ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2007/08
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST
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ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2007/08
The Trust publishes an Annual Report for four specific purposes: ■ to publish its Accounts; ■ to illustrate the projects to which its grants have been awarded; ■ to acknowledge the financial contribution made to projects by external partners; ■ to acknowledge the contribution made to the development and delivery of projects by sponsors, consultants and contractors. We have a wider purpose too. Britain’s railway heritage deserves every opportunity that can be taken to make its quality and diversity better known. So our illustrated project reports also serve to attract potential new partners to work with us in this important and challenging field.
CONTENTS
Cover picture: Salford Central: repaired lotus leaf capitals to 1844 bridge columns and new entrance concourse to the renovated station (Photo: Greater Manchester PTE) Inside front cover: Falsgrave Signal Box, Scarborough Inside back cover: Chippenham Viaduct Outside back cover: Restored footpath lamp standard, High Level Bridge, Newcastle (Photo: Jim Cornell)
Chairman’s Statement 3 The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt introduces the Report; notes the Trust’s role in encouraging, advising and supporting interested parties as well as facilitating solutions within the complexities of the rail industry; highlights the opportunities provided by ‘Adopt a Station’ programmes, Transport Scotland’s funding to bring empty space at stations back into use and the DfT’s National Station Improvement Programme; reviews the wide range of projects including reversal of destructive 1960s developments at stations, refurbishment of Newcastle’s High Level Bridge and humble schemes such as Pitlochry Station bookshop and thanks the Trust’s sponsors, Network Rail and BRB (Residuary) Ltd.
Nottingham Station footbridge: maker’s plate on stair newel post
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Photography: Specially commissioned from Milepost 921/2, Newton Harcourt, Leicestershire Other photographs as individually credited The Trust is grateful to the following individuals and organisations for permission to publish photographs: Above & Beyond Architecture Ltd Gordon Biddle Chester City Council Chiltern Railways Darlington Borough Council Greater Manchester PTE The Highland Council Ian Allan Library National Railway Museum Network Rail K Roberts St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust Research and text by Richard Horne, with assistance from Claire Pickton Design by Geoffrey Wadsley Printed in England by Ian Allan (Printing) Ltd, Hersham, Surrey KT12 4RG
Review of Projects 4–29 Individual reports on the projects grant-aided by the Trust, including work to two bridges, three viaducts, a cast iron waiting room and a GWR ‘pagoda’ shelter; restoration of three signal boxes; floodlighting and repairs to a wide variety of stations. National Railway Heritage Awards 29 New Bailey Street Bridges project in Salford, entered by Network Rail, wins the Railway Heritage Trust Award for 2007. Grants and External Contributions 30–31 A detailed list of grants awarded and external partners’ contributions. The Trust’s Accounts 32 A summary of the audited accounts.
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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST
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OFFICERS AND ADVISORY PANEL 31st March 2008
EXECUTIVE BOARD Chairman: The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt Executive Director: Jim Cornell Director: Marcus Binney
ADMINISTRATION Company Secretary: Richard Horne Personal Assistant: Claire Pickton
ADVISORY PANEL
Hull Station: concourse south end entrance with second arch (left) opened up
Sir Peter Baldwin Robert Baldwin Gordon Biddle John Boyle Timothy Bryan Anthony Byrne Professor Dugald Cameron Sir Neil Cossons Ian Hay Davison Lord Faulkner of Worcester Dr William Fawcett Christopher Fildes Jonathan Glancey Chris Green Christopher Heaps Stanley Hurn Sir Simon Jenkins
Bernard Kaukas David Lawrence Chris Leah Candida Lycett Green Geoff Mann Vernon Murphy Sir Howard Newby Frank Paterson Oliver Pearcey Malcolm Reed Simon Rigge Martin Robertson Paul Simons John Snell Sir James Swaffield Dame Margaret Weston
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ADVISORY PANEL At the Advisory Panel’s Annual Meeting on 9th October 2007, members were given presentations on the refurbishment of the High Level Bridge, Newcastle by Richard Bell, Network Rail’s London North Eastern Territory Civil Engineer, and on Heritage Protection Reform by Peter Beacham, English Heritage’s Heritage Protection Director.
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CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
HE RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST ’ S
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Richard Horne
role has always been to encourage, to advise, to support, to constructively criticise and to build confidence through relationships in an environment where we own no physical heritage assets nor can we take management decisions regarding those assets. It is becoming apparent that another key part of our role is to facilitate solutions using the Trust’s independence and experience to create a common purpose. This facilitation goes way beyond just bridging financial gaps or commenting on proposed restoration works and increasingly demands more time being devoted to some projects. A significant contributory factor is the complex nature of the rail industry with its understandable aversion to risk which results in lengthy and seemingly bureaucratic processes to deliver what are relatively simple projects. Added to this is the renewal of passenger franchises, of which there were five in 2007/08, which means that the Trust has had to establish new contacts and build new relationships. It is a credit to all in the industry that the Trust’s input continues to be sought to assist in the conservation of the nation’s built railway heritage. One of the factors now driving the number of projects in which the Trust is involved is a collection of new or relatively new initiatives. Last year I highlighted the Department for Transport’s ‘Access for All’ initiative and the thrust by the train operating companies (TOCs) to involve local communities and small businesses in the ‘Adopt a Station’ programmes. This year, Transport Scotland has not only supported the extension of First ScotRail’s franchise from 2011 to 2014 but it has made available to the TOC up to £1 million to be used for bringing back into use empty space on stations. This is very good news for the Trust and we are working closely with First ScotRail to develop meaningful projects. Following on from the ‘Access for All’ initiative, the Department for Transport has launched a National Station Improvement Programme which will again give opportunities for the Trust to work with Network Rail and the TOCs to
The Chairman opening the restored ticket hall at Leamington Spa Station
enhance listed buildings and those in Conservation Areas for the benefit of rail customers. As is now to be expected, given the continuing growth of the rail business, the Trust has been involved in a wide variety of projects during 2007/08. It is particularly pleasing to witness progress being achieved (after several years of trying) at Wroxham and St Albans, where the disused signal boxes are at last being restored and will soon be accessible to the public through the efforts of local trusts. Medium sized stations such as Chester, Hull, Middlesbrough and Nottingham continue to attract the Trust’s attention and it is pleasing to be able to report that significant progress has been made to reverse some of the 1960s developments which so destroyed the architectural qualities of these excellent buildings. Network Rail’s commitment to major structures is clearly demonstrated by the £42 million repair and restoration of the Grade I listed High Level Bridge spanning the Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead. Clearly it is difficult for the Trust to make any real financial impact on a project of this size but the opportunity was identified for us to lead the restoration of the historic walkway lamps. In partnership with the two local authorities and Network Rail, the restoration and repair works were completed in time for the bridge
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reopening celebrations on 30th May. I had the honour of switching on the lights on the evening of the 29th. Not all of our grants are large or go to large projects and at the opposite end of the scale to the High Level Bridge it is worth recording our support to a group of Pitlochry residents to assist them in their endeavours to improve the second hand bookshop in the station’s southbound platform building. Proceeds from the bookshop go to charity and, of course, its presence on the station provides a service to rail travellers. The Trust’s contribution to conserving the nation’s heritage is only possible due to the sponsorship support we receive from Network Rail and BRB (Residuary) Ltd for which I am most grateful. There have been no changes to the membership of the Advisory Panel during the period of this Report and, as always, I am extremely appreciative of the contribution and support that Panel members and my fellow directors have given throughout the year. Demands on the Trust’s resources continue at a high level and show no sign of abating. A big thank you is due to Jim Cornell, Richard Horne and Claire Pickton for their unceasing commitment to our work. It is with sadness that I acknowledge that 2007/08 will be Richard’s last full year with the Trust. Having welcomed him in April 2000, we have benefitted significantly from his expertise and enthusiasm, which we will miss greatly when he retires at the end of 2008. His successor is Malcolm Wood who, like Richard, has railway architect job experience, and who will join the Trust in the autumn. It is my pleasure to present the twenty third Annual Report for the Railway Heritage Trust.
The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt Chairman London July 2008
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Left: Refurbished stair, with work to footbridge on-going Below: Renovated cabmen’s shelter
station. This disappeared following closure of the GCR line in 1969, but is due to reappear, albeit more gracefully designed, when Nottingham’s new tram system is extended south from its present terminus (on the line of the former GCR) on the north side of the station. A secondary footbridge, in contemporary Edwardian design, linked the platforms (now extended to the tram terminus). It consisted of a timber walkway, with glazing in the top half of the walls and a continuous central rooflight, housed within a huge steel truss. Pairs of elegant and wide stairs, with decorative iron balusters and cast iron newel posts led east and west down
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associated bays, have elegant red brick buildings running centrally along them, with copings, bands and surrounds to doors and windows also detailed in red sandstone. They are surmounted by wide classic MR ridge and furrow awnings with hipped ends although, regretfully, the glazing has been replaced by corrugated sheeting. From 1899 a dramatic feature was the intrusion of a huge lattice girder bridge, carrying the GCR’s new extension to London, right across the The footbridge in 1983, even then in need of refurbishment A Dasi-Sutton, Ian Allan Library
The Midland Counties Railway (MCR) line from Derby, opened in 1839, entered Nottingham from the west across the river flats below the castle on its bluff, to terminate at The Meadows Station. Shortly after the 1846 extension of the line to Lincoln by the MCR’s successor, the Midland Railway (MR), a larger station was opened to the east in May 1848, built in a classical style with a three bay, iron train shed. Ever progressive in its outlook, the MR at the turn of the last century rebuilt three of its major stations: Leicester (1892), Nottingham and Sheffield (1904). Competition from the newly opened Great Central Railway (GCR) was undoubtedly a factor in this decision. All three are now listed (Nottingham being Grade II*) and a major element in each design was a large arcaded forecourt for cabs and carriages, under a glazed roof. Designed by A E Lambert, the frontage of Nottingham featured terracotta with sandstone window, door and archway surrounds, bandings, copings and balustraded parapet. Although smaller than Sheffield, both Nottingham and Leicester were more grandly designed, with dominant clock towers and no lack of restraint in the treatment of their front elevations. Both faced onto a main road, straddling the tracks, giving easy and direct access to the platforms below. Nottingham has two wide island platforms with a single platform on the south side. The island platforms, with
Richard Horne
NOTTINGHAM STATION
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to each platform. Network Rail, with a grant from the Trust, has undertaken the complete refurbishment of the footbridge, which was suffering the depredations of time, with rot in the timber and rust in the steelwork due to the inherent inaccessibility of parts of the structure. The scheme has included new architectural lighting to enhance the footbridge interior, sheet lead to replace the felt roof and complete reglazing of the rooflight. Windows have been fitted with clear glass and alternate ones made openable to allow external cleaning. A new and brighter colour scheme has been introduced, which will eventually be used throughout the entire station (which is the subject of a massive ‘gateway’ improvement scheme, known as ‘The Hub’).
