11, you may set the bottom points correctly at Halfway.
21:56Proceed down to Hebron on 57.
21:59I mean, it's simple.
22:00It doesn't look that simple, but I've got to say, you keep telling us it's simple, I think so.
22:07Honestly, it's just an excuse to do a bit of colouring.
22:10It's grown up colouring in, isn't it?
22:12Yeah, exactly.
22:13That's what's going on in.
22:14Now it takes an hour to go up.
22:16Correct.
22:17And if you miss your train, on the way down, it's a long walk.
22:19It is, about two and a half hours.
22:21It's a nice walk though.
22:22I'm sure it is, but I won't be missing the train.
22:26Try not to.
22:27No.
22:28I can't wait for you.
22:29I mean, no, I know you won't.
22:31Thankfully, this journey to Summit Station is one I definitely don't want to miss.
22:37The first recorded climb of Elwoodfa may have been way back in 1639,
22:43but nearly 400 years later, this Geordie is going to reach its peak.
22:58Here in North Wales' Aruri National Park, I've been exploring the legendary Snowdon Mountain Railway and its stations.
23:11And while I've enjoyed my time here at the bottom of the mountain, I can't wait any longer to reach my final destination, Summit Station, just yards from the top of Elwoodfa.
23:24I've decided to give hiking a miss today, and I'm taking the hour-long train journey instead.
23:30OK, folks.
23:31Please remain seated at all times.
23:33Sit back, relax, and enjoy the trip.
23:37The start of the ascent up Snowy.
23:43And we made our way through the National Park, and it's been a National Park since 1951, and it's one of the biggest in the UK.
23:54The park covers nine mountain ranges, 11,000 hectares of native woodland, and nearly 1,500 miles of trails to explore.
24:05And I get to see it all from the comfort of the train.
24:11I'm just thinking of the logistics of actually putting a station at the top of a mountain loop.
24:20It can't be easy, because you've got a slope like that to contend with.
24:29You've got weather conditions that are often short of horrendous.
24:37You need to be something pretty special.
24:41While I take in the inspiring views,
24:43Damien is off to Scotland to visit another spectacular site.
24:52Perched on Scotland's rugged west coast, just over 30 miles from Glasgow, is Wims Bay Station.
25:02Built in 1903, this masterpiece of Edwardian design has welcomed commuters and holidaymakers for over 100 years.
25:10But it's also a must-visit for any architect worth their salt.
25:15What an explosion of light and engineering. It's just beautifully fused together.
25:23For many, the station's most striking feature is its sweeping glass roof.
25:29An elegant curved canopy that spirals gracefully towards the connecting ferry terminal.
25:34Guiding passengers from the train to the ferry and onto the islands beyond.
25:43But I want to discover more about Wims Bay Station than its bricks and its mortar.
25:48And local historian Sue Hoversall has offered to help.
25:52Sue, how are you doing?
25:53Hello.
25:54Lovely to meet you.
25:55Yeah, you too, yeah.
25:56This is such an impressive station that you've got here.
25:58It's interesting that when the station was first built in 1903, and it was reviewed, you know, there were articles about it in the local papers.
26:06The people they talked about, or the person they talked about, was Donald Matheson, the engineer.
26:12He was the guy whose station it was. Not James Miller, the architect.
26:17He didn't get mentioned, strangely.
26:19Donald Matheson, at the time, was the chief engineer of the Caledonian Railway, overseeing major infrastructure projects across Scotland.
26:30James Miller was one of Scotland's leading railway architects.
26:34And together, they created a station that was not just efficient, but artistically groundbreaking.
26:40And then, of course, you come here. You arrive onto this platform. It's got this incredible glazed roof structure.
26:47Yes, indeed.
26:48Even today, this is still standing up as an impressive piece of engineering.
26:52Very much so.
26:54But the railway didn't just build an impressive station. It also brought a whole new industry to this quaint fishing village.
27:01That's how the town develops as a seaside town, a seaside attraction. But without that connection with the ferry, of course, that wouldn't work.
27:11Matheson and Miller's station enabled the journeys of thousands of holiday trippers making their way to the coast.
27:18We know that Matheson went to the States to learn about the management of large numbers of travelers, passengers, in stations and on boats, this kind of thing.
27:29And what he brought back from that was the idea that you really need curves.
27:36You don't have right angles or sharp corners. You have a system of flowing curves through the building.
27:44And as you can see here, this arrangement from the station itself continues down the pier towards the steamers.
27:53Originally, there had been up to four steamers at the end of the pier here.
27:56So then you've really got to move a lot of people very quickly, very gracefully, without them even realizing they're being managed.
28:05Yes, that's it, yes.
28:07And it's still working for passengers today, wheeling their suitcases towards the waiting ferries.
