[Source: Alan Young] Keswick Station Gallery 6: Summer 1971 - February 1972
In summer 1971 only the former down platform at Keswick station remains in use; all other rails have been removed from the station and from the route onward to Cockermouth. The photographer is looking west from the disused No.1 signal box at a Class 108 DMU, the standard stock used on this service as successors to the ‘Derby Lightweights’. The buildings and platform roofing remain in place at this now-unstaffed station. The water tank on its stone base and accompanying water crane are, unfortunately, redundant.
Photo
by Bob Cable
Looking west towards a Class 108 DMU at Keswick platform 1, the only platform to remain in use in summer 1971. Although the buildings remain in place the station is unstaffed. Within a year this scene will be just a memory as the line and station would close in March 1972.
Photo by Bob Cable 
Looking south-east at Keswick station in summer 1971. The viewpoint is the disused island platform; perhaps the photographer has used the subway whose staircase is in the foreground, beyond the safety railings to gain access from the platform where the train is standing – the only platform in use by this time. This angle shows that the slate covering over the island platform was not complete allowing some light to pass through.
Photo by Bob Cable  Keswick station looking east in its final summer - 1971 - under the glazed roofing of platform 1. The Class 108 DMU will shortly leave for Penrith. The disused No.1 signal box is seen in the distance. The presence of a trolley suggests that some payload other than passengers might still be carried on the trains. Goods traffic on the line ceased in 1964.
Photo by Bob Cable 
The forecourt elevation of Keswick station in summer 1971.
Photo
by Bob Cable
The derelict Keswick No.1 (formerly 'B') signal box looking east on platform 1 in February 1972. This LMS box was installed in 1932 and closed on 4 December 1967 when single-line working was introduce,
Photo from John Mann collection 
Keswick and the other branch stations ceased to be staffed in July 1968. Ironically, intending rail passengers are referred to the bus station for rail information! Note that the station is ‘unmanned’ – the term commonly used regardless of the fact that women were employed on the railways. The photo was taken in February 1972, shortly before closure.
Photo from John Mann collection  Only platform 1, formerly the down platform, remains in use in February 1972; nevertheless, passengers are invited to use the subway to reach the abandoned island platform.
Photo from John Mann collection 
Contrasting signage is displayed under the glazed platform roofing at Keswick station in February 1972. The BR(LM) totem nameplate has been joined by a less appealing, and superfluous sign, advising passengers that trains go to Carlisle: for almost six years no westbound service has run, yet this sign will have been installed after they were withdrawn. In this view the glazed, hipped platform roofing, the uncoursed masonry and contrasting smooth stonework can be admired..
Photo from John Mann collection 
A general view of Keswick station, looking west in February 1972, shortly before closure. Only the former down platform is in use, all other rails having been removed. Despite abandonment since 1967 the island platform retains its buildings (including the water tank) and platform roofing, and No.1 signal box (far left) stands derelict and vandalised..
Photo from John Mann collection 
All surviving stations between Penrith and Cockermouth were fitted with BR(LM) nameboards in the late 1950s. This one at Keswick is carried by concrete stanchions, which was normal London Midland Region practice.
Photo from John Mann collection  The entrance to Keswick station photographed in February 1972, shortly before closure. The main station building, seen here, stands on the down platform – the only one in operation – so rail users pass through it even though the building itself is no longer in use, staff and booking facilities having been withdrawn in July 1968. Above the small awning the charming metal lettering giving the station name is still in place, although ‘LMS’ seen on a 1950 photograph is no longer displayed. In earlier days a much larger, double hipped awning sheltered the entrance.
Photo from John Mann collection Click here for Keswick Station Gallery 7:
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