We are saddened to see that a fire has severely affected buildings on Union St in Glasgow and Glasgow Central Station itself. Our thoughts are with those fighting the fire and making the area safe.
Great to visit Grade II Listed Wareham Station in Dorset with SWR last week with a view to help restore original Victorian features for a new retail opportunity. It’s a beautiful building, but needs a new tenant, so interested parties should contact Amey, who manage SWR’s commercial retail estate.
11 new stations added to the Mainline Station Heritage Artefacts Collection and 5 updated thanks to 4 contributors. Highlights include some splendid floor tiling at Lancaster (© @railwayheritage.bsky.social). Inspired to submit a station artefact(s) yourself? Info on how to is in the link.
And good to see the new parquet floor being laid in the new commercial unit at the station - a project we have supported Network Rail with a grant.
Great to see the scaffold deck removed from the Grade 1 listed Bristol Temple Meads this morning - I’m pleased this project is going to be entered in the National Railway Heritage Awards by Network Rail’s Western Route.
The overall feel is now much warmer and more welcoming - starting to make the station a destination in itself.
And this storeroom is now part of the bar at Avanti - a much better way of showing off the fireplace.
One of the most impressive pieces of work is the reinstatement of this doorway formerly a passageway to the station hotel - a before and after with how it looked 2 years ago.
Attended the opening of The Scott and Brassey, Lancaster Brewery’s new bar at Avanti West Coast’s Carlisle Station on Wednesday. We supported Network Rail NW&C Region & the Brewerywith grants. Great addition to the station’s offer. Hope it is entered in this year’s National Railway Heritage Awards.
2/2 - Lots of fun stuff in the latest batch including Norbiton's unique(?) Stagecoach SWT panels in the subway, a rare "Speak Here" grille at Marston Green (© Hazel Nicholson), the adjustable loading gauge at Thetford (© @railwayheritage.bsky.social) and a train at Temple Meads (© Paul Webster)
Passing through Manchester Victoria this morning & very pleased to see contractors on site at Platform 3 to install the heritage style railings for which we awarded a grant in July 2020! It’s our oldest project still not completed but our friends at Northern are on the case!
Thank you to Network Rail Anglia Route for facilitating access to Grade II listed Thetford Signal Box for us and local stakeholders. We’d all like to see it restored but it does need a new use. Quirky relics of its past remain!
Thanks to the Settle & Carlisle Partnership for inviting us to join them at the launch of their 150th anniversary celebrations in Settle. We’ve supported them with many grants and have just approved a new grant to assist their planned work at Ribblehead Station.
Great to get so close up to the knapped flint and architectural details. Sadly no floors remain in most parts of the building. #NorwichTrowse
Very fortunate to take a look from above into the extremely derelict Grade II Listed #NorwichTrowseStation. With thanks to @networkrail for allowing us on site and explaining the emergency works they are doing.
And a relic of hovercraft operations too.
It’s also an important site of remembrance having seen 1.25 million troops pass through during WW1; they came on 366 hospital ships and embarked onto 7500 ambulance trains.
A huge thank you to the Port of Dover for showing Tim and Anna around the imposing Dover Marine Station - built in a beaux arts style at the start of the 20th century, it’s an imposing structure now used as part of the cruise terminal.
Visited Tynemouth Station on Saturday to see how well the market uses the old canopies of the station to make a thriving collection of stalls. Part of the Nexus network, 2 of the platforms are still in use. There are many other stations where this business model could be replicated.
Here’s what it all looked like a few years ago.
All this complements the recently completed AfA works (which removed an unsightly stairway from the platform) and the soon to be completed refurb of the listed canopies by @networkrail East Midlands Route.
Small things make this a great project - like the bird boxes on the rear of the cycle shelter, plus the station adopters now have a secure space and a tap to water the planting which they designed. The station adopters also painted the forecourt fence.
Celebrating the completion of forecourt works at Grade II listed Beeston Station, Notts with @EastMidRailway. We supported their investment with a £20k grant . Good to meet so many of the station friends and adopters who help with planting & generally making it a special place.
Definitely - an easier to access portal will make it easier to make the case for reopening.
On my way to Beeston today via Newark Castle - it’s going to be a day of Midland Railway architecture. The station (1846) and Station Master’s House (1860) are both listed. The station, one of the earliest the MR built, is in an Italianate style.
Congratulations to the Rhondda Tunnel Society for obtaining planning permission to excavate the Blaencwm Portal of the Tunnel (shown below - it’s a field). We have awarded a £100k grant to support this work. The current method of accessing the tunnel is not easy as I found out in 2023.
There’s loads to learn about at the station thanks to the brilliant info boards provided by the Friends. They even have a doodlebug story. And Branwell Brontë worked there. And part of Happy Valley was filmed in the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms - who knew?!
We recently received a legacy and used most of it for a grant to Heighington Station on the S&DR. But I used a small part of it to help the Friends buy a new TV for the Refreshment Rooms. The CRP also contributed. Today I went to give a talk on our work & formally unveil the TV.
Many years ago we gave a grant to restore the last remaining part of the station building at Sowerby Bridge. It’s run as the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms. There is old signage and old photos. Along with the work of the Station Friends Group, it helps make a charmimg station.
For those who missed our 40th anniversary exhibition, there's a PDF of the commemorative booklet we published of it here on our website:
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