I can vividly remember the railway line which ran from Arnside to Kendal, via Sandside and Hincaster.

At one time, from its foundation in 1922, the passenger train known locally as ‘Kendal Tommy’ ran five times a day in each direction.

In 1942, my friend Freda and I were both looking forward to travelling to Kendal and the High School after passing the Scholarship and riding on this ‘Kendal Tommy’.

But then suddenly, because of the war, the passenger service closed in May of 1942, just a few months before our commencement. We were so disappointed.

As an alternative to the train, buses were run by the Fawcett family. During the war the bus only ran as far as the Arnside fountain, where it turned round, ready for the return journey.

Our bus left at 7.45am. By the time we reached Kendal we were either standing, having given up our seats to older people or four of us were crammed into two seats. We returned to Arnside at 5pm.

During the war a new ‘utility’ bus was put into service and I can still remember the hardness of the wooden, slatted seats with two or three sitting on your knees!

At 16 I was made a ‘Bus Prefect’ and can still picture the ‘bus’ emblem on my beret. I was supposed to keep order and see that all KHS fellow pupils kept their berets on and did not eat sweets or snacks. We had to act with decorum!

The line to Sandside was kept open for goods vehicles until 1972. I still think of this railway and ‘Kendal Tommy’ when I go over the Z road bridge at St. John’s Cross and then see the ‘empty’ space over the River Bela near Milnthorpe.

What a sad loss the railway line is to us all.