ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012/13

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012/13

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST

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ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012/13

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

Front cover: Leatherhead Station House Inside front & back covers: Network Rail Archives: Historic plans Back cover: Pitlochry Station: Macfarlane fountain

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Photography: Specially commissioned from Paul Childs at Spheroview Ltd, Tunbridge Wells, Kent Other photographs as individually credited The Trust is grateful to the following individuals and organisations for permission to publish photographs: BRB (Residuary) Ltd Davies Sutton Architects Clive Grewcock London Borough of Southwark Alastair Moseley Benedict O’Looney Architects Research and text by Andy Savage & Malcolm Wood, with assistance from Claire Pickton Design by Geoffrey Wadsley Printed in England by Kingsley Print & Design Ltd, Egham, Surrey TW20 8RF

Chairman’s Statement 3 The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt introduces the Report; notes the Trust’s continuing success in delivering improvements to the railway’s heritage infrastructure; welcomes the railway industry’s ongoing good performance; reviews a diverse programme of projects supported by the Trust across a wide geographical area, with several attracting large grants; reflects on the imminent closure of BRB (Residuary) Ltd; notes the Trust’s input with regard to the recording and renovation of railway war memorials in the lead up to the centenary of the start of the Great War; and looks ahead to next year.

Brighton Station: Detail of refurbished window

Review of Projects 4-29 Reports on the Trust’s grant-aided projects, including: refurbishment of the station dubbed ‘the nation’s worst’; works to bridges, a goods shed, a fountain, a statue and railwaymen’s graves; conversions to provide cycle facilities, community use and even a microbrewery; transfer of ownership of a disused route; and support for conservation management plans and historic drawings preservation.

National Railway Heritage Awards 29 The Railway Heritage Trust Award for 2012 is won by Pivovar Tap Ltd for the creation of York Tap in the former tea room at York Station.

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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OFFICERS AND ADVISORY PANEL 31st March 2013

EXECUTIVE BOARD Chairman: The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt Executive Director: Andy Savage Director: Marcus Binney

ADMINISTRATION Company Secretary: Malcolm Wood Personal Assistant: Claire Pickton

ADVISORY PANEL

Newcastle upon Tyne: George Stephenson statue

Robert Baldwin Gordon Biddle John Boyle Timothy Bryan Anthony Byrne Professor Dugald Cameron Jamie Coath * Jim Cornell Sir Neil Cossons Philip Davies Ian Hay Davison Ptolemy Dean * Denis Dunstone * Lord Faulkner of Worcester Dr William Fawcett Christopher Fildes Chris Green Chris Heaps Charles Howeson Stanley Hurn

Sir Simon Jenkins Bernard Kaukas David Lawrence Chris Leah Candida Lycett Green Adrian Lyons Geoff Mann John Martin Vernon Murphy Frank Paterson Oliver Pearcey Dr John Prideaux Malcolm Reed Simon Rigge Martin Robertson Paul Simons John Snell Sir James Swaffield Dame Margaret Weston Adam Wilkinson *

* Appointed to the Advisory Panel during 2012/13

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ADVISORY PANEL The Annual Meeting of the Advisory Panel took place on 11th October 2012, for the first time in our new building, 1 Eversholt Street. The revised catering arrangements worked extremely well. Ken Taylor, Executive Director of Groundwork Wakefield, gave a brief history of Wakefield Kirkgate Station, and how restoration was about to start, with Railway Heritage Trust funding, leading to some lively debate about the reuse of buildings.

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CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

T

HE TRUST HAS NOW BEEN IN OPERATION

Malcolm Wood

for twenty eight years, and continues to deliver improvements to the railway’s heritage infrastructure.

In 2012/13 the total value of work which we supported was £6.7 million, towards which we contributed grants of £2.1 million.

The industry has had another reasonable year operationally. Train delay performance remains good, with around 90% of trains meeting their punctuality targets. Staff and passenger safety remains at the high standard that we have seen for some years now, with no passenger fatality in a movement accident (at the time of writing) since February 2007.

The Chairman unveils the 2012 NRHA Railway Heritage Trust Conservation Award plaque at York Tap

The Trust’s total expenditure in 2012/13 was up because we were once more able to get grants flowing on the BRB (Residuary) Ltd estate, after a twoyear gap; additionally, the amount of matched funding we drew in was particularly high, mainly because of the massive Wakefield Kirkgate project, where we are contributing less than 10% of the £4.6 million cost of restoring this wonderful building from

its pigeon-infested dereliction. Because of these high rates of expenditure, and of matching funding, we have now passed the point where the Trust has sponsored projects over the £100 million mark. This is somewhat earlier than I predicted in the last Report. Our total grant and match-funding figure since the Trust was founded stood at £101 million at the financial year end.

