To be fair, the old Dalegarth station building was only ever a "temporary" structure in the first place. It was swamped by passengers in the 80's when I first visited as a kid, so god only knows what it's been like recently. The footbridge was a nice feature, but did it actually contribute anything to the station, especially when space is at a notable premium during the season.Thrashin wrote:I can understand that entirely. I live near the Ravenglass & Eskdale, and it's definately become more commercialised over the years. I think this is partially due to the continuing Northward spread of the 'Lake District' (That is, the tourist destination and not the national park). The appearance of more extravagant souvenirs and one of those fun, if entirely pointless, machines that reshapes one of the Queen's finest English pennies into a new design in the shop shows this quite clearly.
Also worthy of note is a partnership with Northern Rail, which has seen a 156 applied with advertising vinyls for the Ratty. Talking of which, the "La'al Ratty" nickname appears more and more on promotional material these days, having seemingly turned from a local nickname into a corporate slogan.
Several things have changed on the line itself as well - the footbridge at Ravenglass was taken out a couple of years ago, apparently for fear that some cretin would manage not to see it, walk into it and knock themselves out, and a large new building has been opened at Dalegarth. The turntable at Ravenglass has had a fence built round it, and gates have appeared on the foot crossing just in front of it.
All this doesn't sit comfortably with me somehow. The old building at Dalegarth was very homely and welcoming - I can't help but fear that some of that has been lost with the new complex. Of course, I understand that all this is keeping the railway alive, and bringing tourism to my local area, but sometimes I wish it was like it used to be. All this probably sounds ridiculous, but it feels somehow like a piece of local heritage is being slowly ebbed away by the erosion of commercialisation, turning into one of those generic attractions with at least two Shearings' buses in the car park.
It's like going back to your old corner shop, only to find it's been turned into a branch of Tesco.
I think it's a question of the attraction becoming value added. You can go for a train ride at any of the myriad "one man and his brake van" efforts scattered around the country. However, how highly would your average family rate shuttling up and down 500 yards of track behind an industrial estate to their friends and family? In this age of increasing costs and an aging volunteer workforce, it surely makes sense to build up the attraction and put a little money (and kudos) aside whilst the going is good.
I would love to go back to the Ratty next week and ride in the Maxi carriages behind Bonnie Dundee (as a tank engine) in the rain, before a twix and brew at the old Dalegarth and a wander down to St Catherines, but that period has gone. I suspect a lot of the older generation, visiting during my "halcyon Ravenglass period" of the early 90's would have bemoaned the gift shop, paved carpark, and corporate sponsorship of Northern Rock
Slip
