Light Railway Survival Lifeline The
first but very valuable steps back from the brink By Danny Martin General Manager, Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
Looking Back...At the close of the first lockdown I reflected in Hythe Life on the big gap in the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway’s finances that the pandemic had caused and the serious risk this posed to our plans and indeed our very future. I also introduced the very different way we would need to safeguard our customers within the train with individual screens between compartments and that there would be a need for you to book in advance. The good news is that people responded positively and soon we were back running trains from our beautiful terminus in Hythe. As the summer went on each and every one of those trains had every compartment full and daily running resumed and continued most weeks until our normal shutdown at the end of October. Of course there were less trains, less catering and shop spending but we felt we were back making a positive contribution to the tourism scene our Town and District are famous for. Fearing to look forward but giving it a go Behind the scenes finger nails were getting shorter, number crunching was an everyday
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event but it was clear there was not enough to get us through the winter and well prepared for the next year and beyond. We had continued to watch for opportunities and the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage sponsored by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport came on the radar. It was designed to ensure the survival of our national treasures (tick) our heritage (93 years in the making in the case of the railway) (tick) and to ensure generations to come could learn, experience and enjoy a trip through the wonderful changing landscape of Romney Marsh, on the finest mainline in miniature in the world, pulled by the original steam locomotives two eccentric millionaires had as their dream (tick tick). And so midnight oil was burnt to complete a comprehensive and searching application. Then the clock ticked as reviews were undertaken, and criteria/eligibility were checked.
Generosity and kindness abounds Meantime we had no way to judge the chance of success and so the notices of possible redundancies were drawn up and communicated, minimum maintenance plans devised for the winter and further bids made for donated materials through the generosity of so many who gave to keep us going (my thanks to each and every one). We started a winter survival initiative and schemes to raise funds were devised. The generosity of local people and the ingenuity of ways to seek donations amongst our management, paid staff and volunteers was humbling. EDF at Dungeness sponsored coal, The Shepherd and Crook at Burmarsh and their customers held a Quiz night with proceeds to the railway and many individuals did more for free, gave more and encouraged others to do the same. Our supporters group the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway Association dug particularly deep and donated rail for winter maintenance, a very expensive commodity. And then the email came late on a September Friday afternoon. “You have been successful but, keep it under your hat” as there will be a big nationwide announcement in 7 days. Still we did not know if the scheme would be oversubscribed or what the conditions would be. Suffice to say when the news did come it exceeded our expectations (but not our bid of course) and very clearly we were back from the brink. Our valuable work, our dedicated people and the joy the railway gives to so many had been recognised. We were and are so very grateful.