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A second scheme, to which the Trust gave a grant to Central Trains (the then operator of Nottingham Station), was refurbishment of the former cabmen’s shelter, a charming and (effectively) detached building situated to one side of the arched entrance at the south end of the arcaded forecourt. In very much an English Domestic style of red brick walls and tiled roof with timber panels and large areas of glazing to the two outward facing walls, it is quite unlike the rest of the station. However, it and,
to a lesser degree, the adjacent brick offices (now the British Transport Police station) are harmonious partners to the stone and terracotta station. The interior of the cabmen’s shelter has also been renovated with a timber boarded dado and plain timber floor. A toilet has been provided off the entrance lobby with provision for a small kitchen area. Rescued from semi-dereliction and splendidly restored, the building now awaits a tenant and it is to be hoped that the station’s new operator, East Midlands
Trains, will quickly find one worthy of this little gem. And gem it is, for the restoration has been awarded a commendation by the Nottingham Civic Society. Footbridge Sponsor: Network Rail London North Eastern, York Structural Engineer & Contractor: First Engineering Ltd, York
Cabmen’s Shelter Sponsor: Central Trains, Birmingham Designer: Lambert Smith Hampton, Birmingham Contractor: C J Ellmore & Co Ltd, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Above: Downside building with refurbished windows and doors and (inset) in 1962 Below: Waiting room with restored ceiling Above & Beyond Architecture Ltd
On the 1st of March 1848, the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire (MS&LR) and Great Northern (GNR) Railways jointly opened the first line in north Lincolnshire, between New Holland, Great Grimsby and Louth. A month later the MS&LR had reached Gainsborough and in 1850 reached further east to Sheffield, so completing its main line across England from Manchester. The GNR’s line south of Louth, to Peterborough, was a minor one by comparison. The MS&LR’s Great Grimsby Station (renamed Grimsby Town in 1900) had a slate roofed train shed, supported on a long red brick wall on the south side and on the main station buildings on the north (down) side. This long, not inelegant, neo-classical building (now in a Conservation Area) had its brickwork relieved by arched arcading over the round headed windows, further decorated with a surround of three yellow brick courses. A glazed, pitched roof canopy, on cast iron columns, was later added over the four arches of the central entrance and, on the south side, a third platform was added outside the train shed. A lattice footbridge linked the platforms within the train shed, at the western end. In recent times the train shed roof was not simply removed (the fate of many such structures) but replaced by one of shallow pitch carried on monstrously deep and ugly tapered steel beams, which visually seek to ‘crush’ the station buildings beneath them. However, the strength of the long elevations with their repetitive arcading fight back sufficiently well that the Trust was pleased to add to a scheme that First TransPennine Express was carrying out to improve passenger facilities, by
Gordon Biddle
GRIMSBY TOWN STATION
funding the restoration of windows and doors which, over the years, had suffered from insensitive alterations. The improvement scheme itself included refurbishment of the toilets and opening up, in an elegant and minimalist way, the former buffet into a single waiting area linked to the ticket hall. A ceiling with decorative plasterwork was discovered above a suspended ceiling and this has been exposed and restored. At the entrance to the station itself, modern glazing and doors have been installed, in line with the modern interiors that have been created, which complement the restored doors and windows throughout the major part of the station. Sponsor: First TransPennine Express, Manchester Architect: Above & Beyond Architecture Ltd, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Contractor: Wrekin Construction Co Ltd, Rail Division, Runcorn, Cheshire
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REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Hull tends to be forgotten, or at least overlooked, when considering the major provincial stations in Britain, but is infact one of the largest and, listed Grade II*, displays fine architecture – early Victorian, Edwardian and (now) 21st century – as well as grand engineering, with its huge train shed of five barrel vaulted bays over the platforms and two transversely over the concourse. It is a combination of two great works. The older is the long Italianate building on the south side of G T Andrews’ original 1848 York & North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) station. The other is the train shed and associated frontage buildings added in 1904 by the Y&NMR’s successor, the North Eastern Railway, to the designs of its architect, William Bell. In recent years the Trust has given grants towards the repair and reglazing of the train shed roof and for the refurbishment of the southernmost Art Nouveau kiosk on the barrier line. However, the radical transformation of the station in an £18 million scheme led by Hull City Council and alluded to in previous Reports is now complete and it is appropriate that the station has been renamed Hull Paragon Interchange Station. There were two essential elements of this scheme. First, Paragon House, a mediocre 1960s office block crassly attached to the front of the station (Bell’s 1904 porte-cochère being
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North wall of station opened up as entry to bus bays
demolished in the process) was removed and replaced by a modern equivalent of the porte-cochère, a soaring glass and steel canopy. The old buffet behind this has been removed, creating a new entrance to the station and an extension to the concourse. The former ticket hall is being developed as letting. Second, the northernmost bay of the train shed, long used for car parking, has been transformed into a long secondary concourse, flanked on the inner side with retail outlets and passenger facilities. The outer wall, with its arched windows, has been spectacularly altered, its entire lower part being opened up and supported on a longitudinal beam supported on columns, with glazing under this, providing access to 22 bus bays, thereby creating a seamless and dry rail/bus interchange. Added to this are new facilities for coaches and taxis. Hull, Paragon House 1960s
Hull Paragon Station 1900s
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Darlington Borough Council (both)
HULL STATION
The catalyst for this has been the redevelopment of the former bus station and adjoining Council land to the north of the station as the second largest city centre mixed use development in the UK, named St Stephen’s. A condition of the planning consent for this was the construction of the interchange. The new intervention has been to the highest design standards, striking in its lightness and simplicity, respecting the original station buildings yet unashamedly modern. The Trust gave a grant that contributed to four separate items of work. First was restoration of the frontage stone wall, under the new canopy, mutilated when Paragon House was built. Second was restoration work connected with the opening up of the north wall for buses. Third was reopening the bricked up half of the twin arch entrance at the south end of the concourse and fourth was restoration of the Art Nouveau kiosk at the north end of the barrier line. More decorative than that at the south end (restored in 2005), this kiosk features a glazed domed rooflight and stained glass windows, all of which have been refurbished. It has a wing along what is now the secondary, or bus concourse, which has been fully restored and converted from offices and toilets to retail units.
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between the various players has resulted in a superb scheme that makes a visit to this ‘eastern outpost’ even more worthwhile. Sponsor: Hull City Council, Hull Architect: Holder Mathias Architects, London Engineer: White Young Green, Bristol Contractor: C Spencer Ltd, Barrow-uponHumber, North Lincolnshire
Above: Refurbished kiosk at north end of barrier line Right: Paragon House replaced by new canopy, with repaired stone wall. St Stephen’s development in the distance
There is, of course, yet more work to be done. Although the major scheme removed some dilapidated buildings on the south (Anlaby Road) side, proposed major works to Andrews’ building, which runs the entire length of this side of the station, have already received promise of support from the Trust. The work carried out at Hull was inherently complex, but the partnership approach
CHIPPENHAM VIADUCT Our Report for 2005/06 described the repairs and floodlighting that had been carried out to the viaduct at Chippenham (listed Grade II*), which is the dominant feature at the northern approach to the town centre. Lying on the Great Western Railway’s original London to Bristol line of 1841, it was designed by Brunel in a Romanesque style with nine arches built of Bath stone ashlar. It crosses main roads at
both ends, but the arch over New Road at the eastern end is flanked by two small arches over the footpaths and presents the appearance of a Roman triumphal arch. The viaduct has been twice widened, on the north side in 1851 and on the south in the early 1900s. In the process, the original stone arches have been lined with brickwork and the south face is entirely of blue engineering brick, except for a large stone pier, stone parapets and random stone voussoirs to some of the arches. Fortunately, apart from the two road crossings, much of this side of the viaduct faces onto a narrow alleyway and the backs of buildings. Rainwater is taken from the viaduct on the south side and failures of the drainage system have doubtless led to the crude repairs to spalling brickwork that have been carried out over many decades. The Trust contributed this year to provision of seven new hoppers and down pipes along the viaduct. Although these are of traditional cast iron, they are fed by large stone rectangular ducts, some two feet long, that are set about a Left: New drainage on south face of viaduct Above right: Detail of stone duct and cast iron hopper
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foot into the face of the viaduct, connecting to the internal drainage. The protruding sections have removable stone lids and discharge through their bases into the cast iron hoppers which are immediately below them. This arrangement is possibly unique, but all of these stone ducts have been replaced by new ones. The work has also necessitated provision of new gulleys and improvements to the drains in the alleyway. An adjunct to the scheme was provision of an iron grille gate to seal off a subsidiary arch that led to an internal ‘room’, previously a haven for undesirable activities. Sponsor: Network Rail Western, Swindon Engineer: Tony Gee and Partners LLP, Esher, Surrey
Contractor: Alfred McAlpine Project Services, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire
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The Highland Council
Left: Reordered forecourt with new paving, seats and lamp posts
AVIEMORE STATION Last year’s Report noted commencement of a scheme to improve, expand and reorder Aviemore Station forecourt, thus creating a modern transport interchange. The project, led by The Highland Council with the Trust as one of the partners, was several years in its gestation (partly due to the complexities in the privatised railway of reaching agreement between all parties), but is now complete. It is an important project as Aviemore is the hub of this tourist area and the most important station on the former Highland Railway (HR) main line from Perth to Inverness. Opened in
1863 by the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway as a northern extension of the short branch line of 1856 from Perth to Dunkeld, it was taken over by the HR in 1865. It reached Inverness by a circuitous route through Forres, but fearing the North British Railway would drive a line, to the west, from Fort William to Inverness, the HR opened a direct line between Aviemore and Inverness in 1898, so turning the former into a junction. The station was completely rebuilt with three platforms; the elegant complex that exists today (now listed Category B). The main building, of timber, has a steeply pitched slate roof with stone chimneys and,
Restored canopy
KEIGHLEY STATION Opened on 16th March 1847, Keighley was briefly the terminus of the Leeds & Bradford Railway’s line into Skipton, reached six months later, with an extension to meet the East Lancashire Railway at Colne, opened in 1848. Passing to the Midland Railway (MR), it
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became the junction for the Oxenhope branch, opened in 1867, now the famous steam operated Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR). The station’s importance increased with the opening of the Settle & Carlisle line in 1876, putting it on the St Pancras to Glasgow main line.