Although we have seen more money spent, we actually awarded fewer, but larger, grants during the year. We funded 37 grants from our Network Rail sponsorship, and two each from BRB (Residuary) Ltd and the Maber legacy, making a total of 41 grants that we awarded, compared with 60 in 2011/12.

A major reason why we gave relatively few grants was that nine of them were for £100,000 or over. Eight of these projects alone have taken some £1.259 million of our Network Rail funding, leaving only £0.547 million for the other projects across the network.

However, the stunning work at these eight projects has to be seen to be believed, whether it is the conversion of the historic station at Pollokshaws West to a cycle maintenance workshop, the restored station master’s house at Ribblehead, the newly-glazed footbridge at Chester, or the restored station at Crystal Palace, with its new, Railway Heritage Trust-funded, café for all to use.

I am very satisfied that it was worth investing in these large-value projects.

Despite the lower number of projects, we have maintained our usual wide geographical spread, with work at Dunrobin Castle in the far north of Scotland, Scarborough and Harwich on the east coast, Brighton and Southampton in the south, and Bethesda and Llanelli in Wales, plus myriad sites in between. Our work scope has been equally wide – as well as the projects described above, others have involved helping our friends at Pivovar to create a microbrewery (the output of which I can thoroughly recommend), converting a locomotive water tower into an office, repainting an original London & Greenwich Railway underbridge, restoring a statue of George Stephenson, installing a muchneeded toilet at Dunrobin Castle, as well as feasibility studies and engineering designs. Our largest grant in the year was for £270,000, to facilitate handing

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over the remainder of the long-closed Bethesda branch from BRB (Residuary) Ltd ownership to that of the local council, so that it can be converted to a cycle route: our smallest was £300, to move the fabric of a dismantled weighbridge office from Oxford to Didcot.

Apart from the work that we have funded, we have given advice in a number of areas: one particularly stands out, where we have helped with the location and identification of war memorials to railwaymen. In some cases we have discovered memorials that were not recorded on the Imperial War Museum’s War Memorials Archive.

Some of these we have only recorded, but in other cases we have initiated the creation of new memorials. These include a replica Stratford-upon-Avon & Midland Junction Railway Roll of Honour, and a plaque to commemorate a Euston railwayman who won the Victoria Cross. We expect to see most of these projects completed next year, in time for the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War. The final closure of BRB (Residuary) Ltd is now rapidly approaching, somewhat later than I anticipated. It will have transferred its ‘burdensome’ estate to the Highways Agency by the time this Report is published. We look forward to working with that Agency in future, and once more I thank all those in BRB (Residuary) Ltd, and its predecessors, who we have co-operated with in the past.

In concluding can I, as ever, thank Andy, Malcolm and Claire for their dedication and determination in running the Trust. Without their commitment we would not be able to achieve the results that we do. Finally, may I commend the twenty eighth Annual Report and Accounts of the Railway Heritage Trust to you.

The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt Chairman London July 2013

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REVIEW OF PROJECTS

Following Lord Adonis’s visit a free bus service had started up, linking the town and the station. The opening of the Hepworth Gallery nearby also provided a further stimulus to improve matters, and since 2011 things have started to turn for the better. Firstly, Network Rail upgraded the subway lighting and

WAKEFIELD KIRKGATE STATION: REFURBISHMENT

Above: The new island platform shelter Right: The derelict booking hall Below: The new canopy on the main building

Lord Adonis, when he was Secretary of State for Transport, memorably described Wakefield Kirkgate as ‘the worst station in Britain’ when he carried out a tour of the Network Rail system.

Few would dispute that description. The station dates from 1857, when it was built jointly by the Great Northern and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railways.

Possibly designed by Thomas Butterworth, who certainly designed the nearby Halifax Station, it consisted of a long Italianate building on the north platform, containing all the usual facilities, with an island platform on the south side. The island was divided by a long spine wall, which, along with the main building, supported an overall roof.

There were also more conventional canopies, not only hung off the southernmost side of the spine wall, but also free-standing to its east.

The removal of the overall roof in the 1970s, and taking all the glazing from the remaining canopies on the island platform, meant that that side of the station looked abandoned, and the spine wall meant that those using the southernmost platform were out of view from the other two platforms, resulting in a very threatening environment. On the northern platform a short modern canopy did provide some shelter, but it did not reach the top of the subway to

the island platform, exposing passengers to whatever weather there was.

