{"id":617,"date":"2022-09-12T16:56:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-12T16:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triskelepublishing.com\/weirdstonewalk\/?page_id=617"},"modified":"2022-09-12T16:56:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T16:56:40","slug":"wilmslow-station","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/triskelepublishing.com\/weirdstonewalk\/wilmslow-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilmslow Station"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Approximate Location<\/strong>
OS Grid Reference: SJ 85020 81111
Latitude \/ Longitude: 53\u00b019\u203236\u2033N , 002\u00b013\u203235\u2033W<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening scene of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen<\/a><\/em> took place in a railway carriage as Colin and Susan approached Wilmslow station. Although the structure of the building was not referred to, Alan Garner <\/a>gave us one of the most memorable physical descriptions of a character in the entire trilogy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Colin and Susan had no difficulty in recognizing Gowther Mossock… He was an oak of a man : not over tall, but solid as a crag, and barrelled with flesh, bone and muscle. His face was round and polished; blue eyes crinkled to the humour of his mouth. A tweed jacket strained across his back, and his legs, curved like the timbers of an old house, were clad in breeches, which tucked into thick woollen stockings just above the swelling calves. A felt hat, old and formless, was on his head, and hob-nailed boots struck sparks from the platform as he walked<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garner, A., 1960 (1989 edition),\u00a0The Weirdstone of Brisingamen<\/em>. William Collins \/ Lions. London. p15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On three occasions Garner revealed that the character of Gowther was closely based on the real-life farmer Joshua Birtles (Gomrath<\/em>,\u00a0Note<\/em>;\u00a0The Voice That Thunders<\/em>\u00a01997, 158;\u00a0Weirdstone 50th Anniversary Edition<\/em>\u00a02010,\u00a0Introduction<\/em>). In the introductory essay to the 50th anniversary edition of Weirdstone<\/em>, he even went so far as to say that “He was huge in frame and spirit, and almost not credible in appearance, as if he stood outside Time<\/em>.” This recollection seems to tally strongly with the description of Gowther given at Wilmslow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an archaeological assessment of Wilmslow<\/a> by Jo Clark, the station opened in 1842 as a stop on the Manchester to Birmingham Railway. Apparently, residents within a mile of both Wilmslow and Alderley Edge, whose houses had a rateable value of at least \u00a350, were offered free tickets to help promote travel via rail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Locations<\/a><\/blockquote>