Life in Brampton with the Dandy (Cumbria)

Travelling arrangements for rail passengers to Brampton, have been the subject of scathing reports over the past 182 years: “…having booked a ticket for Brampton our traveller will discover as he alights from the train that Brampton is yet a further two miles away and that he is obliged to pay for and embark upon a further stage of his journey in a Dandy wagon in which passengers are huddled together, first drawn by a horse and then run down an incline without motive power until he is landed at a coal staith. Here, he discovers that he is still three quarters of a mile from the centre of Brampton – a journey he must then complete on foot.”

What were the reasons for this unfortunate state of affairs for travellers, and why was the name Dandy given to this uncomfortable mode of travel?

David Moorat’s research sets out to trace the events, retells the incidents which took place and discusses the social and political pressures that brought about this frustrating set of circumstances that has left Brampton town still without a convenient railway station.