Meanwhile, the main building had been totally abandoned, leaving the station unmanned, and, despite its Grade II listing, falling into dereliction.

Inspection of the interior was heartbreaking, as roof leaks meant that there was substantial damage to the remaining architectural features.

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waterproofing, and installed CCTV, thus improving security. Then, in the last financial year, it demolished the redundant spine wall, and used the bricks to build a new shelter over the southern ramp to the subway, whilst renewing and extending the north side canopy to provide full shelter up to the top of the ramp.

Whilst these works were taking place several interested parties, including Network Rail, West Yorkshire and Wakefield Councils, Metro, Northern

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Right: The forecourt elevation of Wakefield Kirkgate

Rail, Grand Central and the Railway Heritage Trust, worked together to find a way to restore the main building. The keystone that joined the arch these companies had so laboriously constructed was the arrival of the Wakefield branch of Groundwork, the environmental regeneration charity.

Groundwork Wakefield offered to both restore and move into the station, and managed to raise enough money from the various parties to fund the refurbishment. The Trust eventually committed one of its largest grants, £400,000, to this project, with half of this sum allocated in 2012/13.

The painfully slow process of accumulating sufficient funds to start the work has meant that the contract was only let at the end of February, and

there is little to show on-site at the end of this financial year. However, we are all looking forward to what promises to be a superb restoration over the next 18 months, and we hope to be able to contrast the dereliction of today with a

Benjamin Green's Morpeth Station frontage

MORPETH STATION: CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Morpeth lies some 13 miles to the north of Newcastle, and the choice of a route for the East Coast Main Line in that area was subject to more than the usual level of debate, with George Hudson’s Newcastle & Berwick Railway (N&BR), engineered by George and Robert Stephenson, being in direct competition

with Lord Howick’s Northumberland Railway, which had Isambard Kingdom Brunel as its engineer. Although the competition was mainly caused by argument over a short length of the route at Howick, the two routes differed greatly further south, and how Morpeth was served was a major issue. In the end the Stephensons triumphed, and the N&BR was built, with a station at Morpeth, albeit at the edge of the town and on a sharp, right-angled bend.

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wonderfully restored station and office facility in our 2014/15 Report.

Sponsor: Groundwork Wakefield, Normanton, West Yorkshire Architect: SBS Architects, Manchester Contractor: G F Tomlinson Building Ltd, Derby

The whole of the N&BR was to be provided with superb stations, and although Hudson’s financial downfall meant that some were not built, Morpeth is an excellent example of the work of Benjamin Green, who designed many of the earlier stations on the line.

Green built the station to a Tudor design, albeit with gothic windows in the portico, and of Northumbrian freestone.

It has survived well, despite many changes to the layout, but is now largely unused, although there is still a waiting room and booking office.

We have been trying to find a new use for the disused part of the building for some time. An attempt to place an Indian restaurant in it came to naught, but recently the Greater Morpeth Development Trust (GMDT) has shown an interest. This Trust has a fine record in restoring buildings in the town, in particular John Vanbrugh’s Town Hall.

(Vanbrugh also designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard.) As a first step towards what we hope will be a successful restoration and reopening of the building, the Trust has given GMDT a grant to help it develop a conservation management and business development plan for the station. We hope that this will lead shortly to a restoration grant.

Sponsor: Greater Morpeth Development Trust, Morpeth, Northumberland Consultant: Napper Architects Ltd, Newcastle

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KEIGHLEY STATION: WAITING ROOM Like Sheffield Midland (see page 7), Keighley Station was the work of the Midland Railway (MR) architect, Charles Trubshaw. Built in 1883, Keighley was a typical large MR station, with ridged canopies to all four platforms. The platforms all remain in use: the two to the south-west are on the branch to Oxenholme, now the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR), whilst the north-easterly pair serve the main line from Leeds to Skipton, Settle and Carlisle, and carry heavy traffic, both passengers to Skipton and coal coming from Scottish ports.

condition as it is possible to do. This year Network Rail carried out several projects as part of the National Stations Improvement Programme, and, as part of this, the Trust funded heritage work in the waiting room on the up (southbound) platform. This meant that the original doors were retained and fitted with automatic door openers, and the original wooden seat was also saved, with new disabled-compliant seating

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE: GEORGE STEPHENSON STATUE

Left: Keighley waiting room Main picture: Seating ancient & modern Inset: Restored canopy support

The electrification of the Skipton service led to the removal of most of the canopies on the main line platforms, but, despite this, the K&WVR and Network Rail have co-operated to maintain the whole station in as much of a 1950s

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fixed to the opposite, trackside, wall, where it is not so visually obvious.