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facing the forecourt, the projecting entrance is flanked by a pair of angled bay windows, all with hipped gables. The forecourt now provides distinct areas for pedestrian movement and waiting, complete with seats and stone paving, coach lay-by and car parking. The design has used high quality materials and created a civic space which has been extended, opposite the station, by the redesign of a small park in a formal manner, complete with a performance stage and site for the annual Christmas tree. The scheme also provided, to the south, for the rebuilding of the road junction between the B9152 and B970. A slightly incongruous and mannered feature has been the use of timber lamp posts, constructed from twin rectangular sections, separated by spacers. However, the overall impression is a step change from the previous tarmac wasteland and has certainly put the station at the centre of the region. Sponsor: The Highland Council, Inverness Landscape Architect: The Paul Hogarth Company, Edinburgh
Engineer: The Highland Council Project Design Unit, Inverness
Contractor: Morrison Construction Services, Inverness
Relocated and rebuilt in 1883, the extensive stone buildings (now listed Grade II) have, over 15 years, received six grants from the Trust for improvement works. The latest project is the complete repair and replacement of the glazing to the sole remaining platform canopy, that used by the KWVR on the west side of the station. Although mainly undertaken in 2006/07 with help from the Trust and fully described in last year’s Report, a further grant was given in the current year. The station now displays, in a pristine manner, the elegance of the MR’s standard, and once common, ridge and furrow platform canopy design with gently sloped glazing and hipped ends to each bay. It also serves to remind and sadden us that so many of them have been lost. Sponsor: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, Keighley, West Yorkshire
Architect: Potts Parry Ives + Young, York Contractor: T A Morris Developments Ltd, Goole, East Yorkshire
the next one by the alternative route without changing platforms). The station buildings, designed by Glasgow architect James Miller, were elegant timber buildings with slate roofs and fully glazed canopies on all four sides, in that distinctive and singularly Scottish architectural style of the late Victorian and Edwardian era. Maxwell Park Station (listed Category B), located in what was then and still is a well-to-do area of large houses and elegant tenements, lies in a cutting and was thus, uniquely, of two storeys. Access by footbridges from both sides led directly into the first floor where the ticket office was located. The nearby stone station master’s house was restored, with the Trust’s help, in 2003. Although the station itself has been restored externally, the interior is an empty shell, crying out for reuse. The Glasgow Building
MAXWELL PARK STATION
Chiltern Railways
Glasgow’s suburban railway system, the most comprehensive of all provincial cities, is mostly electrified, a process started with the introduction of the iconic ‘Blue Trains’ on the north side in 1960 and on the south side two years later. A feature of the south side network was the busy ‘Cathcart Circle’ of the Caledonian Railway, built for commuters from the outset. Initially opened on 25th May 1886 as a branch from Glasgow Central to Cathcart, it was extended westwards in a semi-circle on 2nd April 1894, so bringing it back to the main line (at Muirhouse Junction) and thence to Central. This eight mile loop allowed trains to run around it from Central in both directions, so the stations were designed with island platforms (allowing those who had missed a train to catch
DENHAM GOLF CLUB STATION To devotees of Great Western Railway (GWR) architecture, the small, galvanised corrugated iron waiting shelters of unique ‘pagoda’ design have always been a source of delight; the distinctive concave, hipped roof explaining the nickname. Used at halts and small stations, only a handful remain on the rail network (outside of preservation) and three of these are at Denham Golf Club Station. Congestion on the line shared between the Great Central (GCR) and Metropolitan Railways south of Aylesbury led to the former opening jointly with the GWR in 1906 a new line between Northolt and Princes Risborough. This gave the GCR a second route into Aylesbury and, continued to Aynho Junction, the GWR a second and more direct route to Birmingham,
avoiding Oxford. Although on the joint GWR and GCR line, Denham Golf Club Platform (the word ‘platform’ was deleted in 1954) was pure GWR design. Opened on 22nd July 1912, it was sited on a high embankment with, at each platform entrance point, a ‘pagoda’ waiting shelter. A small ticket office, provided at the road entrance to the downside (access to the upside being via a road underbridge), was, possibly uniquely, housed in a third ‘pagoda’. For some reason, the ends of this were not hipped, but it was not without charm. The station is now listed Grade II, but is destaffed and the now disused ticket office was burnt out in an electrical fire in 2004. The Trust was pleased to share Above left: Burnt out ticket office in 2004 Below: Rebuilt in 2007
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Richard Horne
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Preservation Trust has taken up the challenge and, funded by the Trust and The Architectural Heritage Fund, has prepared an Options Appraisal. Whatever the future use, it will be one that both benefits the local community and brings life back into this architectural gem. Sponsor: Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, Glasgow
with Chiltern Railways the cost of restoring it, although of the original only the steel angle framing could be reused. In the restoration, the former windows have of necessity been removed, but the building has been repainted in GWR colours. Regrettably, a single rainwater pipe has been placed in the centre of the end, instead of at the end of the side, creating an unfortunate duality on the elevation. Although not destroyed by fire, the two platform shelters are being eaten by rust and will receive similar attention from Chiltern Railways in the summer of 2008. Sponsor: Chiltern Railways, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Contractor: Steelway Fensecure Ltd, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
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Above & left: Night and day views looking downstream to the High Level, Swing, Tyne and Millennium Bridges Below: Restored footpath lamp standard
NEWCASTLE: HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE Robert Stephenson’s spectacular and, from an engineering view point, ingeniously designed High Level Bridge (listed Grade I) was the first of a series of four bridges that span the River Tyne downstream from the city centre. Constructed over a period of 150 years, all are very different but complement each other in a truly dramatic way. They are, in order, the High Level, Swing, Tyne and Millennium Bridges. The Trust’s Report for 2001/02 described in considerable detail Stephenson’s design for the High Level Bridge and the alterations and repairs that had been undertaken over the years since it was opened in 1849 by Queen Victoria. Forming a vital link in the London to Edinburgh railway line, it was built by The High Level Bridge Company, formed jointly by the Newcastle & Darlington Junction and Newcastle & Berwick Railways (both becoming part of the North Eastern Railway in 1854). The High Level Bridge was, with the Trust’s help, floodlit (as are the other bridges) in 2002 but the original cast iron lamp standards on the footpath balustrading have long been without lamps. Accordingly, the Trust joined Network Rail and the Newcastle City and Gateshead Borough Councils in a
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partnership to refurbish the 34 cast iron lamp standards and reinstall lamps on them. All the standards were removed from site and, apart from grit-blasting and repainting, two new columns were cast, together with a number of broken or missing components. Fortunately, an original drawing survives which enabled the new lamps to be exact replicas (although now electric, not gas); opal globes surmounted by crown-like cappings. They were made by Sugg Lighting Ltd, a firm established in 1837. This work was an adjunct to Network Rail’s major scheme to carry out repairs to the bridge. Suffice to say, this scheme revealed many more problems and faults than anticipated in the structure, such that the final cost was £43 million. In
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carrying out this work, Network Rail has used scientific testing and state of the art technology to sensitively repair and strengthen the bridge with an ingenuity equal to that of Stephenson in his original design. This work inevitably delayed refurbishment of the lamp posts, but they are now the finishing touch and were ‘switched on’ by the Trust’s Chairman at a ceremony on 29th May 2008. The restored bridge is now pristine in appearance, as completion of the works included grit-blasting and painting of the entire structure. With the road deck reduced to single lane (for safety and weight reasons) the bridge is now serviceable for decades to come. Sponsor: Network Rail London North Eastern, York
Engineer: Mott MacDonald, Croydon, Surrey Contractor: May Gurney Ltd, York
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LANARK STATION
Above: Original stone building at left with restored timber building at right
with the interior stripped out, it had suffered, accordingly, from neglect and rot. With dry rot eradicated, the empty shell was made available to the Clyde Model Railway Club which, in a partnership including the Trust as major funder, completely renovated the interior and transferred its very appropriate activities to this new home. Remedial work due to some reoccurrence of rot necessitated an increase to the grant while a second grant from the Trust
PORTSLADE STATION The London & Brighton Railway (L&BR) opened its main line on 12th July 1841, but a six mile branch line had already been opened over a year earlier, westward along the coast to Shoreham to allow delivery of construction materials through its harbour. This line was extended in stages, reaching Portsmouth in June 1847. Fourth station on the original line, just three miles from Brighton, was Portslade.
alone allowed new panelled doors to be fitted, the originals having been replaced by plain ones. A ceremonial opening, attended by the Trust’s Executive Director, was held on 27th April 2007. This scheme was greatly aided by First ScotRail’s innovative ‘Adopt a Station’ scheme, whereby unused (and commercially unlettable) accommodation is let on a peppercorn rent to community based organisations. Sponsor: Clyde Model Railway Club, Lanark, South Lanarkshire
Contractor: Built 2 Measure Ltd, Lanark, South Lanarkshire
Left: Refurbished frontage Inset: In 1955
Gordon Biddle
The county town of Lanark (gateway to New Lanark, Scotland’s grander monument to the Industrial Revolution than Cromford (see page 20)) became terminus of a short branch line from the Caledonian Railway’s (CR) Carlisle to Glasgow main line at Cleghorn on 5th January 1855. Built by a private company, the Lanark Railway, it was taken over by the CR in July 1860. For a century from 1864 there was a line westwards to Muirkirk, where an existing line to Ayr was met, bringing the CR negligible passengers, but lucrative iron and coal traffic revenue. The present ashlar sandstone main station building at Lanark, with slate roof, twin gables and cantilevered canopy (listed Category B) dates from 1867. Opposite on the north side was a later timber building, of standard CR design, with the glazed canopy, on three sides, supported on decorative cast iron brackets, acting as an extension of the hipped slate roof. Empty for some time,
Growth of the community along the line has been such that today there is almost continuous development along its length, yet Portslade Station was closed from 1847 to 1857, being reopened possibly on a different site. The present buildings were erected by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR) (successor from 1846 to the L&BR) in 1881 and are now listed Grade II. Designed in the Italianate villa style, favoured by the LBSCR from 1860 for a number of its stations on the line, the
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main building (on the south side of the line) is a fine two storey affair, stucco finished with moulded eaves brackets supporting a hipped slate roof. The frontage consists of two protruding wings either side of the main entrance. The sash windows have segmental arched heads and are arranged in pairs and singly. The building on the north side (now in private use) is similar, but of single storey. Southern, the train operating company, while carrying out routine, but thorough, external redecoration discovered that the sash windows on the south elevation (exposed to the full force of the weather) were in need of replacement. As the contractor had previously carried out the superb restoration of Hove Station’s similar building (described in the 2005/06 Report), the Trust was delighted to give a grant to cover the cost of this work. The station now looks pristine, Southern’s muted colour scheme enhancing the building. Sponsor: Southern, Croydon, Surrey Contractor: Leslie J Thorpe, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
K Roberts collection
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
BAMBER BRIDGE STATION
boards. A curiosity was a ‘two storey’ central, protruding, gabled bay on the platform side only, but with no upper floor in the raised section, although there were windows at high level. The original station building was later dwarfed by a single storey stone extension which, in turn, was attached to a stone goods shed. The original building was constructed for the low
Richard Horne
Preston, strategically located on what is now the West Coast Main Line, has, from the outset, been an important railway centre and, at its peak, seven lines radiated from it. The opening of the North Union Railway (NUR) from a junction with the Liverpool & Manchester Railway at Parkside in 1838, instantly gave it direct rail access to London and Birmingham as well as Liverpool and Manchester. Opening of the Bolton & Preston Railway in 1843 (amalgamated in the NUR in 1844) was followed by the opening of the
Blackburn & Preston Railway (B&PR) on 1st June 1846, branching off the NUR at Farrington. Bamber Bridge Station, a short distance to the east, was opened at the same time. Two months later the B&PR was amalgamated in the East Lancashire Railway (ELR), which reached Manchester, via Accrington, in 1848. The main station building at Bamber Bridge was on the south side of the line immediately adjacent to a level crossing. A charming cottage-like low building built of stone, its sash windows were set in dressed stone surrounds and the slate roof had decorative scalloped barge
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
Sponsor: Lancashire County Council, Preston Architect: sbs Architects, Manchester Contractor: Grove Design & Build, Hale, Cheshire Richard Horne
Top: In Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway days Above: Restored station with level crossing and signal box beyond Right: Pensioners and guests at the opening ceremony on 20th June 2008
platforms typical of the 1840s, so its floor is now below the level of the newer platform. A passenger subway was built adjacent to the level crossing, the stair to it being cut into a corner of the station building. A high signal box was erected by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (successor in 1859 to the ELR) on the opposite side of the level crossing and is still in use, but merely to control the crossing’s lifting barriers. The station had latterly become unstaffed with all buildings demolished except for, ironically, the original 1846 one. Even the subway had been filled in and the stairway removed. Used as a taxi office, with its charm almost hidden by neglect, Lancashire County Council (stalwart supporter, as ever, of rail travel) undertook a scheme to totally renovate the building, with the interior being reordered for use by the South Ribble Pensioners Association. The scheme, of course, also improved passenger facilities with new platform waiting shelter, lighting and upgraded car park. Although not listed, the Trust had no option but to help renovate this delightful and rare survivor of the early railway age. The one minor regret was that Network Rail, in replacing the timber fencing adjacent to the level crossing, failed to match it to the existing platform fencing in terms of design and height.
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REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Above: The refurbished station
The former mining towns of Camborne and Redruth together form the single largest urban area in Cornwall. Both were originally served by the Hayle Railway, very much a local affair. Its ‘main line’ opened from 1837 eastwards, in stages, from the copper port of Hayle some 12 miles to Tresavean. Camborne was reached in 1843 and one of several branches was that to Redruth, at its eastern end. The line included some rope-worked inclines, with steam locomotives or horses working on the level stretches between them, although locomotives eventually ran into Hayle, being attached to the incline rope. The West Cornwall Railway (WCR) was authorised in 1846 to take over the Hayle Railway and extend it westwards to Penzance and eastwards from Redruth to Truro. Engineered by Brunel, it was reopened on 25th April 1852, with two realignments avoiding the inclines. Intended to be broad gauge, for financial reasons the Hayle Railway’s standard gauge was maintained for the time being. On 1st January 1866 operation passed to the broad gauge ‘Associated Companies’ and the ‘main line’ soon became dual gauge, so becoming part of the route from Penzance to London. The Great Western Railway (GWR) took over the line in 1877, the WCR being dissolved in 1878.
