THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA

GB
1976
1hr 45mins
Dir: Lewis John Carlino
Starring: Sarah Miles and Kris Kristofferson

After his father dies, a disturbed young boy plots to take revenge on the new man in his mother’s life

This erotic mystery drama is based on the 1963 Japanese novel of the same name by Yukio Mishima and features a good shot of Dartmouth Railway station, the Great Western Railway station that was never served by trains. Located on the opposite bank of the River Dart to Kingswear it was used as a ferry terminal for the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry. The wooden structure had full booking office and waiting facilities and has never ceased trading as its original function, having provided a ferry service ever since it opened in 1889, though the main railway building is now a restaurant. Incidentally, the station master at Dartmouth was paid more than his colleague at Kingswear due to the importance of the traffic to HMS Britannia as it was known then, the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. In addition to this there is a brief shot of a real railway station in the form of Kingswear, on the opposite bank of the Dart.

This is Dartmouth Railway Station, a passenger ferry terminal that was never rail served. And it was not unique, At least six other such ‘stations’ existed throughout Britain.
This young lad is stood on the footbridge that leads from Fore Street down to the harbour at Kingswear. It passes over but does not give access to the station at Kingswear, the platform and tracks of which can be seen below.