This remote railway station lies in an area known as Garsdale Head, close to the watershed of two major cross-Pennine valleys (Wensleydale and Garsdale).
When the Midland Railway Company lodged its bill to construct the Settle and Carlisle railway in 1866, the plans included a six-mile long branch between an interchange station at Garsdale Head and the market town of Hawes in upper Wensleydale. Constructing a booking office to one of the standard designs at this location would have been prohibitively expensive (due to the steeply sloping nature of the site and the need to purchase additional land). A non-standard booking office was therefore provided on the island platform, but its design was constrained by the narrow width of the platform and the need to provide a canopy to protect interchange passengers from the weather. The facilities provided in this building included a porters' room, an office for the Station Master, a booking hall, a ladies' waiting room and toilet facilities for both ladies & gentlemen. A separate waiting shelter was also constructed on the island platform.
During the planning phase, and for the first 25 years of operation, the interchange station was known as 'Hawes Junction'. In January 1900, the name of the interchange station was officially altered to 'Hawes Junction and Garsdale' (to better reflect its position at the head of the Garsdale valley). In September 1932 the official name was shortened to 'Garsdale', thereby losing the reference to Hawes Junction.
At some point circa 1957, the booking facilities were moved to the adjacent waiting shelter and the original main station building was demolished.
The Hawes Branch closed to all traffic on the 16th of March 1959 and Garsdale officially ceased to be the location of a junction on the 8th of December 1963. Fortunately, Garsdale is still served by a regular passenger service on the Leeds - Settle -Carlisle line (part of the UK's national rail network).