28:12While there may be less tourists than a hundred years ago, the station still looks as grand as it did in its heyday, thanks in large part to the friends of Wimsbay Community Group who volunteer here, including head gardener Kathy, who's hoping to bring a nod to the station's past with her floral displays.
28:34And why did you want to bring this sort of arrangement of flowers back? Because there are quite a few around the station.
28:40Oh, well, it was really to sort of present the station the way it was years ago.
28:46You know, it's an Edwardian station, as you probably know by now.
28:49So we wanted all this colour and the geraniums like they used to have.
28:54Wow.
28:55So that's what the people look for.
28:57And this, what's this for?
28:58Now, this is called a water bowser.
29:01We're not allowed to have a hose on the station.
29:04So we have to bring in our own water supply to keep the flowers maintained.
29:11So it must be like a little member of the family now.
29:13Has it got a nickname?
29:14Oh, it is, yes. Bertie Bowser.
29:16And he's quite old now, actually.
29:18That's why he's so scruffy.
29:20Can I have a go?
29:21You sure can.
29:22Oh, yes.
29:23All right.
29:24So we just...
29:26It's a bit different to my garden.
29:27...switch it on.
29:28Yeah.
29:29And away we go.
29:30It's coming out, isn't it?
29:34It's quite therapeutic though, isn't it?
29:36Don't forget the top one.
29:37You have to go way up there.
29:39Does somebody else normally do this one for you?
29:42Yes, I bring my husband.
29:43He does the top.
29:44He's just up for the top shift.
29:45I'm so little, I just do the lower.
29:47I mean, to come up with this invention,
29:50I mean, that's love and dedication to what you're doing.
29:52Oh, yes.
29:53I just love it.
29:54We like it because it makes the station look so pretty.
29:57And the tourists just love it when the flowers are...
30:00Yeah.
30:01I bet they do.
30:02It may be a grade A-listed building,
30:04but alongside Cathy and Bertie Bowser,
30:07Wimsbay Station relies on 16 other volunteers donating their time here.
30:12Simon's been lending a hand at the bookshop for 14 years now and can proudly recall the history for any curious passers-by like me.
30:21Simon.
30:22How are you doing?
30:23Hello, Damien.
30:24Good to meet you.
30:25Being here at the station for as long as you have been, looking back at the station's history, what was it like when it sort of first opened?
30:33Well, obviously I'm not that old.
30:35I would remember that.
30:36But it was a very busy station.
30:37It was a key part of the Glasgow holiday destinations that Glaswegians know as, Dunnewater.
30:43So during the Glasgow fair, all the businesses and big industries shut down for two weeks and people went on their summer holidays.
30:50We were given a description of the Glasgow fair Saturdays.
30:54That's the main day that people went on holiday.
30:57Around about 1957.
30:59In one hour, they got 10,000 people through the station and onto ferries and steamers off to Millport, Dunnoon, Rothsee.
31:09You know, so these sort of things died down as we know that seaside towns started to struggle and so on.
31:16People come in, they see this big station, they go outside and they come back in and they say, where's the town?
31:22Because we're only a small village.
31:24Yeah, it served a very specific purpose.
31:26Yeah.
31:27In fact, I think they've designed it so well that they find it difficult to maintain because of the actual skill of building it.
31:34That makes this station even more precious, not only for the community, but for the country as well.
31:39Yeah.
31:40And it's the community that are pouring their love and support into this station today.
31:46They've even won a few awards for it.
31:48And see the plaques around the station.
31:50And then there was the World Cup of Stations that we won in 2023.
31:54Fantastic.
31:55Yeah, we're very pleased to win that.
31:58And it kind of brought a bigger audience to who might come here because people are now coming just to see the station.
32:07Rather than coming here to go on a ferry, you know, the station is the destination.
32:14And what a destination it is.
32:17In 1903, when this station opened, it shocked and amazed the passengers that traveled through here.
32:30But what's really special now is how it pulls all the community together to restore it, care for it, love it and protect its future legacy.
32:42And to me, that's what makes this a truly iconic station.
33:02Back in Wales, I've been on a whistle-stop tour of the Snowden Mountain Railway stations.
33:07And I'm excited to reach my final destination.
33:14We're here at the station at the top of Snowdonia.
33:22And as you can see, we can see absolutely nothing.
33:29It's good though, isn't it?
33:38At over a thousand metres above sea level, it feels like I'm walking amongst the clouds.
33:44On a clear day, lucky visitors can see views stretching from Summit Station towards Ireland.
33:50But I have a feeling it's not just the views which can be amazing up here.
33:54There's definitely still more to uncover about the station on the top of the iconic mountain.
34:07We've been on a journey to explore some of Britain's favourite destination railway stations, which have been bringing in the crowds for hundreds of years.
