2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway. The world’s first standard gauge, steam-hauled public railway, the Stockton and Darlington, opened on 27 September 1825, connecting places, people, and communities. It went on to transform the world.
A railway revolution swept Britain in the 19th century, changing the country forever. A predominantly agricultural society had metamorphosed into an urbanised industrial superpower.
In recognition of this, the Town Council has installed a blue plaque on the Golden Lion Hotel, where the development of the Maryport & Carlisle Railway was first mooted.
The Maryport & Carlisle, (M & C), Railway was an important part of the development of Maryport. Prior to its introduction, two ancient highways served Maryport, which were little more than rough country lanes, & were not suitable for supporting the burgeoning coal industry in the area. On November 27 1834, the day of the inauguration of gas lighting in Maryport, at a meeting in the Golden Lion Hotel, Shipping Brow, Captain H le Fleming Senhouse suggested that a railway from Maryport to Carlisle should be constructed.
The great railway engineer George Stephenson visited Maryport in 1836 & met with Maryport worthies Mr Edward Tyson & Mr Robert Adair in the Golden Lion Hotel to discuss the proposed Maryport to Carlisle line. Stephenson surveyed the route &, following its approval by Parliament, the construction of the railway began in 1836. The line was built in sections, with the western end from Maryport to Aspatria completed in 1843, after which the Carlisle to Wigton section was commenced, & completed in 1845, with the two sections then joined.
Excursion trains began in 1851 & by 1866, trips to Keswick, Newcastle, Glasgow & Edinburgh were run, & special four-day return trips to London were introduced. A new station building in the centre of Maryport, constructed of red sandstone, was opened in 1860, leading to the opening of Curzon Street & Station Street.
Rail systems & branch lines supporting transport of coal to Maryport Harbour were added with the development of the Elizabeth Dock & the railway infrastructure continued to develop following the discovery by Bessemer of semi-steel. The latter required a type of iron ore prevalent in West Cumbria & by 1870 there were fourteen iron works in the district, (two in Maryport), each using rail transport. Many of the M & C Railway employees became marine engineers & the company name became respected world- wide.
The M & C Railway Company supported the area’s development for some eighty years, before being taken over by the London, Scottish & Midland Railway Company in 1923 & then nationalised after World War 2. The collapse of Maryport industry based on railways & the ‘Beeching’ cuts in the 1960’s led to the demise of the railway & today only a basic service operates in the area.