An Elizabethan railway station

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Where: N Ireland, Causeway Coast and Glens, UK

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When: Unknown

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We normally associate those timber framed buildings with the Elizabethan era but there is also an abundance of faux Elizabethan about and this must be one of those. Having said that this railway station is more attractive than most. Portrush is in one of the most beautiful parts of the world and it is easy to see why people would use the train to go there.

Photographer: Robert French

Collection: Lawrence Photograph Collection

Date: Circa ~~1865 - 1914~~ 1893

NLI Ref: L_IMP_2744

You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie

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Owner: National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Source: Flickr Commons
Views: 3651

robertfrench williamlawrence lawrencecollection lawrencephotographicstudio thelawrencephotographcollection glassnegative nationallibraryofireland portrushrailwaystation portrush coantrim ulster northernireland causewaycoast

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ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 08:54:27
At last, a clock! ... But look - no hands!
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 09:09:10
Voting for 1893 ... "The station, which is 67¾ miles from Belfast, was opened on 4 December 1855.[1] To accommodate excursion and holiday traffic, extensive reconstruction by the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, under the direction of its engineer and architect Berkeley Deane Wise, was completed in 1893. ... ..." From - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrush_railway_station
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 09:11:04
Same day, 'cos of the clock work - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000333806
suckindeesel
- 07/Dec/2022 09:16:16
Portrush station was reconstructed, as seen here, in 1893 by the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway. It was the starting point of the Giant’s Causeway Electric Railway or tramway, seen in foreground. Probably the world’s first long distance electric tramway which ran to Bushmills station.
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 09:26:29
Building on the right was the Railway Station Café. Mr French visited for a sticky bun - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000327510
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 09:36:56
No Railway Station Café now. In 2012 via https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8495846192/
suckindeesel
- 07/Dec/2022 09:44:07
Originally powered by an elevated rail outside of the town limits, which can be seen in the shot of Dunluce Castle, catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000561618 Steam power car was used inside the town limits. This was converted to overhead wire in 1899 for safety reasons. See: catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000317183 So date is 1893 - 1899
Niall McAuley
- 07/Dec/2022 09:46:10
There is still lime leaching out of the red brick, so close enough to the opening date. Clock unfinished?
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 09:50:34
Clutterview!! September 2022 - goo.gl/maps/dkKRBWMHdZfsiEKt8 [https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia/52547850422/in/dateposted/]
Niall McAuley
- 07/Dec/2022 09:55:11
L_IMP_2745 next door is the Golf Hotel (opened 1893) looking fresh, with the unfinished clock in the background.
John Spooner
- 07/Dec/2022 11:37:57
I can't see any damage. Tyrone Constitution - Friday 18 August 1893:
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. During a thunderstorm on Tuesday evening, the lightning struck the lower which forms such a graceful feature of Portrush railway station. The striking was, fortunately, indirect, and only one comer was shattered, some woodwork being carried away and the masonry stripped. At the same time a ball of fire burst over the town with a tremendous report, which caused general terror. The railway station was crowded at the time. The tower is not damaged in its main structure. No damage is reported from other districts
suckindeesel
- 07/Dec/2022 15:12:28
Niall McAuley Yes, clock unfinished as no hands yet. So 1893
John Spooner
- 07/Dec/2022 15:40:39
The railway company had big plans for the clock. Coleraine Chronicle - Saturday 11 March 1893, in a report of the monthly meeting of the Portrush town commissioners.
ILLUMINATED CLOCK FOR THE NEW RAILWAY STATION. The Chairman read the following letter : " B. & N. C. Railway—Engineer's Office, Belfast, 8th February, 1893. DEAR Sirs,—My directors have given me permission to erect a clock in the tower at Portrush station, provided the town authorities consent to supply the gas for the lighting purposes free of charge. I would be glad to know, therefore, through you, if your Commissioners will consent to supply the gas, and if so I will thank you to instruct the Gas Company to lay in a pipe, with a small meter, and I will instruct the contractor for the clock to supply an automatic arrangement for raising and lowering the lights. An early answer will oblige, yours truly, " Berkeley D. Wise, Engineer.
The commissioners agreed to the request. In their descriptions of the building on 8th and 10th May 1893, The Derry Journal and the Northern Whig include the sentence "This clock, which has four dials, each four feet in diameter, is self-illuminating." which suggests to me that the clock was complete by then.
suckindeesel
- 07/Dec/2022 17:19:27
Mostly still there, including that clock tower Google Earth Link earth.app.goo.gl/KPivXq #googleearth The current station opened in 2019 and is located further up the street behind the original building.
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 19:40:57
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner] Goodness gracious - great balls of fire! Clocks in old photos can tell us so much more than just the time. We are looking SSW, and the long shadows indicate late afternoon. Puzzled by the shadow in the bottom third of the photo. Was Mr French this far back, and the shadow is from the 1872 Town Hall ? - goo.gl/maps/Hvwtsq7R5HU9XKmA7 [Edited]
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 07/Dec/2022 20:13:06
And of course Mr French returned to Portrush a few years later for similar but elevated views, including electric tramway poles and wires - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000317182 (at 11:17) catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000317183 (at 11:39)
John Spooner
- 07/Dec/2022 20:33:46
According to the May 1893 Derry Journal, the clock was supplied was supplied by Sharman D Neill, (according to North Down Herald and County Down Independent - Friday 23 December 1898 "the well-known and popular Donegall Place jeweller and silversmith"). The company was started in 1802 and is still active today as far as I can gather.
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
- 07/Dec/2022 20:50:47
https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner https://www.flickr.com/photos/gnmcauley Thank you all for your great work today. As always it is much appreciated. Mary
Deirge (Del)
- 08/Dec/2022 00:27:54
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland] I'd echo [email protected]'s compliments to the contributors as I've actually learned a lot about the destination of the NCC's "Portrush Express" crack express from Belfast & the tramway. The other photo's pointed out are also interesting. And I like looking at the horse-drawn carriages and jaunting cars. Locating the station on the NI's Dept for Communities' Historic Environment Map Viewer that the Station is B1 listed under "HB03/10/003 A" and from their Buildings database entry that the building is considered mock tudor. I've imported the image to Wikipedia Commons, updated the Wikidata item and also found another version of this image at on Wikimedia Commons, albeit low resolution, cropped, and possibly photoshopped.
wuffee_cem
- 08/Dec/2022 07:26:55
What a beauty!
wuffee_cem
- 08/Dec/2022 07:27:36
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/ Fascinating!