The Wensleydale Railway Association Trust (WRAT) has been given a grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore Leeming Bar station and to share its heritage with more people and in new ways. Despite the challenges, the Grade II listed building underwent a complete restoration during the spring of 2020 and focus is now on decorating and furnishing the station house to how it would have looked in the 1920’s. When the station house reopens, there will also be a vibrant public programme of free events and activities with something to appeal to everyone. We also have a digital offer starting in March of live events and talks to appeal to different groups. The extensive project has secured the building for future generations and will help to reconnect the railway with its local community.
As the railway starts to plan for re-opening we have been busy making some exciting plans for the future. One plan is to begin the new season when restrictions allow with an hourly service between Bedale and Scruton stations where visitors will be able to step back in time and enjoy a living museum experience. Visitors will travel to Scruton where they can tour the station and take part in activities before travelling to Leeming Bar where they can participate in our education and community engagement programme. The programme will see a wide range of heritage-based activities allowing the public to discover and experience life at a busy country station in the inter-war period.
A series of fascinating live digital talks is being provided free over Zoom and/or Facebook. There were five talks in March, one each week, and after that, starting in April, we will have two talks per month on a range of topics. They won’t all be about aspects of the railway’s history or collections some will be wider ranging for example about our local area and landscape, industrial heritage, the 1920’s including fashion, music and women’s emancipation.
If you would like to take part in any of our talks you can join by following the link underneath the event below (this will be added shortly before the event) or alternatively you can join through our Facebook event.
Wednesday 28th April 7pm: Joan and Keith Walker and Wendy and Grahame Shepherd will be joining us to speak about the history of Scruton station, the restoration and how the railway has used the setting for a programme of school visits and community events. These school visits and community events led to the station winning The British Museum Marsh Trust National Award for Volunteers for Museum Learning.
You can join here:
Previous talks can be found online:
- What the Leeming Bar project will have on offer by Will Burnham, Wensleydale Railway’s Community and Education Officer. This talk can be found at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja6u90j516E
- The day the railway changed everything by Connor Lagus, Management Trainee at Wensleydale Railway. This talk can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84_TgynfQfQ
- A talk by Anthony Coulls on the award winning National Railway Museum exhibition Brass, Steel and Fire which is now available to view at the Science Museum in London. This talk can be found at: https://youtube.com/watch?v=OTKdRu1tu9A
- A talk by Steve Davies MBE on the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum. This talk can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1MGT2rDVUM
- A talk by Jack Roberts from Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall. This talk can be found at:
