Cottage at the Station

A photo of Gordon on a footpath through trees - not very exciting you might think. However, this photo is of huge significance to the story I have been telling . . . read on.

The journey continues

We left the Crawford family in Glenluce, where the children were growing up and where Hugh eventually became a railway worker. We were a little surprised when we looked at the 1871 census and found the family in Gatehouse-of-Fleet, which is further east from Glenluce. The surprise was that they were said to be living at the ‘Cottage at the Station’ and we didn’t know Gatehouse had a station, or even that the railway went through the town. We looked on the map and couldn’t find the station . . . until we looked further north and there it was - 6 miles out of the town. In fact at the time Gatehouse station had the dubious honour of being the station furthest away from the place of its name than any other in the country. The road into town is long and would have taken a horse-drawn carriage at least an hour. It took us long enough today! The station is set in a remote, lonely spot in the beautiful Galloway Hills. What a place to live! 

After some research I have come to the conclusion that Hugh was working on the railway in Glenluce and was offered the job of Platelayer at Gatehouse-of-Fleet, a job including accommodation for the family. Platelayers were the maintenance men of the railway. their job was to inspect and maintain the railway, making sure the points were greased and the track was in good condition. A Platelayer was assigned a few miles of track and would regularly patrol this section. 

Hence the photo: Gordon was walking on the former track just past the station - perhaps walking in the footsteps of his great, great grandfather!

We found the station and what we think were two cottages, but it is all now privately owned and has been partially converted into a house, but we are not sure anyone is living there at the moment. It is obvious where the track went and there are traces of the platform, but everything is very overgrown. 

Just before the trains reached this station they went over the impressive Big Water of Fleet viaduct, made famous by the 1935 film ‘The 39 Steps’ - see extra - if you look carefully you can see Gordon on the top of it. He had climbed up to the railway track and just had to walk across!

We don’t know how long the family lived there, but in the same year as the census in 1871 two of the daughters were married - at the Station! This is the point where this part of the journey through time ends. Hugh and Eliza eventually went to live in Newton Stewart and the children scattered to live their own lives. The journey will continue at a later date as we follow the eventful life of his great grandfather, Hugh Crawford Junior. 

Also today
an impressive stone circle (see extra)

 Tomorrow we go home and we might have an exciting encounter on the way!