Pink station

The village station closed many years ago and it's now a private house. The 'Gabian' sign still remains on the wall at the side below these windows, but it was obscured by trees so I'll try to photograph it again when the leaves have fallen. It's hard to believe now, but this village once experienced an oil boom. The Romans discovered oil here and used it for medicinal purposes, but during the 1920s the reserves were seriously exploited by an oil company, the village population doubled in size and the station and railway link were built to transport the oil. Less happily, during the Second World War the German army used the petrol for its tanks. The well ran dry in about 1950 and since then the village has concentrated on wine making, which it had been doing for centuries.