34:23I'm in one of my favourite places, North Wales, in the Aruri National Park, and I've just pulled in to its epic Summit Station.
34:32Built in 2009, this structure was skilfully crafted to withstand the harsh mountain weather, while offering shelter to its many visitors.
34:43So, to get an insight into life at Wales' highest railway station, and to take in some of those cracking views,
34:51I'm meeting Carl, the dedicated manager of the station's visitors centre.
34:55These days are the best up here, because of the views.
34:58Just out of interest, how many days do you get?
35:01I won't say that, just in case.
35:03No, we're quite fortunate, we do get a lot of days where we can see the views.
35:06The best job in the world.
35:08Although, with the ever-changing mountain weather, the work at Summit Station is seasonal.
35:14The summit itself operates from May until the end of October.
35:17We usually do try and open early in April, if the weather's on our side.
35:24Unfortunately, we still have a lot of snow come April.
35:27So, just give us an idea of the temperatures in the winter up here.
35:31So, over winter, I know a few years ago, they put a thermometer in one of our rooms in the back, and they hit minus 25 over winter.
35:37Yeah.
35:38And what's the snow like up here, is it just...?
35:40The back doors, as you see when we came through, the snow will be over the back doors, up to the top of it.
35:46Really?
35:47Yeah, in winter times.
35:48Despite the weather, Carl's been working here for nearly 12 years.
35:52And like so many employed by the railways, it's a family affair.
35:56So, my dad works in the bottom, so he drives the steam train.
35:59Does he?
36:00Yeah, so he's been here 49 years, his name is Gwynn Jones.
36:03Of course it is. Gwynn Jones?
36:05Everyone's at Jones in Wales.
36:06Gwynn Jones, the engine driver?
36:08Oh, come on.
36:09This is great.
36:10Yeah, and then his father worked here before him as well.
36:12So, it's three generations of family members working at the railway.
36:15What does it mean to you?
36:16It's just very unique.
36:17I'm very proud to work in the heritage site like this as well.
36:20And obviously, the people that come up here on the train, it's a once in a lifetime for them.
36:24So, to be able to give people access to the top of the mountain in Wales, you know, it's unbelievable.
36:30And it's a very special mountain.
36:32It is, yeah.
36:33While Carl gets back to work, it gives me time to admire the architecture of this extraordinary building.
36:40So, if you've noticed, the interior of this waiting room is clad with Welsh oak.
36:48And it was to form a welcoming, warm interior in sharp contrast to the rugged exterior.
36:57It works really well, doesn't it?
36:59Every detail of the station building has been carefully considered to withstand the challenging conditions at the summit.
37:06And with temperatures that reach minus 25 during the winter, 100 mile an hour winds, and 1,085 metres above sea level, you need to know what you're doing.
37:18And here, because the station is seasonal, so roughly about the end of October, it stops servicing all the people that come up the mountain.
37:28And it seals itself as an icy cavern on top of Snowdon.
37:35Pretty impressive stuff, really.
37:38The way the station blends into the landscape is truly remarkable.
37:44But as I take in its modern form, I can't help but think about the railway stations that came before it.
37:51And how it all started in the village of Hyington in County Durham, just six miles from Darlington.
37:58The county is known for its influential role in the Industrial Revolution, including two of the greatest inventions of all time.
38:08The Stockton and Darlington Railway and the world's first railway station.
38:152025 marks 200 years of this iconic railway legacy, which saw Britain and the world change forever.
38:24And here at Hyington station, this history is being carefully preserved by the friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway group, including Caroline, Niall and Jim.
38:36Hyington here is the world's first railway station.
38:40The role of the friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway has been vital over the past 13 years or so.
38:48It's been that desire that's driven them to say, hang on, this is a world famous influencing innovation happening right here.
39:00And still it's either taken for granted or forgotten.
39:03But it isn't just the building that is of historical significance at Hyington station.
39:09Hyington here has got, as far as we know, the world's first or earliest surviving railway platform.
39:18And it's interesting because it's so unremarkable.
39:23It's cobbles and flagstones and that's it.
39:26It may be simple, but this was a blueprint for railway stations across Britain.
39:32Although it might not exist if it wasn't for the astounding legacy of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
39:39In the early 1800s, coal ran the world.
39:43Everything was powered by steam.
39:45And of course, for that, you need coal.
39:47In the southwest of Durham, the area had coal deposits in it.
39:51But it was a very hilly area with poor access, very poor roads.
39:55It was quite expensive getting coal out of there.
39:58So for a long time, a number of business people were thinking,
40:01how can we get the coal out of that part of southwest Durham?
40:05Their solution, after much consideration, was actually to build a railway.
40:10And this railway ended up changing the face of the world.
