There is not much left to see of Southwick Halt just east of Dalbeattie, the original station buildings were demolished some years ago and access to the site is now difficult. The stationmasters cottage located adjacent to the station does however still exist and a couple of pictures of this and the site as it is now can be seen in the gallery, immediately below you can see a picture of Southwick Halt as it was many years ago

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Southwick Halt (closed 25 September 1939; reopened 3 February 1941; closed to passengers 3 May 1965)

Southwick Halt began its operational career as a minor passenger and goods stop for farms and hamlets along the valley of the Southwick Burn down as far as the estate of Southwick and the village of Caulkerbush(often referred to as Southwick), seven miles distant on the Solway Coast. It is probable that its main traffic was of milk and other farm produce, together with coal for a merchant who supplied the area.

All this was to change in 1939, when the Halt became a major passenger station for staff working in Unit 1 Southwick, the north-eastern half of the Ministry of Supply Factory Dalbeattie, which produced nitroglycerine and cordite explosive products. When the factory closed in 1945, the Halt reverted to its pre-war quiet, the closure of the Halt in 1974 ending the railway era. The old Statin Masters House is now a private dwelling and the roofless ruins of the Factory gatehouse mark the north-eastern extension of the old Factory and its sidings. The area has been used on occasion for Police training exercises, but otherwise it has been abandoned to nature.

 

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