Rare postcards showing Harrogate’s heyday heritage go on display at the town’s railway station tomorrow. MATT CLARK went to preview the exhibition

BANG on time, the 10.11 train from York pulls into Harrogate and station master Colton Hyde is on hand to help mums with push chairs and shoppers who need a few directions.

It was a very different picture 100 years ago. Then only wealthy travellers and royalty could afford to come to Harrogate; many to take the waters, others to be seen in this most affluent of spa towns.

A grand new station with eight platforms had been built in 1896 and the station master’s job back then was to greet aristocratic visitors and escort them into town.

In Edwardian days he was as important as the mayor and given the rare honour of wearing a silk top hat.

“Because of that they were called silks. It was a big role and an honour too,” says Colton. “But it wasn’t just aristocrats who came; there were film stars as well; people like Errol Flynn.”

Colton says the days of elegance, when trains announced their presence with a hiss of steam, was almost theatrical and a chance conversation four years ago, when a vintage express passed through, led to a display of Edwardian photos in the station’s waiting room.

“I was standing on the platform and I said to this man: ‘It’s just like the good old days.’ “‘Good old days, lad’, he replied. ‘I’ll show you the good old days’ and he came back with a load of pictures.”

Tomorrow, Colton is going one step further than the waiting room display with an exhibition in the old goods shed of 1,200 rare postcards depicting Harrogate’s heyday heritage.

The walls are adorned with cards showing everyday life and from the ceiling hang vast tints showing how Parliament Street looked before it became a virtual car park; Station Parade before the bus station and the Edwardian elegance of a palm decked Kursaal tea rooms.

“You don’t look at pictures,” says Colton. “You look into them and try to get a feel of being part of that era and bring it back to life.”

He points to one of James Street with well to do ladies perambulating holding parasols to protect their complexions from the sun.

“I think pictures can be moving. I try to transport myself back to those times and look more closely at the people, what they are wearing, what they might have been doing.

“On one side of the street is a chauffeur patiently waiting, on the other is a man who looks like a vagrant. But was he? What’s his story and why was he there among the wealthy?”

Some things haven’t changed much, such as the views from Pier Head and of Montpellier Stray. Then there is the Royal Hall whose façade is almost identical to the 1900s photo; with the small matter of the next door conference centre being absent.

“The railway played its part in bringing Edwardian visitors here to look at these places,” says Colton. “This exhibition shows what they would have seen.”

• Harrogate’s Heritage will run tomorrow between 10am and 4pm at Harrogate railway station old goods shed. There will also be a mini cinema showing archive films some of Yorkshire’s now forgotten railways. Entrance: £2 suggested donation, in aid of Cancer Research and Harrogate & District Society for the Visually Impaired.