40:14This new 26-mile stretch of railway line ran from Shildon in the west to Stockton in the east of the county,
40:21passing through Darlington and here in Hyington.
40:26But before the line opened, the locomotives designed to run on the tracks needed to be tested.
40:33One of the exciting and relatable things as we stand here with trains still rattling past 200 years later,
40:42is that here is where the first steam locomotive of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was put on the track.
40:51It was built by George and Robert Stephenson's factory in Newcastle.
40:56And then it was brought here, they put it on the track, just there.
41:01The tests were successful and on the 27th of September 1825,
41:06the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened with much fanfare.
41:11And one of the outcomes from that opening day was that people saw that the railway was successful
41:17and that meant that the railway started to spread across the rest of the country and across the rest of the world.
41:24When the railway first opened, there was no formal stations.
41:28But in 1827, this all changed when Hyington Station, at the time called Acliffe Lane, was opened.
41:36So, as built in 1826-27, you had two rooms.
41:40One through the door on the far side leading onto the platform and another room at the back.
41:45And because it's such an early building, the term waiting room hadn't really been invented.
41:50But we've got people here waiting for their trains, for passengers.
41:53And these were two sort of fairly multifunctional rooms where people could come in, do business,
41:58wait for their trains, leave packages, collect mail, all sorts of things.
42:02Over the years, the site has become dilapidated.
42:05But Niall and the Friends Group are fighting hard to preserve this history by restoring the old station building.
42:12Before you start any historic building restoration, you've got to try and understand the building.
42:16So, one of the first things we'll be doing is stripping off the modern layers to find out what's left underneath.
42:21So, you never know, when we actually take all this apart, we might even find the original Georgian ceiling underneath it.
42:26And the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Group have great plans for the station's future.
42:33The next couple of years is going to be a process of conserving, restoring the building before we can hopefully launch it to take people back to the late 1820s.
42:44We want it to provide local jobs and income, and we want people from the rest of the world to come and visit us and learn about this heritage.
42:51So, it touches potentially the lives of so many people.
42:54From a humble beginning with a single platform, to the vast stations we see at Glasgow Central, King's Cross,
43:02and St Pancras, they all owe a lot to Hyington Railway Station.
43:11And in the 200th anniversary year of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Line,
43:16now, more than ever, there feels a need to preserve the legacy of this station.
43:26The same can be said for another site over 200 miles away in North Wales.
43:31Summit Station on the Snowden Mountain Railway.
43:35The perfect mix of engineering marvel, magnificent landscapes, and a hard-working community behind it all.
43:44There's so much to admire about this wonderful station.
43:48Now I've had some time to explore, before I head off, I just have a few more questions for Carl, the manager up here.
43:57What's so fascinatingly, Carl, about this station, is the logistics of actually managing it.
44:03So, every day, we bring all the stock up on our staff train.
44:06We've got to make sure we've got everything, you can't, you know, remember to forget anything.
44:10We've got to make sure we've got enough bins to last the entire day as well.
44:13It's a very complex, you know, unique challenge.
44:17And just to add to that challenge, Summit Station and the visitor centre have no water or electricity supply.
44:27The building has to run on two generators, and then we have to bring nearly 10,000 litres of water up daily, just for the building to run.
44:3510,000 litres of water?
44:37Every morning, yeah. And in the summer, it could be 12,000, depending on how quickly you go through it.
44:42Wow! But the station also has a hidden trick to collect more water for the building.
44:48So, the Summit building itself, it harvests rainwater off the roof, and then it goes up to an outside tank,
44:56and then that's used just for the flushing of the toilets and stuff, and any maintenance that we need it for.
45:01I mean, it's beautiful, but it's one of the wettest places in the UK.
45:04So, you shouldn't be short of rainwater every day, right?
45:07No! It's, you know, it's a positive and a negative.
45:09You want the rainwater to fill your outside tank to use the toilets, but then again, you want nicer sunny days.
45:14To bring the customers up. Yeah, exactly.
45:17And the mountain itself, it's getting busier and busier every year, so you can imagine the challenges every year gets a little bit more.
45:23It really is a remarkable operation, with people working together to make the station such a success year after year.
45:30Carl and the team are testament to why the Snowden Mountain Railway and the iconic Summit Station is a much-loved destination.
45:39And it's been that way since it first opened in 1896.
45:45This is a very special railway station. It's living heritage, and so important to the culture of both Clamberis, Eruithfa, and Erui, the national park.
46:03I arrived in the cloud, and I'll be leaving. In the cloud.
46:17Next time, we're visiting the stations that shaped our seasides.
46:21It's the place where journeys begin, and the sea is just a few steps away.
46:28And I've got some work to do.
46:30Change the points. 26 bus. It's all happening here.
46:33.
46:47.
46:52.
46:56.
Comments