Cockermouth to Penrith Railway

Location Braithwaite

Date TBC

Publisher Unknown

The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway (CK&PR) company was incorporated on the 1st August 1861 in order to build a railway line to connect the town of Cockermouth with the West Coast Main Line at Penrith. Work on the line started in May 1862 on the 18 mile long stretch of railway and 78 bridges. The line officially opened on the 1st November 1864, although may have been in use by mineral traffic from the 26th October 1864. The line was closed to the west of Keswick in April 1966. The Keswick to Penrith section then closed in March 1972, although freight trains continued to run to Flusco and Blencow until June 1973. The railway line consisted of the following stations (west to east): Cockermouth Station - Opened to passenger traffic on the 2nd January 1865, and closed on 18th April 1966. . Embleton Station (‘Lambfoot’) - Opened to passengers on the 2nd January 1865, and closed on 15th September 1958. The station building no longer exists, however the stationmaster’s house is now a private residence, to be found on the side of the A66. Further information on Embleton Station can be found here. Bassenthwaite Lake Station ('Peel Wyke') - Opened to passengers on the 2nd January 1865, and closed on the 18th April 1966. The stationmaster’s house still exists as a private residence. The signal box no longer exists, however the station building and outbuildings were purchased, along with the former stationmaster’s house by Simon and Diana Parums in April 2019, who refurbished the station house; reinstated part of the railway track; added a SNCF Class 241 steam engine (used in Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel ‘Murder on the Orient Express’); added carriages; and then opened as Bassenthwaite Lake Station & Carriage Cafe in 2021, hosting events and serving breakfast, brunch, lunch and afternoon teas. Further information about Bassenthwaite Lake Station can be found here. Braithwaite Station - Opened to passengers on the 2nd January 1865, and closed on the 18th April 1966. The station building and stationmaster’s house has been turned into a private residence. Further information on Braithwaite Station can be found here. Keswick Station - Opened to passengers on the 22nd January 1865. The line between Keswick and Workington was closed on the 18th April 1966, leaving a single line between Keswick and Penrith. The station remained open, before closing on the 6th March 1972. Keswick railway station was integrated in the Keswick Hotel and, in 1976, the building became Grade II listed. Further information on Keswick Station can be found here. Threlkeld Station- Opened to passengers on the 2nd January 1865, and closed on the 6th March 1972. Only part of the platform and the stationmaster’s house remains. The house is used as a private residence. The remainder of the derelict buildings were demolished in 1985- 86. Further information on Threlkeld Station can be found here. Troutbeck Station - Opened to passengers on the 2nd January 1865, and closed on the 6th March 1972. The former station house and stationmaster house have been integrated and refurbished for residential use. Further information on Troutbeck Station can be found here. Penruddock Station - Opened to passengers on the 2nd January 1865, and closed on the 6th March 1972. Very little remains today of Penruddock station, only remnants of the platform. Further information can on Penruddock Station be found here. Blencow Station - Opened to passengers on 2nd January 1865, then closed on 3rd March 1952. It reopened temporarily on the 2nd July 1956, before closing permanently on the 6th March 1972. The stationmaster’s house is in use as a private residence, parts of the platform remain, and a single storey house has been built where the station house once was. Further information on Blencow Station can be found here. Penrith Station - Opened on the 17th December 1846. Three miles of the former railway line between Keswick Station and Threlkeld Station, passing through Greta Gorge, was turned into Keswick Railway Footpath, which is owned by the Lake District National Park Authority. Following the devestation of Storm Desmond in 2015, the footpath was closed. After a £7.9 million funding package from Highways England, the Local Growth Fund, the Community Fundraising Campaign (The Lake District Foundation), and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), five years on, in December 2020, the footpath reopened. Much of the former railway was turned into the A66, however parts of the route still exist today, where some remnants of the railway infrastructure can still be found.