The Station site covered a vast triangular area, the southern end of which was on a kind of plateau to the A229 which ran to the east of it (so that at some point it could cross the road and continue in a South-Easterly direction. A lot of spoil from the cuttings between Hawkhurst and Cranbrook Stations (to the north) had been transported to level the sight. I feel it was an impressive feat of engineering, especially as the railway Company kept changing their mind about the direction of travel.
Hawkhurst Station had just one platform which had a Main Line and a Bay (so that it could serve two trains at once) there were also five or six sidings off to the west of the platform.
A drivers eye view of the site would begin first of all with the sight of a twin arm signal (indicating which side of the platform the train would be directed) the train would then rattle over the last bridge at Slip Mill Road, pass the twin arm signals on the left, an old engine shed on the right and then a water tower and signal box also on the right. On the left would have been the expanse of the railway which was more industrial than the other stations. There would have been a number of sidings, piles of wood from the Kent Woodware Company that rented part of the site and tanks and outbuildings belonging to an oil Company that also rented a part of the site, and finally, on the left, close to the buffer stops, stood a goods shed.
Certainly by the late 1950's the whole site had a faded industrial look with lots of corrugated outbuildings (seeing it as a boy, Peter Harding was reminded of the 'Wild West'.) Nevertheless, Hawkhurst had more paying passengers than the other Stations (there were 104 season ticket holders in 1949) which was more than any other station) and as well as farm traffic, over 1 million pot plants a year were transported from local nurseries to Woolworths and M&S stores from here in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Another early image from about 1920 perhaps? (automobiles have began to take over from horses). A 'Jeyes fluid' poster can be seen to the left of the picture while the water tower looms up in the distance on the right.
I'm guessing that this picture was taken during or just after the Second World War as a number of men seem to be in soldiers uniforms. I think the signals are the 'starting signals'. The building on the extreme left would be the signal box behind which would be the bulk of the water tower (you can just see the hose and a pool of water.) In the distance is the engine shed which could house two locomotives but it was only used for housing locomotives until the 1920's.
31518? sits in the Station. Here you can just about see that unlike the other stations, Hawkhurst platform was faced with railway sleepers. The track on the left was a small 'loop' which allowed the locomotives to move around to the front of the train for the upward (return) journey. The small signal box and water tower can be seen a few hundred yards distant.
The train on the right is a goods train emerging from one of the sidings. In the distance can be seen some of the railway cottages that Holman Fred Stevens designed.
11th June 1961, a number of well wishers look on as the last paying passenger train prepares to depart Hawkhurst Station.
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Today there is very little left to see of the station. I popped over to take a look earlier today, in the rain!
Now all the station buildings have disappeared to be replaced by hideous industrial units (I won't depress the reader by showing images of that!)
However, until relatively recently the engine shed and signal box still existed, these can still be seen via Google earth where the van came around in 2009, please see the links below showing the signal box in the distance from Limes Grove and the engine shed from the railway cottages in Slip Mill Road:-
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.0640413,0.5056636,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCLYn0yul3yzGmY7-1g8n4w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.0638179,0.5037407,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1AZ8BNExU4xzbL2_tcnzTQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
This was the track bed - looking up the line, before all the commercial units occupied the site, the platform would have been on our right with the buffer stops behind us.
This is now looking down the line to the final buffer stops which once stood where the hedge is about 40 metres away. I am told that before all these trees grew up, people could see a long way towards Romney Marsh from here.
The steps leading up from the road still exist together with a small sign which serves as an epitaph to the memory of the railway. An oil lamp once stood at the top of the steps and the station entrance would have stood a little to the left from the top step.
Another image of the steps. On the extreme left can been seen the embankment where the line would have joined a bridge over the A229, if it had been built.
This photo is looking south towards Hawkhurst, you can see how steeply the road drops down, far too steep for the train to get any closer to its preferred destination, leaving the station stranded a mile from the village. Notice also the embankment on the right, which gets progressively higher as the road drops. The bank in the distance is the embankment we just saw (the bridge was never constructed.)
As there is nothing left to see of the station I thought that I would take a look along Limes Grove which joins Slip Mill Road where the railway bridge once stood.
I believe that this is where the bridge once stood, although I could see no sign of any remains. There were actually two bridges built, a newer one was built in the 1950's to replace the older ailing one.
However, at the top of a bank further down Slip Mill Road I could see a pile of rubble hidden amid the trees.
These concrete blocks and steel wires must be the remains of the second bridge.
Apart from finding a giant toadstool, I just accumulated a lot of green slime climbing the bank!
