Doing It For Themselves

This busy community might sometimes feel like the village that time forgot, but it’s full of people who help themselves.

- Martin Pilkington

SILVERDALE sits nine miles from Lancaster, half that from Carnforth, and only a hill separates it from Arnside but there are times when it can seem like the village that time forgot.

That’s the candid view of the people who live there. For many, it’s great to be surrounded by the lovely countryside that creates an illusion of remoteness – less wonderful when you need simple jobs from the local authority, such as hedge cutting and street cleaning.

That probably explains who the villagers have adopted a ‘Do-it-Yourself’ approach. They will often stuck in and lead the way on projects that might otherwise be neglected.

A prime example is FOSS – Friends of Silver dale Station, which has a waiting room designed by the eminent Victorian architects Paley & Austin. ‘Two years ago we were waiting on the platform in a gale,’ says the group’s chairwoman Margaret Mackintosh. ‘We could see the trees smashing into the roof of the lovely 1860s building and feared that, for health and safety reasons, it would be demolished. We wanted to keep it so we formed FOSS.’

Since the formation, they’ve had bins installed on the platforms, made improvements to the building, they’ll shortly have two benches in place using ends cast to be in keeping with the architecture, and are planning to have wi-fi available shortly.

‘The rail-link is important now as lots of people commute to Lancaster one way and to Barrow the other, and even on to Sell afield, and it’s vital for taking children to the schools in Lancaster,’ adds Bill Robinson, the group’s treasurer.

‘But it’s also a part of our heritage – the author Elizabeth Gaskell and some of the Brontë sisters used the station. Now it also brings walkers and people visiting the RSPB at Leighton Moss.’