From the 19th century right up until recently, the station master was the key authority figure in the railway station, with responsibility for all station staff. Large terminus stations and small country branch line stations were both managed by station masters. They were a well-respected figure with significant social standing in the local community, and were usually provided with a station house to live in. It was also common, especially in rural areas, for the station master to be running a sideline or two to supplement his railway pay packet. The photo above is looking towards Knightwick Station, and shows the signal box, which was built when the second platform was added in 1908. The photo left is of Mr Halford, the staion master at Suckley Station c. 1950. 14 years later in 1964 the line from Worcester to Bromyard was closed. I was then 14 years old, never having experienced being on any of the trains, but remembering the sound of the train's whistle as it approached Knightwick Station, which I often heard from where I lived, at the Post Office at Knightwick. It wasn't long before the empty tracks became places that I walked, bird watching and nest finding, and enjoying my halcyon days as a young teenager. Often I would bump into David Walker from the Manor, he also liked walking along the now derelict railway track, checking on his farm stock, or just like me, enjoying the countryside that we both lived in.

 ©peh