The present Camborne Station was opened on 11th March 1852, although the present building, on the upside, is a standard GWR design built considerably later, possibly in the 1880s. Of red brick with a hipped slate roof and tall chimneys with corbelled tops, the windows had segmental arched heads, generally with twin sashes under a top light. The canopy has long been removed, leaving the building looking a little naked. On the downside there is now only a modern waiting shelter and the steel panelled footbridge would seem to be a replacement of an earlier standard GWR lattice one. Having helped Cornwall County Council improve Redruth Station in 2003, the Trust again joined a partnership led by the Council to improve Camborne. The major part of the scheme was reordering the interior to improve the ticket office, toilets and passenger facilities, while also creating a lettable area at the east end of the building, now opened as a café. The Trust’s contribution produced the scheme’s most striking feature,
Below: In 1975
M J Burrow, Ian Allan Library
CAMBORNE STATION
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reinstatement of the chimneys, which had been removed without permission. Its funding also included renewal of doors and windows. New hard and soft landscaping was provided at the platform entrance; important as this is the only access to the station building. The scheme is somewhat disappointing as, due to the Trust’s late involvement, no attempt was made to restore original interiors and, indeed, a prosaic suspended ceiling was provided throughout. The new ticket hall is somewhat bland and utilitarian. However, the station is a great improvement in terms of passenger comfort and DDA compliance and the exterior is now well presented with a welcoming entrance area, along with cycle and disabled parking, new lighting and CCTV coverage. Repairs to brickwork where the canopy was removed and rerouting of unsightly electrical cables are to be carried out in 2008, aided by a further grant from the Trust. Sponsor: Cornwall County Council, Truro, Cornwall
Architect: Robert Allen Architects, St Ives, Cornwall
Contractor: J & E Regan (Builders & Contractors) Ltd, Redruth, Cornwall
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
Richard Horne
Gordon Biddle
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Although the London & South Western Railway’s (LSWR) original main line reached Southampton in 1839, a station at Swathling was not deemed necessary until 1883, by which time the village had become an outer suburb of Southampton. (The station was renamed Swaythling in 1895.) The station (now listed Grade II) was somewhat unusual in that the main building was built of brick but lay some small distance away from the down platform building which, linked by footbridge with its twin on the upside, was of timber. An enclosed timber corridor gave access to the platform building and it might be assumed that this peculiar arrangement was to allow for a quadrupling of the tracks which never eventuated. The main building, of red brick with a deep tiled roof, was designed in Domestic Revival style and, to the south of its porched entrance, sported a splendid Dutch gable with terracotta decorations and a plaque reading AD 1883. The timber buildings behind the upside platform canopy were redundant and had been demolished by South West Trains (SWT) but all the doors and windows to them have been retained and renovated although nothing lies behind. The Trust gave a grant to not only enhance this work and renovate the timber work to the downside canopy and wall, together with provision of cast iron guttering, but also to completely
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
Above: Looking north, with restored platform buildings and (inset) in 1965 Below: Repaired and cleaned exterior and (inset) in 1965 Bottom: Renovated ticket hall
Sponsor: South West Trains, London Architect: KVB Architects Ltd, Tring, Hertfordshire Contractor: EWL Project Management Consultants, Towcester, Northamptonshire
Gordon Biddle
SWAYTHLING STATION
renovate the exterior of the brick entrance building. This work included brick cleaning, provision of cast iron rainwater goods as necessary, tidying of electrical services and installation of security fencing (as youths were climbing onto the roof and breaking tiles etc). The grant also included laying of new flooring for the ticket hall while, at the same time, SWT presented in a professional manner the display of historic photographs that enthusiastic staff had placed on the walls. This scheme demonstrates how the Trust’s involvement brought a holistic approach to the work already commenced at the station by SWT, with a partnership that also included Southampton City Council and Network Rail.
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REVIEW OF PROJECTS
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was that curious railway, jointly owned by the Great Northern, Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire (MS&LR) and Midland Railways but (from 1867) independently managed. Although owning its own coaching stock, it had no locomotives, these being provided by the owning companies which, following the 1923 grouping, were the London & North Eastern and London Midland & Scottish Railways. Details of the geography of the CLC were provided in last year’s Report, together with an account of the work being carried out, with the Trust’s help, to the station at Urmston, a western suburb of Manchester, on the CLC’s main line from Manchester Central to Liverpool Central. Urmston, like a number of the CLC’s stations, resembled those of its part owner, the MS&LR (renamed Great Central Railway in 1899). Its main building, on the westbound platform, typically featured a two storey station house attached to the single storey station in a twin pavilion layout, each having a gable with highly decorated, fretted barge boards (of differing designs, which also differed from station to station). The roof included alternating bands of plain and scalloped slates and the red brick walls featured paired sash windows and doors in low pointed, arch headed openings. Platform shelter was normally provided by a roofed area between the two pavilions, but Urmston sported canopies on both platforms and a substantial building on the eastbound (Manchester) platform. This building and the canopies were demolished in the
COTTINGHAM STATION Cottingham, formerly a village but now an outer suburb of Hull, is the first station on the line north to Scarborough, opened by the York & North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) on 6th October 1846. The station, opened with the line, was designed by the ubiquitous architect George Townsend Andrews and was a long, low, brick building with a hipped slate roof. Although plain on the platform side, the front displayed Andrews’ usual decorative treatment to windows and doors. At the north end was the two
Richard Horne
URMSTON STATION
1950s and 1960s. A new station building was provided in the 1990s, but the original main building was derelict for over a decade. The building was externally and structurally renovated by Network Rail in 2006/07 and 2007/08, with aid from the Trust, to allow a tenant to fit out the interior as a restaurant. Designed in a modern manner with bare brick walls
Above: Completely restored externally and internally converted into a restaurant Below: In Edwardian days
and the ceiling removed to create a lofty and interesting dining area, this work is currently on site. With the exterior painted in a sympathetic colour scheme (of the Trust’s choosing), the building is once again serving the public and has transformed an eyesore into an asset at the heart of this important Manchester suburb. Sponsor: Network Rail London North Western, Birmingham
Architect: Network Rail MP&I Estates (Design), London
Contractor: Track Line Contracts Ltd, Selby, North Yorkshire
storey station house. This building and a smaller one to the south (now used as a taxi office) still exist, as does the brick waiting room on the opposite side, linked by an elegant cast iron footbridge of standard North Eastern Railway design (the Y&NMR having become part of this company in 1854). The goods shed, north of the station, also survives and the complex is listed Grade II. In 2005 the Trust gave a grant towards eradicating dry rot from the empty station building and carrying out repairs to make it a lettable shell. This year, a further grant has contributed to
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provision of electrical and water supplies with a full drainage connection to enable the building to be let as one or two commercial units. The Trust’s grant also paid in its entirety for the cost of relocating an exterior electrical supply cabinet that had been mindlessly placed immediately in front of the former ticket office window which (complete with awning) lies centrally on the south wall of the building, at the public entrance. Sponsor: Network Rail London North Eastern, York
Contractor: Construction Marine Ltd, Leeds, West Yorkshire
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
SALFORD: NEW BAILEY STREET BRIDGES AND ARCH 18c
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
Above: Repaired lotus leaf capitals to 1844 bridge columns and new entrance concourse to the renovated station Below left: Column capital detail Below right: New shop front to Arch 18c
The bridge repair work, described last year, is now fully completed with restoration of the broken lotus leaf column capitals to the 1844 bridge and the carrying out of some modest brick repairs to the eastern abutment, both with funding from the Trust. There are two gaps in this abutment (corresponding to the gaps between the three bridges) and in these were ‘traditional’ tenancies relating to the motor trade. Salford Central Station has been transformed by a £4.5 million improvement scheme (opened by the Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP, Secretary of State for Transport on 22nd February 2008) which has provided a stunning glazed concourse running the entire length of the western abutment, passing under all three bridges, which are now uplit. The two tenancies facing the station being no longer in appropriate use or condition, Network Rail decided to completely refurbish and relet them for retail use. By way of encouragement, the Trust contributed to the cost of a modern, fully glazed front to the first
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(northern) tenancy to be so treated, in what is known as Arch 18c. With this no longer an unsuitable neighbour to the station and adjacent new commercial developments, the forthcoming transformation of the second tenancy, known as Arch 60/61, has already received a similar offer of financial assistance from the Trust. Bridge Repairs Sponsor: Network Rail London North Western, Birmingham
Architect: Potts Parry Ives + Young, York Structural Engineer: Tony Gee and Partners LLP, Birmingham
Contractor: Birse Rail Ltd, Birmingham Arch 18c Sponsor: Network Rail, London Architect: ADF Architecture & Design, Glasgow Contractor: Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, Redhill, Surrey Network Rail
New Bailey Street links Chapel Street in Salford the short distance across the River Irwell to the heart of Manchester, Salford’s bigger, richer and more famous twin city. However, Salford is beginning to share in the growth and regeneration that Manchester has enjoyed and this is nowhere better demonstrated than at the north end of New Bailey Street where, under the three bridges that cross the street, is situated the entrance to Salford Central Station. Last year’s Report described the history of these three bridges, erected (from south to north) by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR) in 1844 and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LYR) in 1865 and again in 1894. The station entrance is in the abutment to the west side of the bridges. The original station, on its brick viaduct, was opened on 29th May 1838 as the terminus of the Manchester, Bury & Bolton Railway (MBBR). The staged building of the bridges allowed the L&MR (on a parallel iron viaduct) to continue east in 1844 (sharing its line with the MBBR) to Manchester Victoria Station, opened at the same time by the Manchester & Leeds Railway (MLR). The MLR and MBBR became part of the LYR in 1847, which in 1865 built its own line to Victoria, creating the second bridge and adding the third when the line was duplicated in 1894. Meanwhile, the L&MR, now part of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR), transferred its terminus from Manchester Victoria to nearby Manchester Exchange, opened by the LNWR in 1884.
