Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Atherton Central Station


We couldn't afford a car in those days so whenever we went to the sea-side on our summer holidays, our first stop was the train station. The ticket office was at the entrance to the station located to the left side of the elevated walkway as shown on the photo. British Railway Stations all had the same peculiar odour. I'd say it was a blend of burning embers; super heated-coal; steam under pressure; axle-grease and industrial strength cleaners. You couldn't miss it. The most exciting part though was waiting for the train. You could hear it panting and puffing and bellowing large clouds of black smoke long before it came around the bend and into the station.


My family was about to go to Blackpool for the day. It was located on the west coast, and it was the holiday centre of choice for the progeny of miners and textile workers in Lancashire. The train-ride took about two hours. That was OK with me because we could see the beautiful country-side along the way. The familiar clickity-click of steel wheels on steel tracks was a welcome feature of all rail travel. It signalled that everything was safe and sound and secure, as it should be.

Blackpool Station was a gigantic structure half-covered and half-exposed to the elements. Some platforms had a train parked there spouting-off occasional blasts of steam. In the covered part, every single sound bounced off the walls. The voice communication system was totally unintelligible. A continuous string of echoes competed for dominance each time the announcer spoke. I never did figure out how people got to where they wanted to go.

Looking skywards, after exiting the station, revealed a structural wonder. Up, pointing far into the clouds was Blackpool Tower. If you haven't seen it, it was built identical to the Eiffel Tower in Paris with some modifications to the design of its base. It stood 158 meters high and could be seen from as far away as Liverpool to the South and Burrow-in-Furness to the North on a clear day. It was enormous and inspiring. Of course, the first thing we did was take a lift to the top where we had a spectacular view of the Irish sea and the English countryside.

Lunch consisted of fresh mussels bought at a nearby concession stand. They were doused in sea-salt and white vinegar and handed to you in a wax-paper bag. You ate them while walking along the promenade. I don't think they washed them too well. More often than not you would get remnants of sand mixed-in with the mussels. If you were really lucky you would get extra sand in the bag that made the mussels crunchier. They were tasty though. They were the next best thing to sliced bread fried in bacon grease. Every kind of amusement was available along the promenade and the sandy beach was perfect for building sandcastles when the tide was out. It was crowded. I saw search-and-rescue volunteers launching life boats into the sea as part of their daily emergency drills. I got to ride a donkey on the beach. I fired an air-gun at a bunch of toy ducks but I didn't win a prize. I looked for my parents but I couldn't find them – I was lost!

Our train was scheduled to leave at 7:00pm. It was now 6:00 pm. Panic was not part of my nature. I looked around for my parents but there was no sign of them. But, there stood the tower far away in the distance beckoning me to walk over there. That's where the station was. I saw my mam and dad there waiting for me at the entrance. My mam came over to hug me but my dad was furious with me for getting lost in the first place. As punishment, he did not give me a comfortable seat on the train. He made me lie down in the cramped overhead luggage rack all the way home.

Before the train stopped I knew that I was home at Atherton Central Station. I could "feel" it. I also knew I was still in trouble for getting lost. But, I didn't care. His attempt to punish me had back-fired. My ride home high-up on the luggage rack simply added to my thrills of a very exciting day. I was only nine. I enjoyed every minute of it!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

what no candy floss, no rock, i remember those days

Anonymous said...

what no candy floss, no rock, i remember those days

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