Facing south-west this must have been a bleak spot in which to live. Even by the mid-1980s half the houses were empty and boarded up. With subsequent cuts in the quarry workforce the rest were no longer needed either and the area has now been landscaped as the next picture shows.

Comments left about this photograph:
From Janet Parkinson at 2007-08-17 12:55:53 : I lived at 10 Railway Cottages, Meldon, from 1958 to 1964. I have very vivid memories of living in a wonderful place, even the winter of 63/64 had the advantage of no school for weeks and weeks. Bleak at times maybe, but not often. Summers were spent playing freely and it didn't rain all the time! Life was more basic in those days but there was a good community at the time, even though there were so few cottages, there were many children. We only moved away because the railway line was axed and dad, an engine driver, had to re-locate to Portsmouth. I was happy to find this picutre as there seem to be very few about.
From Trevor Leathley at 2007-08-26 16:21:38 : I lived in no.10 from 1958-1964, unfortunately the other end from the camera. It could be bleak here, especially during the winter of 62-63, but during the summer it could be glorious. there were no bathrooms and the toilets were bucket and chuckit, no hot water, in fact not long before I moved there all water was pumped from two tap houses behind the cottages. It was a sad day indeedwhen I discovered the cottages had been demolished.