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
touch, the long-lost, wall mounted clock (with accompanying inscription), presented to the GWR by the Corporation of Royal Leamington Spa to commemorate the completion of the new station buildings in 1939, has been recreated. The Trust’s Chairman formally reopened the restored ticket hall at a ceremony on 23rd May 2008. Sponsor: Chiltern Railways, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Engineer: Ian Harban Consulting Engineers, Banbury, Oxfordshire
Contractor: Geoffrey Osborne Property Services, Redhill, Surrey
Richard Horne
better, the plaster wall finish was found to have been applied over the original sandstone wall tiles, laid in a very Art Deco pattern of alternating stripes of width and colour, above a substantial granite plinth. Painstaking removal of the plaster revealed most of this tiling to be complete and this has been fully restored, with but a handful of new matching tiles being necessary to finish the works. The many holes that had been drilled in the walls were carefully ‘touched out’ by a local artist. The Trust gave a second grant towards the cost of this unanticipated work. As a finishing
LEAMINGTON SPA STATION
Richard Horne (all four)
The splendid white Portland stone Art Deco station (listed Grade II) that graces Leamington Spa was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1939. It replaced a timber predecessor, opened by the Birmingham & Oxford Junction Railway on 1st October 1852, which was always unprepossessing and, after some 70 years, had become dilapidated and certainly quite inappropriate as a gateway to genteel Royal Leamington Spa. The Trust has given several grants towards minor improvements at the station, but this year has helped Chiltern Railways in its major scheme to completely restore the ticket hall, while significantly altering the layout to allow for the installation of ticket barriers and a new ticket office. The scheme has restored and replicated, where necessary, original details and materials but with new terrazzo tile flooring, modern lighting and ticket office windows. The suspended ceiling was removed, exposing the original beams but, even
Above right: Refurbished ticket hall showing new ticket office and (inset) detail of clock Right: Restored wall tiling Inset: Newly installed GWR style running in board, funded by the Trust in 2006/07
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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
J W Armstrong, Ian Allan Library
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
DARLINGTON: NORTH ROAD STATION: DARLINGTON RAILWAY CENTRE & MUSEUM Last year’s Report noted that, although opened in 1825, the pioneer Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) had a succession of stations in Darlington, the present one not being opened until 1842. It lies just to the west of Northgate, crossed on the level until bridged in 1856. The new station was at the centre of a complex of buildings, several of which survive, including the goods depot of 1833 and the carriage repair shops of 1853 (where the steam locomotive ‘Tornado’ has just been built; a modernised version of British Rail’s A1 class ‘Pacifics’). The neo-classical station
building (now listed Grade II*), designed by John Harris, was originally single storey; a central block flanked by two wings. The centre was increased to two storeys with a shallow hipped slate roof with fine coupled chimneys. The train shed, on the north side, was extended in 1853 with a smaller carriage shed added
Below: Restored platform paving. Roofs repaired and reslated in 2006/07 Above: North Road Station in its heyday
in 1861 and it is the latter that now forms the operational station, but reduced to a single track. In 1974 the station was leased to Darlington Borough Council for 200 years, becoming the Darlington Railway Centre & Museum. Repairs, including reslating of the train shed roofs, were described in last year’s Report. Now complete (although a set-back was the theft of the lead flashings), they were followed by a major scheme led by the Council in a partnership with the Trust, English Heritage, ERDF and the Heritage Lottery Fund, to completely refurbish and reorder the museum internally to meet modern needs, with the neglected external platform areas at each end repaired and brought into use. The Trust’s contribution helped with the rebuilding and resurfacing, with retrieved flagstones, of the eastern platform. This was faced by a verandah, supported on cast iron columns, along the rear of the station’s east wing. Somewhat neglected, this verandah has been refurbished and glazed to form an enclosed access route to conference and children’s activity rooms within the station building. The revitalised museum was reopened on Easter Saturday 2008 and will be not only a focus for displaying and archiving the history, both local and regional, of the North Eastern Railway (successor to the S&DR), but also an educational and research centre as well as a tourist attraction in its own right. Sponsor: Darlington Borough Council, Darlington, Co Durham
Architect: Scott Wilson, Middlesbrough Structural Engineer: Billinghurst George & Partners, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees
Contractor: Newton Moor Construction, Meadowfield, Co Durham
Unsurprisingly, Scarborough’s magnificent and relatively early (1845) station, built by the York & North Midland Railway (absorbed into the North Eastern Railway (NER) from 1854), has received 11 grants from the Trust since 1986. Not only does the station display distinctive architectural elements from the 1840s, but it also holds reminders of that past era when all holiday travel was by train, with its
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
large number of platforms and its exceptionally long platform 1 for excursion traffic (with its separate station building and what is reputed to Below: Falsgrave Signal Box overseeing departures from Scarborough in 1953 R C Hodge, Ian Allan Library
SCARBOROUGH: FALSGRAVE SIGNAL BOX
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be the largest platform seat in the world). Near the end of this platform, beyond the Belgrave Terrace overbridge and out of sight of the station, lies Falsgrave Signal Box. One of the largest surviving Edwardian boxes, its timber superstructure, with slate roof, stands on a brick base. Along the front are eight windows, each with 24 panes, ranged equally either side of a central balcony. The windows return across the ends, with steps to the entrance on the west end. Built in 1908, it is a standard NER type S4 box, with 120 levers in a
REVIEW OF PROJECTS The restored signal box and listed signal gantry
McKenzie & Holland type 16 frame with tappet interlocking. The box is listed Grade II, as is the station, so the Trust was delighted to aid Network Rail in its excellent restoration of the box, both inside and out. As a finishing touch, the box has been repainted in the old British Rail, North Eastern Region’s distinctive colours of pale blue and white. Immediately outside the box is a lattice signal gantry spanning (originally) four tracks and this, too, is listed. Sponsor: Network Rail London North Eastern, York
Contractor: Construction Marine Ltd, Leeds, West
PITLOCHRY STATION
served via a hatch with sliding windows and a heavy shutter, was a shop unit. Latterly this has been used by a charity, the Pitlochry Station Bookshop. The Trust was delighted to give a modest grant to allow the hatch to be converted into an attractive shop window and the solid entrance door to have four glazed panels inserted in it, to make it far more welcoming. This has added charm to what was already a delightful building, in turn complemented by the elegant timber waiting room, with slate roof, on the down platform (reached by a delicate lattice footbridge) and the continued presence of a signal box at the north end of the station.
Richard Horne
Richard Horne
Pitlochry lies some 55 miles south of Aviemore (see page 8) on the former Highland Railway (HR) main line, just north of the erstwhile branch to Aberfeldy. Opened concurrent with the line on 1st June 1863 by the HR’s predecessor, the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway, the station was on a crossing loop with the main building on the upside. Single storey and constructed of rubblestone with ashlar dressings, slate roofs and tall chimneys, its crowstepped gables and stone mullioned windows were the epitome of Scottish Victorian architecture. This was highly
Richard Horne
Yorkshire
appropriate, for with Queen Victoria’s physician praising the healthy properties of the local climate, Pitlochry rapidly developed as a tourist resort. Between the two gabled pavilions facing the platform was a covered area, or verandah, supported on four cast iron columns on its outer edge. Under this,
Above: The original 1863 building. The bookshop is under the canopy Right: The new bookshop window Above right: The Trust’s Executive Director and PA browsing
Sponsor: Pitlochry Station Bookshop, Pitlochry, Perth & Kinross
Contractor: D Saint, Pitlochry, Perth & Kinross
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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Although the Manchester & Leeds Railway (part of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LYR) from 1847) opened its line between Sowerby Bridge and Mirfield in 1844, it was over 30 years before the LYR constructed a 1½ mile branch from it, south to Stainland. This ran from a junction at North Dean (renamed Greetland & North Dean in 1883 and plain Greetland in 1897) and was opened on 1st January 1875. There were but two intermediate stations on the line, Rochdale Road Halt and West Vale. The line closed to passengers in September 1929 (probably as it was paralleled by Halifax Corporation’s Stainland tram route) and to freight a year later. Even in this short life, the terminus was renamed from Stainland to Stainland & Holywell Green in 1892. Shortly after leaving the main line, the branch was carried over two main roads and a river at West Vale on a 190 metre long, 13 arch sandstone viaduct, gracefully curved at its north end. It is now listed Grade II. The design was simple and bold: semi-circular headed arches with a prominent protruding
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
Above: The span over Stainland Road Inset: Early morning view from the east
stone course running below the parapet, finished with curved rusticated coping stones. Although disused for over 80 years, the viaduct had remained in amazingly good condition save for the trackbed, which was totally overgrown. It has been taken over from BRB (Residuary) Ltd by Sustrans and will become part of Route 66 on the National Cycle Network. To enable this to happen, the Trust joined the charity Sustrans in a partnership that included Calderdale Council and the DfT, to undertake over £150,000 of recovery work. This included removal of the trackbed vegetation, provision of a sealed bitumen macadam surface with renewed or repaired drainage and erection of traditional steel railings on top of the parapets to give a safe overall height of nearly seven feet. So, after nearly 80 years of disuse, the viaduct will once again serve the community that it has overshadowed for so long. Sponsor: BRB (Residuary) Ltd, London Engineer: Calderdale Council Engineering Services, Halifax, West Yorkshire
Contractor: Sustrans Ltd, Leeds, West Yorkshire
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CROMFORD STATION Cromford, in the Peak District, is famous as it was here in 1771 that Sir Richard Arkwright built the first successful cotton spinning mill and the complex that evolved from that is now a World Heritage Site. Railways reached this hilly area relatively early when, on 4th June 1849, the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock & Midlands Junction Railway (MBM&MJR), intending to link the East Midlands with Manchester, opened its line north from the North Midland Railway at Ambergate, but reached only as far as Rowsley. From 1852 the line was leased jointly by the Midland (MR) and London & North Western Railways and ultimately reached Manchester in 1867, the MBM&MJR part of the line being absorbed by the MR in 1871. Below: Southbound MR express passing Cromford National Railway Museum
WEST VALE VIADUCT
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Cromford’s original station was a temporary wooden affair, but from 1855 it was rebuilt in a striking and delightful French style, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton’s son-in-law and assistant G H Stokes. First came the château-like, stone station master’s house, on the hillside above the station, followed by the small upside waiting room, also in stone with a steeply pitched slate roof and steeple turret. Later again, c1860, came the main building on the downside, a pleasant building in a similar style but simpler and by a lesser hand that Stokes’. Built of the same warm sandstone, its slate roof, with hipped ends, had a raised central section that carried a porch over the entrance doorway, cantilevered on decorative cast iron brackets. At the north end was a flat roof extension for the gentlemen’s toilets. The platform canopy, carried on ornate bracket cast iron columns, has thankfully survived, as has the classic MR curved lattice footbridge. With the former Manchester main line now singled and terminated at Matlock, only the main building remains in railway ownership. Latterly used as accommodation for Scouts (although listed Grade II, the interior was
WROXHAM SIGNAL BOX
effectively ruined, save for some original decorative ceiling plaster, hidden above suspended ceilings), it had become disused and derelict, with the forecourt totally overgrown. The Trust joined in a partnership to enable the Arkwright Society to take over the building on a long term lease from Network Rail and completely refurbish it, with grants in both this and the coming year, initially for use as two offices (to be let by the Society), but ultimately to be used as a gateway to the World Heritage Site. The interiors are totally modern, save for 50 lever frame. Redundant due to electric resignalling of the line, the box, the cause of a signal sighting problem and being close to the line, needed to be demolished or moved. The former not being an option, it was to be taken over by the Wroxham Signalbox Trust (WST) once moved further away from the line, to become a museum, strategically placed next to the terminus of the Below: Now bodily moved, the signal box awaits restoration. At left is the rebuilt lamp room
Richard Horne
The line from Norwich, through Wroxham to North Walsham was built by the East Norfolk Railway, but worked from the outset by the Great Eastern Railway (GER). Although construction commenced in 1865, it was nine years, with many troubles, before the line finally opened on 20th October 1874. Extended to the sea at Cromer in 1877, it was absorbed into the GER in 1881. History repeats itself, for our Report for 2004/05 described the preliminary repair work carried out to Wroxham Signal Box (adjacent to the correctly, but confusingly, named Hoveton & Wroxham Station). Listed Grade II, it is an all timber building with a slate roof, being a typical GER type 7 box, built in 1900, housing a McKenzie & Holland
Above: Work commenced on renovating the main building, on the northbound (down) platform
restoration of the remaining decorative ceilings. The major design feature of interest has been the introduction of a ‘turret’ over the former gentlemen’s toilet; glazed on all four sides, with a pyramidal slate roof, it incorporates a mezzanine gallery. Thus, within a glorious setting, and mindful of the green credentials of rail travel, conservation of Britain’s industrial and railway past have been brought together. Sponsor: Arkwright Society Ltd, Cromford, Derbyshire
Architect: Mansel Architects, Belper, Derbyshire Contractor: Arkwright Society Building Team, Cromford, Derbyshire
narrow gauge Bure Valley Railway (BVR) (on the trackbed of the former line to County School). Achieving this has been akin to the building of the line, but three years on it can be reported (with a sigh) that with the help of a grant from the Trust, Network Rail finally slid the original box along concrete beams, laid for the purpose, both away from the line and then south (to accommodate the terminus arrangements of the BVR). In so doing, the adjacent brick lamp room had to be demolished, but this has been faithfully rebuilt, brick for brick. The Trust has already given a grant to the WST for the coming year to enable it to fully restore the box and landscape the surround. Sponsor: Network Rail MP&I, London
Engineer: Richard Jackson plc, Ipswich, Suffolk
Contractor: Kier Rail East Anglia, Chelmsford, Essex
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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
CHESTER STATION The great length of Chester Station, opened on 1st August 1848, was due to it being the meeting and interchange point of four railways, with the attendant need for numerous through and bay platforms. The London & North Western and Chester & Holyhead (C&HR) Railways formed the trunk route from London to Holyhead, while the Great Western Railway ran in from Shrewsbury, to the south, and the Birkenhead, Lancashire & Cheshire Junction Railway entered from the north east. In his design for the station (now listed Grade II*), Francis Thompson (architect to the C&HR) created, at 1,050 feet, a long two storey frontage building, constructed in a Venetian style using dark red bricks and stone dressings (some with fine carvings). The centre section was flanked by projecting pavilions, each surmounted by a purely ornamental further storey of open turrets and filigree stone balustrades. Beyond these lay more offices, terminating in colonnaded train sheds
Above: Spectacular architectural floodlighting to the frontage Below: The completed Station Square Below right: In the 1930s
over bay platforms. Behind this façade, the station was covered by a series of glazed iron train sheds, designed by C H Wild. The station has undergone many changes and reductions (especially to the train sheds) but still forms a fine architectural entity. A useful, but unfortunate, addition was the enlargement of the central section of the forecourt canopy, using ‘standard’ Victorian components, out of keeping with the classical simplicity of the original. The station is currently the subject of a number of on-going and proposed schemes which are being co-ordinated as part of the Chester Station Gateway Project. The floodlighting scheme for the frontage, described in our Report for 2005/06, has, with a further grant from the Trust, finally been completed and the effect is (as anticipated) dramatic. The Trust has also, with three grants, helped
fund production of a conservation management plan, a feasibility study for reuse of the east wing and a services assessment for the station as a whole. However, a more significant grant, with a more tangible outcome, contributed to the complete reordering and reconstruction of the square in front of the station. Costing nearly £1.5 million and managed by Cheshire County Council (although the Trust’s grant was made to the City Council), the scheme has not only improved vehicular flows, but increased and made more safe the areas of pedestrian circulation. High quality materials have been used throughout with Yorkstone paving in key pedestrian areas, together with new lighting, bollards and minimal but well designed signing. The result has been to transform a large expanse of asphalt into a welcoming urban space. Meanwhile, Arriva Trains Wales (the train operating company) has been carrying out a far-reaching and fundamental reconstruction of the concourse, with new ticketing and retailing facilities designed in an uncompromisingly modern manner. It is intended that the improvements be extended to include the footbridge, island platforms and long arcaded brick walls; all schemes with which the Trust is already involved.
