Par Station
Photograph is copyright of Craig Munday
History
The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859. A newspaper reported at the time that it "is situated on the western side of Par bay, about a mile from the pier head, close to the road to Fowey and Tywardreath, the traffic of which places as well as St Blazey and the neighbourhoods intended to receive here. The departure and arrival stations are spacious edifices, both having verandahs projecting over the platforms, with convenient waiting rooms, ticket office, porter and lamp rooms, and other necessary conveniences. A goods station has not yet been erected, but considering the amount of business likely to be transacted here it is more than probable that a goods shed will be required before long."
The goods shed was approved by the directors on 10 February 1860 and was built of stone.
The station was too small to warrant a station master, but the "booking constable" was paid an additional 22 pounds each year by the Post Office to also act as a post master. Two cottages were built just outside the station to house railway staff.
A connection from Par to the Cornwall Minerals Railway line to Newquay was opened on 1 January 1879. This was standard gauge and so traffic between this and the broad gauge Cornwall Railway had to be transferred between trains at Par until the broad gauge was converted over the weekend of 21 May 1892. New station buildings were erected in 1884.
The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1889. The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948. This in turn was privatised in the 1990s.
Today
Par Station is an importatnt commuter and holiday station and has shown steady growth in usage numbers over the years. The last statictics availble indicate that around 200,000 entries and exits take place annually.
It operates an important link between the Paddington- Penzance Line and the Newquay Branch Line. This single track branch line runs through some attractive landscape betwwen Par and Newquay and is usually operated by two coach Sprinter and four coach Voyager trains. On summer weekends larger full length main line trains from Paddington and Plymouth are diverted onto the Newquay Branch Line to serve increased holiday traffic. Hearing these trains 'screech' as they make their way around some of the tight bends on the line through Luxulyan Valley is quite an experience.
The Cache
The cache is a magnetic micro container and is accessible from the end of the pavement on the same side as the Network Rail sign for the station.
The road is a busy one and care should be taken with geokids and geohounds.
Parking is available in a layby just down the road or in the station car park.