A Close Encounter Of The Brief Kind

Our last day in Lancashire and a visit to another famous film location. The railway station at Carnforth. This was used as the meeting point between Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard's characters in David Lean's 1945 classic weepy Brief Encounter. Noel Coward's tale of a doctor who has a platonic friendship with a girl he meets through her getting some grit in her eye from a passing steam train.

Of course they fancy each other, but both are married and so must never take their relationship any further. They both agree to go back to their mundane lives after having a happy time together, meeting up every so often and going to the theatre etc.

The station is still used by passengers, although of course it's electric and diesel trains now, rather than the romantic steam ones. There is an excellent visitor's centre that have displays of railway memorabilia and of course photos from the film. We had lunch in the actual cafe where the main characters met each time. There were some obvious changes, which you would expect after 67 years.

Gail and I had an excellent and delicious toasted tuna fish melt, while Stewart had a coronation chicken sandwich. Julie wasn't with us, as she had gone to a needlecraft gathering some miles away. We also visited a small bakery on the station that produces its own bread, scones and cake. We all bought some scones and bread, and I'm writing this whilst munching a thick slice of walnut and raisin bread. Mmm, yummy!