Richard Horne collection
Chester City Council
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Station Square Sponsor: Cheshire County Council, Chester Engineer: Cheshire County Council Engineering Service, Chester
Contractor: A E Yates Ltd, Bolton, Lancashire Architectural Lighting Sponsor: Chester City Council, Chester Designer: Lighting Design Partnership International, Edinburgh
Contractor: Edmund Nuttall Ltd, Winsford, Cheshire
Conservation Management Plan & Services Assessment Sponsor: Chester City Council, Chester Architect: Building Design Partnership, Manchester
East Wing Feasibility Study Sponsor: Network Rail Commercial Property, Manchester
Surveyor: Drivers Jonas LLP, Manchester
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
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REVIEW OF PROJECTS
MIDDLESBROUGH STATION
Below: The infill building, complete except for stone mouldings around the windows. The artists’ studios will be in the building to the left Richard Horne
When the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) opened its station at Middlesbrough in December 1830, it effectively created the world’s first ‘railway town’. Rapid growth led to the station being replaced in 1846 and again in 1877 (following absorption of the S&DR into the North Eastern Railway) by the present magnificent
neo-Gothic station, designed by William Peachey and now listed Grade II. Two major events in the station’s life were loss of the high glazed train shed to a single bomb from a Luftwaffe Dornier 217 in April 1942 and the post-war
insertion, into the main frontage, of Zetland House, a non-descript four storey office block. Last year’s Report described in detail the demolition of this office block and replacement by an infill which, although modern, cleverly echoes features of the original building and is clad in a matching golden sandstone. Completion of the scheme has been somewhat protracted and was aided by a second grant from the Trust. Immediately adjacent, to the west, is the now empty former parcels office and the Trust has given a grant in 2008/09 to Middlesbrough Council to convert this into artists’ studios and workshops. This will be fully described in next year’s Report, but further improvements to customer facilities at the station, such as the provision of lifts to the subway, indicate that the Trust will be adding to the 12 grants it has already made since 1985. Sponsor: Network Rail London North Eastern, York
Architect: Atkins, Warrington, Cheshire Contractor: C Spencer Ltd, Barrow-uponHumber, North Lincolnshire
ST ALBANS SOUTH SIGNAL BOX
Above: The signal box completely restored externally Below: In LMS days St Albans SBPT
Last year’s Report described the on-going work of the St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust to restore this fine example of a Midland Railway (MR) signal box. Built in 1892, but subsequently extended, it is a standard MR type 2a box, with a 1906 MR tumbler interlocking frame of 44 levers. The only significant alteration to the box was the fitting, post-war, of a small timber toilet, projecting from the south end at first floor level. Closed in 1979, the box had become seriously dilapidated. A storm practically removed the toilet, a task completed by the Preservation Trust, which has now, with the help of a further grant from the Trust, effectively completed repairs to the exterior of the box, reinstallation of the timber stair and complete repainting. The grounds, transformed from a waste tip to a garden, are already maturing and work on refitting the interior with appropriate signalling equipment is well under way, as is refurbishment of the lever frame itself. With a formal opening
ceremony at Easter 2008, the Preservation Trust has demonstrated how much can be achieved in a relatively short time and to a high standard, by a mix of contractors and dedicated volunteers. Sponsor: St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust, St Albans, Hertfordshire
Structural Engineer: The Morton Partnership, London
Contractor: Richardson Builders Ltd, St Albans, Hertfordshire
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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
LUNE VIADUCT The line from Skipton to Low Gill, on what is now the West Coast Main Line, was planned to link Yorkshire’s West Riding with the west of Scotland. Opened by the ‘Little’ North Western Railway at its southern end as far as Ingleton in 1849, it was not completed throughout until September 1861. The major section, north of Ingleton, was built by the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway but leased and then owned by the London & North Western Railway, while the Midland Railway (MR) leased the
Derek Cross, G Biddle collection
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
(for those interested) more details of the complex history of the southern end of the line, together with an account of the restoration work carried out on the Ingleton Viaduct. This year the Trust has helped BRB (Residuary) Ltd repair the very different Lune Viaduct near Sedbergh, scenically located below the Howgill Fells at the northern end of the line. Designed by J E Errington and built by Coulthard & Allen, its distinctive feature was a spectacular, central, four rib cast iron arch, of 124 feet span, carrying the line 100 feet above the River Lune. The open iron spandrels consisted of two tiers of Gothic arcading. Either side of this arch, the 177 yards long viaduct consisted of three semicircular red sandstone arches. The £205,000 repair work consisted of three main components: the usual and prosaic waterproofing and drainage repairs, vegetation removal and masonry repairs (much of which was repointing, carried out from suspended cradles) and gritblasting and repainting the cast iron arches. These were surrounded by suspended scaffolding, but only one third was encapsulated at a time, to prevent wind on such a large area of sheeting applying excessive lateral forces on the structure. With the central arch devoid of decking, security fencing prevents access to the structure (and deters the more fool-hardy extreme sports enthusiasts). Repaired and with the cast iron repainted, the viaduct will long enhance the drama of its natural setting.
southern part. A spirit of non-cooperation between these two companies, together with the MR opening its more direct Settle & Carlisle route to Scotland in 1876, reduced the line’s status such that it became known as the ‘Ingleton Branch’, which closed on 26th July 1966. The Trust’s Report of 2000/01 gave
Above: The restored viaduct Inset: The cast iron span Top: School special on the viaduct in 1964
Sponsor: BRB (Residuary) Ltd, London Engineer: Jacobs, York Contractor: Raynesway Construction Ltd, Paisley, Renfrewshire
One of several lines reopened to passenger services in recent years is the Robin Hood Line, running from Nottingham to Worksop and reopened in stages from 1993 to 1998. For the greater part of its length it follows the former Midland Railway (MR) line of 1875, although for a short distance it uses the former Great Northern Railway line that ran parallel for much of the way. The station building at Shirebrook, some two-thirds of the way north from Nottingham (and near the erstwhile Shirebrook Colliery), has survived but is
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
now disused and in a poor state of repair. Of typically charming MR design, it is built of stone with a slate roof and tall chimneys, with twin gables on the platform side flanking a covered waiting area. At the rear is a simple central gable Below: Mansfield to Worksop local train at Shirebrook in 1964 Ian Allan Library
SHIREBROOK STATION
and on the north end a lower single storey extension. The only major loss is the ornate fretwork to the barge boards. As part of the Strategic Partnership Market Towns Initiative, Bolsover District Council has, with help from the Trust, commissioned a feasibility study to convert the building into accommodation for a number of start-up or growing, existing businesses. We hope to be able to report in the future on a successful outcome to this initiative. Sponsor: Bolsover District Council, Bolsover, Derbyshire
Architect: Potts Parry Ives + Young, York
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Jim Cornell (both)
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
ARISAIG STATION
Above: Refurbished waiting room Inset: The listed station building on the downside
Past issues of the Trust’s Annual Report have described work to some of the Swiss Chalet style stations on the North British Railway’s (NBR) West Highland line (WHL), opened in 1894 from Helensburgh (on the Clyde) to Fort William (on Loch Linnhe). This year attention has turned to the NBR’s West Highland Extension, carrying the line westward to the open sea at Mallaig. Built by Robert McAlpine, who achieved
fame, a baronetcy and the sobriquet ‘Concrete Bob’ for his use of concrete for the bridges and viaducts (longest of the latter being the gracefully curved one at Glenfinnan), the line opened on 1st April 1901. The stations, although retaining the hipped slate roofs with a wide overhang on the platform side, complete with glazed windscreens, are far more prosaic
than those on the WHL, being built of rendered brickwork. At Arisaig, last but one station before reaching Mallaig, there is a passing loop with the station building (listed Category B) on the downside. The ensemble of buildings includes an adjacent signal box (now disused due to the use of radio signalling and, necessarily, boarded up) and a small enclosed weather boarded timber waiting shelter on the upside. This building, with mono-pitch roof and glazed front wall was in need of repair and repainting so the Trust, in partnership with the Highland Rail Partnership (HRP) and First ScotRail, funded its restoration. Although a modest scheme, such work is a necessary part of maintaining the line, serving both its remote communities and tourism, in good order. The HRP is already negotiating to take a lease of the presently unused part of the station building, for use as a cycle hire business and hopes, with the help of the Trust, to renovate the signal box. Sponsor: First ScotRail, Glasgow Contractor: George Morrison Ltd, Inverness
MORPETH STATION The Newcastle & Berwick Railway (N&BR) (now part of the East Coast Main Line) employed the Newcastle architect, Benjamin Green, to design its stations. He provided one of the finest array of buildings on any British line, all except Berwick being Tudor in design, with three basic types related to size and plan form, but with no two alike. The station at Morpeth, some 16 miles from the south end of the line, was of the superior design and was opened, with the line, on 1st March 1847. Built of a honey coloured, finely dressed stone, with a slate roof, the frontage consisted of a central two storey section with two gabled pavilions flanking a small central gable, with a range of single storey rooms on either side. The original entrance, through a three bay arcade in the south west pavilion, sported an oriel window above it. A subsequent addition was a glazed canopy between the pavilions. Although listed Grade II, the station facilities and access now use only the south west end of the building, with the remainder being disused. A tenant who
Above: The station front. The restaurant will occupy the two storey central section and single storey wing beyond it
already runs a successful restaurant at Corbridge Station is to convert the disused accommodation into a restaurant. As a precursor, the Trust has joined with Network Rail and Northern Rail to carry out roof repairs prior to the tenant carrying out his work, for which the Trust has also offered help. It is
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gratifying that this delightful building is being brought back into use, for it forms part of a rare complex of historic buildings: the North Eastern Railway (successor to the N&BR) goods shed remains, and across the forecourt is the 1864 former terminus of the Blyth & Tyne Railway (now a freight only branch). Sponsor: Northern Rail Ltd, York Contractor: JMD Developments (UK) Ltd, Wetherby, West Yorkshire
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
Above: The reinstated section of wall Above left: Detail of new relocated and recessed rainwater pipe Below left: New stone window Below: The up platform in 1955
The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) probably had more admirers, relative to its size, than any other British railway company. This may have been due to its compactness; a local railway but also sharing main line duties with the London & North Western Railway on Manchester express trains. Its station architecture was of a high standard with several designed in a Jacobean style by the architect H A Hunt. Stoke-onTrent Station, company headquarters, was the grandest example: of two and three storeys with tall chimneys and elaborate gables. The walls are of red brick with diaper work and stone dressings, while the roofs are of alternating bands of red and blue tiles. The NSR’s close links with Stoke-onTrent allowed it to create a civic space, Winton Square, with its North Stafford Hotel, also Jacobean style, facing the
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
Gordon Biddle
STOKE-ON-TRENT STATION
station. Both buildings are listed Grade II* and the square is in a Conservation Area. Opened on 17th April 1848, on a branch from Norton Bridge on the Grand Junction Railway, the station was briefly a terminus, before lines were opened to Crewe and Burton later that same year. Since 1992 the Trust has given several grants towards repairs to the station roofs, the ridge and furrow glazed train shed roof and, lastly, to the Virgin Trains scheme which completely reorganised and improved, in a stylish manner, the passenger and staff facilities. However, the work did not include replacement of a large and unsightly old bookstall that not only protruded from the building onto the main (up) platform, but in its construction had removed a substantial part of the ornate brick wall. This has now been removed and the Trust contributed to a like-for-like
reinstatement of the original wall, complete with stone Tudor arch door and window and reinstatement vertically of one of the rainwater pipes that the bookstall had caused to be diverted diagonally across the face of the building. These rainwater pipes are an example of the care taken in the original detailing of the building, for they are of rectangular section, recessed flush in the wall. This project included provision of a new and larger retail unit in a former conference room and refurbishment of the standard class lounge. The suspended ceiling was removed, exposing an array of riveted beams and brackets made from bulkhead rail that are now interesting features. The adjacent station supervisors’ office was also refurbished, as were the public toilets. Ironically, due to delays concerning removal of the fire alarm, the new retail unit has not yet been brought into use and, as a temporary measure, a catering kiosk has been placed on the platform, thus reinstating the very feature the scheme set out to remove. Hopefully, this will soon be resolved and the station will then appear more pristine than it has for nearly a century. Sponsor: Virgin Trains, London Architect: Studio M.A.D. Ltd, London Contractor: Galliford Try Water & Rail, Warrington, Cheshire
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REVIEW OF PROJECTS
TWO STATION CLOCKS: PADDOCK WOOD AND TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Richard Horne
(first floor) level. Designed by A W Blomfield, it completely overshadows the original building, being a monumental Edwardian structure of red brick with a stone parapet. The ticket hall was entered through large arched openings and the steeply sloping, hipped tiled roof was surmounted by a decorative clock tower, with clock faces on all four sides. Latterly, not only did the clock not work, but the faces had been inappropriately painted, so the Trust was pleased, once again, to help Southeastern, together with Network Rail, carry out repairs to the clock tower and commission Gillett & Johnson to repair the clock. Located on the busy High Street, this truly is a public clock and of benefit to the town itself.
