Station Cottages, Baldwins Gate

It’s easy to miss this row of railway cottages built for staff of the new Whitmore Station by the Grand Junction Railway in the mid 19th century. I did for years until I decided to walk along an unfamiliar path which went alongside the railway line, not far from my old home. The cottages lie between the railway line and Station House fronting the A53 between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Market Drayton.

I spent an hour or so sketching these houses in the summer of 2017 and it always makes me smile if there are animals around.

There were just four of these houses built initially, two up, two down with a wash house out the back, but not long after, they were extended to ten houses. In 1849, two of these were occupied by railway porters: Peter Rhead and Joseph Fletcher. Another of the cottages was home to Frances Rowley – an Engineer, who may have been involved in the construction of the nearby reservoir built by the Grand Junction Railway.

Some of the houses have been altered by linking two together to make room for family life. The name itself tells the story such as ‘Sixes and Sevens’ below.

The row of cottages can be seen in full on my main website here Drawing the Street.

The original drawing is now held by the Brampton Museum where prints are also available to buy.  Please get in touch if you have any insights into the history of these cottages.

Thanks for reading  – Ronnie