Scone Spy: A brief but unforgettable encounter with Carnforth Station cafe

Carnforth Station, where the iconic film, Breif Encounter was filmed in 1945. (Andrew Cawley)

BEING a top spy, I spend lots of time in the shadows.

And perhaps the shadows aren’t always conducive to good mobile phone coverage.

Because clearly something was lost in conversation when I tipped my photographer off about the latest establishment Scone Spy had visited.

At least, that’s the only reason I can think of for my usually trusty snapper to believe I had said Close Encounters rather than Brief Encounter when I was giving him some background to the cafe.

I can only imagine his face when he turned up ready to photograph an alien from Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi adventure and was met with a quaint, 1940s-style café instead.

Never mind Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Brief Encounter is the real cinematic deal – named the second best British film of the 20th Century in a poll by the British Film Institute.

Filmed here at Carnforth Station in Lancashire in 1945, time appears to have stood still – unlike its famous station clock – in the period since, but that’s actually thanks to a loving restoration.

Today there are still trains passing through Carnforth, but the station has also been turned into a bustling heritage centre.

The Heritage Centre cafe, at Carnforth Railway Station for Scone Spy. This is where the famous movie Brief Encounter was filmed, and it is still set out in the same way. (Andrew Cawley)

There are exhibition spaces dedicated to the age of steam, wartime Carnforth and the film’s director, David Lean, while a cinema room shows the film, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, on a loop.

The story of forbidden love between Laura and Alec, two married strangers who meet in the railway station’s Refreshment Room, is the epitome of British stiff upper lip, but it’s hard not to crack a smile when stepping into the Refreshment Room today.

You can almost see Laura and Alec guiltily flirting in that very staid manner as you walk past the wooden counter, complete with vintage till.

The hot food menu concentrates on breakfast and lunch staples.

The roll and Cumberland sausage from the specials board is doing a swift trade, and there is a huge range of decadent cakes on the counter.

There’s even a free show along with the meal, as the manager is a bundle of energy and conversation, laughing and joking away.

We decide that since we’re only five miles or so from Morecambe, we shouldn’t feel too guilty about indulging in the seaside treat of homemade chips on a roll.

The dairy-free courgette cake is a revelation and the fruit scone doesn’t disappoint either.

In fact, I feel I’m channelling Laura’s first encounter with Alec as there appears to be grit in my eye when I take my final bite.

Sadly, my voracious appetite meant I only had a Brief Encounter with the Refreshment Room’s scone but, like the film, it’s one I won’t forget.

WARM WELCOME 9/10 LOCATION, LOCATION 9/10 SCONE SCORE 8/10