building (listed Grade II), immediately south of Mount Pleasant Tunnel, lay on the west side facing a retaining wall supporting the High Street on the east. In 1851 it became a through station with the opening of the SER’s main line from Charing Cross to Hastings. In 1911 the South Eastern & Chatham Railway (since 1899 joint manager of the SER and the London, Chatham & Dover Railway) erected a high building between the High Street and platform on the east side, with the entrance at street Above: Tunbridge Wells Station clock tower Below: Paddock Wood Station platform clock Right: The ‘Golden Arrow’ passing Paddock Wood in the 1950s
Paddock Wood Clock Sponsor: Action with Communities in Rural Kent, Folkestone, Kent
Clock Repair: Gillett & Johnson, Croydon, Surrey Tunbridge Wells Clock Sponsor: Southeastern, London Clock Repair: Gillett & Johnson, Croydon, Surrey
Derek Cross, Ian Allan Library
On 31st May 1842 the South Eastern Railway (SER) opened its long (and almost straight) line eastwards from Redhill (on the London & Brighton Railway’s main line of 1841) to Ashford, reaching its goal of the port at Dover the following year. A key station on the line was Tonbridge. Next station to the east was at Paddock Wood. When opened there were no dwellings, for it served Maidstone (some eight miles to the north) and was appropriately named Maidstone Road. It was renamed Paddock Wood in 1844, when a line was opened to Maidstone, and its importance increased further when it also became the junction for the Hawkhurst branch to the south, opened in 1893 (and closed in 1961). The original two storey station building (now demolished) was on the north side of the line, but the present station building, an attractive but much smaller ‘tee’ shaped red brick structure, with elegant arch headed sash windows and a hipped slate roof, lies on the south side of the line and it may well date from this later period. The line was quadrupled through the station, so the platforms faced each other across four tracks and are linked by a lattice footbridge. The platforms themselves were double sided, with bays for the two diverging lines (that on the south side now removed), but the long canopies, with gracefully curved iron roofs, pairs of cast iron columns and fretted valances, have survived. On the platform side of the station building was a wall mounted, double faced clock (still lettered S.E.R.) in a Vfronted timber cabinet. Recently this had ceased to work and the Trust was pleased to join with Southeastern (the train operating company) and Action with Communities in Rural Kent to have the clock repaired and the cabinet restored and repainted. Fortuitously, the clock’s original maker, Gillett & Johnson of Croydon, still exists and (at the Trust’s suggestion) tendered for and won the contract to effect repairs. The SER opened a branch south from Tonbridge to the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells on 25th November 1846. The two storey Italianate station
SWINDON: ‘BRUNEL ERA’ DRAWINGS CONSERVATION The Trust continued to meet the ongoing cost of employing a conservator at Swindon to help Network Rail in the daunting task of cleaning and repairing its priceless collection of Great Western Railway ‘Brunel Era’ drawings. As many of the drawings relate to stations and structures that are now nonoperational, a portion of the Trust’s grant has come from BRB (Residuary) Ltd sponsorship. Sponsors: Network Rail HQ, London BRB (Residuary) Ltd, London
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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
WORCESTER SHRUB HILL STATION
Network Rail
Not for nothing was the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR) known as the ‘Old Worse and Worse’, for the history of its construction and operation was one of over-optimism, underestimation of costs, effect of collapsing financial markets and alliances made and broken. As a result, its station buildings were, by and large, timber ones, many of which were later rebuilt in brick by the Great Western Railway (GWR) which (originally an enemy, until a rapprochement in 1858) completely took over the OWWR in 1863. Worcester Shrub Hill Station was opened in 1850, but was apparently rebuilt by the GWR in 1865, for it is a substantial structure (now listed Grade II*). The large neo-classical frontage building is faced, somewhat incongruously, in blue engineering bricks and originally had a train shed spanning the platforms (replaced by steel canopies in the 1930s). The Trust’s interest (and grant), however, has focussed on two quite unique buildings on the northbound platform; a pair of ornate waiting rooms made from cast iron, infilled with mosaic tile faced brickwork. The cast ironwork, incorporating pairs of coupled round top windows in each modular panel, encompasses three sides of each room, as these were built through openings made in the platform rear wall, with new brick backs to them. The origin of these buildings is not known, but they appear to have been relocated to Shrub Hill c1910, possibly from Spetchley or Droitwich Road Stations. The ironwork clearly shows its manufacture by the Vulcan Iron Works, Worcester. Likewise, inlaid brass lettering proclaims that the tiling was the product of the world famous Maw & Co, Benthall Works, Broseley, Salop. (Customers for its mosaic tiles, patented in 1862, included royalty and at the end of the 19th century the tile works were the largest in
Although the fine Grade I listed Huddersfield Station has received several grants over the last 20 years, this year the Trust has contributed to a far more humble scheme, the restoration of a tenancy under the viaduct that takes the line to Leeds, north west from the station. Designed by A S Jee, the viaduct was constructed by the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway, which was amalgamated into the London & North Western Railway before its line opened in 1847. Widened from two to four tracks in 1883, the viaduct was 53 feet high and consisted of 45 rock faced segmental arches of 30 feet span, with a 53 feet skewed span. Unsurprisingly, it runs alongside Viaduct Street (once route of a single track tramway, first steam then electric, leading to the now demolished depot in nearby Great Northern Street).
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
Arch 23 contained a derelict (but listed!) tenancy, with a stone wall facing Viaduct Street and a brick one facing the (unprepossessing) area at the rear. Network Rail, having provided a fine array of new glazed tenancies in the arches either side of 23 (which previously were simply awful), refurbished the latter. The interior, front and rear walls were completely demolished, the new walls using as much reclaimed material as possible. With a modern shop front and stylish mezzanine to the interior, the arch has been completely transformed, happily complementing its fully glazed neighbours, and now awaits a tenant. Sponsor: Network Rail, London Designer: Network Rail MP&I Estates (Design), London
Contractor: A J Loveland Ltd, Rotherham, South Yorkshire Right: Worcester Shrub Hill Station waiting room in 1983
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Gordon Biddle
HUDDERSFIELD: ARCH 23 VIADUCT STREET
REVIEW OF PROJECTS
NORTH QUEENSFERRY STATION
Richard Horne
Although the opening of the iconic Forth Railway Bridge on 5th March 1890 linked two North British Railway (NBR) lines, the bridge and approach lines were owned by the Forth Bridge Railway Company (FBR). This was a joint venture of the three companies that constituted the East Coast Main Line (NBR, North Eastern Railway and Great Northern Railway) together with the Midland Railway. So it was that Dalmeny and North Queensferry Stations (on the south and north approaches to the bridge, respectively), although on the FBR’s line, were built to NBR designs and were effectively NBR stations. The main building on the upside at North Queensferry (listed Category B), which remains as built, was of timber
Above: Repair work nearing completion
Sponsor: Network Rail Western, Swindon Contractor: Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, Redhill, Surrey Tile Manufacturer: Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd,
Sponsor: North Queensferry Station Trust, North Below: North Queensferry Station looking north Inset: The footbridge constructed from bullhead rail
Queensferry, Fife
Feasibility Study: Oliver & Robb Architects, Dunfermline
Richard Horne (both)
the world.) Such ‘advertising’ might suggest that the buildings originally served some promotional purpose and date from c1865. Being an addition to the platforms, it seems that inadequate foundations were provided causing severe settlement at the north end of the south waiting room which led to cracking of the cast ironwork. In addition, there had been water penetration of ceilings as well as damage and ageing to some of the tiles. After several years of concern for their deteriorating condition, Network Rail has undertaken a substantial scheme to completely renovate the tiles and cast iron, cure the structural problems (including provision of a new reinforced concrete floor to the south waiting room) and eliminate water penetration. This has necessitated controlled dismantling of tile faced brickwork in some areas. Maw & Co was taken over by H & R Johnson Tiles Ltd in 1970 (and its works closed), but manufacture of its mosaic tiles continued, latterly by Maw Tiles. This firm was to have provided replacement tiles, but went into receivership, whereupon Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd, of the Jackfield Tile Museum at Ironbridge Gorge agreed to take on the work (but with the inevitable delay to the scheme’s completion). Painting of the cast ironwork has been carried out using the original colours, these having been determined by scientific paint analysis, funded as part of a grant from the Trust as long ago as 1990. The finished result is excellent and Network Rail should be congratulated for carrying out such fine conservation work on a unique structure.
construction, with exposed framing, arched doorways in the gabled south end and a flat canopy with a prettily fretted valance. The footbridge, interestingly, was constructed from old bullhead rail on which can still be read the rolling mark ‘1880 NB’. The building is currently disused (and internally in need of some repair) so the Trust joined with the North Queensferry Station Trust in funding a feasibility study to look at possible future use as a visitor and heritage centre that would include exhibition, educational, meeting room and catering facilities. A potential use would be the transference there of the collection of the Forth Bridge Visitor Centre Trust which is currently homeless. With a likely scheme cost of some £200,000, there is clearly a long way to go before any scheme becomes a reality. But a start has been made.
NATIONAL RAILWAY HERITAGE AWARDS The Railway Heritage Trust Conservation Award for 2007 was won by Network Rail for the restoration of the New Bailey Street Bridges in Salford, as described in the Trust’s Reports for this year and 2006/07. In addition, the following projects to which the Trust gave grants also received other National Railway Heritage Awards: Falsgrave Signal Box (Network Rail), Sheffield Station (South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive). The ATOC Station Environment Award was won by First TransPennine Express, to which the Trust has given several grants.
Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire
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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
GRANTS AND EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS: 2007/08
NETWORK RAIL 38 projects (2006/07: 34) were supported by the Trust’s 46 grants, which totalled £1,576,643 (2006/07: £1,588,590). The grants funded repair and restoration work carried out on the heritage aspects of buildings and structures in Network Rail’s ownership. A total of nine grants were either brought forward, cancelled or deferred. BRB (RESIDUARY) LTD Three projects (2006/07: four) were supported by the Trust’s three grants, which totalled £130,000 (2006/07: £136,000). The grants assisted BRB (Residuary) Ltd in its management of non-operational buildings and structures remaining in its ownership. The structures include redundant viaducts on closed lines. One grant was deferred. The projects were: NETWORK RAIL BUDGET GRANT £
Page ENGLAND Bamber Bridge Station: Restoration & conversion for pensioners’ association 60,000 12 Barnstaple Station: Conversion of station house to restaurant (£75,000) DEFERRED 13 Camborne Station: Refurbishment & repairs 25,000 Camden: Mornington Street Bridge: Reinstatement of lamps (£1,150) DEFERRED 22 Chester Station: 2,000 – Completion of architectural lighting 6,000 – East Wing feasibility study – Station Square improvements 40,000 – Conservation management plan 14,300 – Services assessment 6,000 7 Chippenham Viaduct: Drainage improvements 20,000 15 Cottingham Station: Provision of services 16,000 20 Cromford Station: Restoration & conversion for office use 92,000 18 Darlington: North Road Station: Darlington Railway Centre & Museum: Platform repairs 50,000 9 Denham Golf Club Station: Renovation of former ticket office 14,000 Deptford Station: Restoration of viaduct (£70,000) CANCELLED Durham Station: Restoration & reordering (£100,000) BROUGHT FORWARD 5 Grimsby Town Station: Refurbishment & restoration 20,000 28 Huddersfield: Arch 23 Viaduct Street: Restoration with new shop front 40,000 6 Hull Station: – Restoration of former parcels office (£100,000) DEFERRED – Paragon Interchange restoration & redevelopment 175,000 8 Keighley Station: Platform canopy restoration 50,000 17 Leamington Spa Station: – Ticket hall restoration 91,700 – Ticket hall wall tiling restoration 5,000 24 Lune Viaduct: Painting metal span 23 Middlesbrough Station: – Replacement of Zetland House office block 67,000 – Parcels office conversion to artists’ studios (£65,000) DEFERRED 25 Morpeth Station: Roof repairs 8,730 10 Newcastle: High Level Bridge: Reinstatement of lighting columns 85,500 Nidd Viaduct: Resurfacing & drainage repairs (£40,000) 4 Nottingham Station: – Footbridge repair & restoration 65,000 – Cabmen’s shelter restoration 30,000 27 Paddock Wood Station: Repair of platform clock 1,750 11 Portslade Station: Exterior renovation 18,300 16 Salford: New Bailey Street: – Arch 18c: New tenancy shop front 15,000 – Bridges: Renovation & strengthening 65,000 18 Scarborough: Falsgrave Signal Box: Repair & restoration 45,000 24 Shirebrook Station: Feasibility study 1,500 Sowerby Bridge Station: Conversion to refreshment rooms: Legal fees 7,020
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
30
BRB (R) BUDGET GRANT £
EXTERNAL EXTERNAL CONTR’B’N CONTR’B’N NETWORK BRB (R) RAIL £ £ 211,605 (1) 150,000 (2)
3,613 (3) 0 240,000 (4) 52,818 (5) 5,000 (6) 0 0 75,152 (7) 75,000 (8) 20,128 (9)
11,612 (10) 0
257,606 (11) 73,000 (12) 190,441 (13) 5,000 (14) 80,000
0 0 8,065 (15) 57,000 (16)
DEFERRED
5,000 (17) 100,000 (18) 2,603 (19) 74,300 (20) 0 0 0 2,250 (21) 0
GRANTS AND EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS: 2007/08
Page 23 26 14 27 27 15 20
28 21
St Albans South Signal Box: Repair & restoration Stoke-on-Trent Station: Restoration & reordering Swaythling Station: Repairs & restoration Swindon: ‘Brunel Era’ Drawings Conservation: Employment of conservator (two grants) Tunbridge Wells Station: Repair of station clock Urmston Station: Restoration & conversion to restaurant West Vale Viaduct: Repair & restoration works Worcester Foregate Street Station: Restoration & conversion to artists’ studio (£20,000) Worcester Shrub Hill Station: Repair & restoration of waiting rooms Wroxham Signal Box: – Structural survey – Relocation – Repair & restoration (£15,000)
BRB (R) BUDGET GRANT
9,000 3,000 65,000
5,000
£
EXTERNAL EXTERNAL CONTR’B’N CONTR’B’N NETWORK BRB (R) RAIL £ £ 60,500 (22) 320,185 (23) 80,910 (24) 0 4,646 (25) 97,500 (26)
45,000
0
109,750 (27)
DEFERRED
30,000
0
588 70,000
0 0
DEFERRED
SCOTLAND Arisaig Station: Restoration of waiting shelter 25 Aviemore Station: Provision of transport interchange 8 11 Lanark Station: – Restoration of building for model railway club – Provision of panelled doors 9 Maxwell Park Station: Options appraisal 29 North Queensferry Station: Feasibility report 19 Pitlochry Station: Station bookshop improvements WALES Flint Station: Stage II restoration & reordering (£50,000)
NETWORK RAIL BUDGET GRANT £ 25,000 100,000 47,580
3,000 60,000
3,000 (28) 300,000 (29)
12,500 5,875 4,965 2,600 735
11,000 (30) 0 7,500 (31) 3,900 (32) 0
BROUGHT FORWARD
1,576,643 COMBINED NETWORK RAIL AND BRB (RESIDUARY) LTD BUDGETS GRANT TOTAL
130,000
2,509,334
1,706,643
COMBINED NETWORK RAIL AND BRB (RESIDUARY) LTD EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS TOTAL
External contributions were from:
109,750
2,619,084
(17) Nottingham Station: Central Trains
(1) Bamber Bridge Station: Lancashire County Council
(18) Nottingham Station: Central Trains
(2) Camborne Station: Camborne Town Council, Cornwall County Council, DfT Access for All, First Great Western
(19) Paddock Wood Station: Action with Communities in Rural Kent, Southeastern
(3) Chester Station: Chester City Council
(20) Portslade Station: Southern
(4) Chester Station: Cheshire County Council, English Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund
(21) Shirebrook Station: Strategic Partnership Market Towns Initiative (22) St Albans South Signal Box: Heritage Lottery Fund, Lafarge Aggregates, St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust
(5) Chester Station: Arriva Trains Wales, Cheshire County Council, Town Heritage Initiative
(23) Stoke-on-Trent Station: North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone, Virgin Trains
(6) Chester Station: NWDA (7) Cromford Station: The Architectural Heritage Fund, DCC/DDEP, HERS
(24) Swaythling Station: South West Trains Ltd, Southampton City Council
(8) Darlington: North Road Station: Darlington Railway Centre & Museum: English Heritage, ERDF, Heritage Lottery Fund
(25) Tunbridge Wells Station: Southeastern (26) Urmston Station: Rob Foster
(9) Denham Golf Club Station: Chiltern Railways
(27) West Vale Viaduct: Calderdale Council, Department for Transport, Section 106
(10) Grimsby Town Station: First Group (11) Hull Station: Hull City Council, ING
(28) Arisaig Station: First ScotRail, Highland Rail Partnership
(12) Keighley Station: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
(29) Aviemore Station: Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey Enterprise, Scottish Executive Public Transport Fund
(13) Leamington Spa Station: Chiltern Railways
(30) Lanark Station: Awards for All, Clyde Model Railway Club, South Lanarkshire RPREF
(14) Leamington Spa Station: Chiltern Railways (15) Morpeth Station: Northern Rail Ltd
(31) Maxwell Park Station: The Architectural Heritage Fund
(16) Newcastle: High Level Bridge: Gateshead Borough Council, Newcastle City Council
(32) North Queensferry Station: Fife Regional Council
31
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
THE TRUST’S ACCOUNTS: 2007/08
This Annual Report and Accounts covers the operations of the Railway Heritage Trust during the period 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008. Established in 1985, the Trust is an independent registered company limited by guarantee, supported by Network Rail and BRB (Residuary) Ltd, with the remit of: ■ The conservation and enhancement of buildings and structures owned by these organisations that are listed or scheduled, or of special architectural or historical interest. ■ To act as a catalyst between outside parties and these owners on the conservation and alternative use of non-operational property, including the possible transfer of responsibility to local trusts or other interested organisations. In 2007/08, the Trust awarded 49 grants towards the costs of 41 restoration and other projects. Ten grants were brought forward, deferred or cancelled.
AUDITED ACCOUNTS The Trust’s Accounts for 2007/08 were audited and approved by Price Firman, London. The audited Accounts were considered at the Trust’s Annual General Meeting held in July 2008. The Accounts were approved and adopted by the Executive Board and signed. As required by law, the signed Accounts were deposited with Companies House, accompanying the Trust’s Annual Return. Copies of the Accounts will also be presented to the Boards of both our sponsors. In their Report and Financial Statements, 31st March 2008, the Auditors stated: ‘In our opinion: the financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, of the state of the company’s affairs as at 31st March 2008 and of its result for the year then ended; the financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985; and the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the financial statements.’ Price Firman Chartered Accountants Registered Auditor London July 2008
FINANCIAL REPORT The Trust’s financial activities in 2007/08 are summarised as follows: £ FUNDING ALLOCATED TO PROJECTS By Network Rail By BRB (Residuary) Ltd EXPENDED ON PROJECTS 46 Grants to Network Rail projects 3 Grants to BRB (Residuary) Ltd projects
1,576,643 130,000 1,706,643
FUNDING FOR TRUST’S OPERATIONS From Network Rail From BRB (Residuary) Ltd
171,900 17,000
Total Income Total Expenditure – Administration
188,900 188,881
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY The rail industry can never be described as boring or uneventful. Change is a constant companion. So too is the interest and publicity which railways in the United Kingdom attract, although it is disproportionate to the relatively small percentage of the population that actually uses them. The last year has witnessed several passenger franchise changes. For the Trust, this means starting to build new relationships within the train operating companies, in particular, and looking forward to working with them to provide 21st century customer expectations whilst, also, conserving the nation’s built heritage. Despite the change environment and despite the fact that the Trust does not overtly market its services, there is clear evidence that our work is becoming more widely known. The number of approaches made by a large cross-section of interested parties continues to grow and this inevitably leads to increased opportunities for the Trust’s involvement. It is appropriate, therefore, that our main sponsor, Network Rail, has been able to award the Trust an increase in sponsorship of some 14% for 2008/09. A significant increase in interest has been in relation to redundant buildings such as signal boxes and goods sheds. Network Rail’s programme of resignalling is leading to signal boxes of historic importance becoming unused with the attendant decline in condition not helped by their attraction for vandals. The Trust is therefore more than pleased to be able to facilitate solutions for their reuse, albeit that in most instances a new location, with a railway context, is the most fitting solution. 2007/08 produced another successful year for the Trust and, in particular, witnessed significant enhancements at three stations which had suffered in the 1960s from either neglect or unsympathetic interventions. At both Hull and Middlesbrough the transformations have been very marked indeed. The Trust’s input has been much more than financial, is on-going and will produce solutions which embrace both the architectural merit of the buildings and modern customer facilities. Chester has seen the completion of the first elements of the Chester Gateway project and the Trust looks forward to continuing to support this major partnership initiative for the benefit of all who use the station and the city itself. In his statement our Chairman refers to this being Richard Horne’s last full year with the Trust and to the significant contribution Richard has made to our work. I wish to fully endorse these comments. He has brought a wide experience and knowledge of railway history to his work and his skill as author of our Annual Reports and our 21st Anniversary Book has significantly enhanced the Trust’s image throughout the rail industry and elsewhere. As the rail industry strives to deliver the nation’s expectations for an improved railway network, I believe that the Trust’s role will continue to be significant. 2008/09 again presents both challenges and opportunities which I am confident will be addressed. Jim Cornell Executive Director London July 2008
The Trust is registered in England and Wales as company number 1876790.
RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2008
1,578,100 170,000 1,748,100
32
Railway Heritage Trust 40 Melton Street, London NW1 2EE Tel: 020 7557 8598 Fax: 020 7557 9700 e-mail: rht@networkrail.co.uk