This small scheme is a good example of the Trust helping to retain and restore original features in a listed station, whilst at the same time facilitating its upgrade to meet the needs of the 21st century, and of all passengers.

Sponsor: Network Rail London North Eastern, York Architect: Owen Ellis Architects, Liverpool Contractor: Consortia Integrated Services Ltd, Liverpool

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The Trust has looked somewhat askance at the recent praise heaped upon Brunel, as if it was he that invented and developed the railways of Great Britain.

Whilst not wishing to denigrate Brunel’s achievements, there is a compelling argument that the work of George and Robert Stephenson far outweighs his contribution, and should be properly recognised.

One place where the Stephensons are fully appreciated is, of course, their home city of Newcastle. In particular, there is a statue of George at the intersection of Neville Street and Westgate Road, about 100 metres from the station frontage. The statue is of bronze, and stands on a sandstone plinth. Around the base of the plinth are four seated figures, again cast in bronze, one of which is said to be Robert.

The statue was in considerable need of restoration, which the City could not fully fund, and the Trust contributed to the work on both its stone and bronze sections, and also towards a lighting scheme so that it is now illuminated at night: a fitting tribute to the father of railways.

Sponsor: Newcastle City Council Urban Design & Conservation Project Management: Newcastle City Council Architectural & Building Design Services Contractors: Antique Bronze Ltd, London (statue restoration) & SSE Contracting Ltd, Blaydon, Tyne & Wear (lighting)

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SHEFFIELD MIDLAND STATION: FIRST CLASS DINING ROOM In our 2009/10 Report we described the conversion of the former bar on Platform 1 of Charles Trubshaw’s 1904 Sheffield Midland Station to the highlysuccessful Sheffield Tap. In 2011/12 we were delighted to see this concept spread to the wonderful York Tap, and we are equally happy to see Pivovar Tap Ltd once more turn its attention to Sheffield, with an extension of the Sheffield Tap into the former first class dining room.

Immediately to the north of the rooms that form the Sheffield Tap, the first class dining room had been a classic example of opulent Edwardian architecture. Fully tiled with gas lighting, and large areas of mirrors, the space must have been a glorious sight when first opened.

However, time, and British Rail, had not been kind to it after it ceased being used for catering: the room had been divided up into a number of storage areas by crude timber partitions, and was in a filthy state.

Fortunately the original features suffered very little damage, and the Trust was delighted to sponsor Pivovar in creating an extension to the Sheffield Tap, including the installation of a microbrewery. This incorporates three wonderful copper ‘kettles’ of varying Right: The first class dining room Below: The microbrewery 'kettles' Inset: Tiling & mirror after restoration

heights, which form a modern contrast to the restored tiles and mirrors. Pivovar has chosen to leave some of the screw holes and other interruptions in the tiling, to show how the room was damaged and then brought back.

However, compared with the cleaned and restored original walls and terrazzo floor this damage is not obvious: we congratulate Pivovar on yet another superb restoration project.

Sponsor, Designer & Project Management: Pivovar Tap Ltd, York Contractors: Andy Thornton Ltd, Elland, West Yorkshire (specialist interior) & Yorkshire Decorative Plasterers, Sheffield

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FRODSHAM STATION: FENCING

Above: A restored room at Ladybank Left: What it’s about – bringing a room back into use Below: Ladybank station house

LADYBANK: STATION MASTER’S HOUSE The stations of David Bell on the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway have regularly featured in these Reports in recent years. Category B listed Ladybank, with its simple Italianate main building on the downside, and with the large timber building and the ornate Laird’s waiting room on the up, is a particularly excellent survivor, which the Trust wishes to see restored and used to the maximum.

In 2009/10 we reported on the creation of an artist’s studio in the former dining room. At that time the station house was still occupied, but it subsequently became vacant, and another group of local artists has now taken it over. They have, with the Trust’s support, restored it for use as a studio and workshop, where a variety of local

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artists offer classes in a range of media.

The restoration has been done with a fine eye to the original structure, so although clearly now a workshop it is obvious how the building was previously a house, and many of the original features are still in place.

This refurbishment was mainly of the interior of the station master’s house, and the Trust hopes to be able to fund work to some of the exterior heritage features at a future date, along with the restoration of the Laird’s waiting room as a community base. We anticipate many more visits to Ladybank in the next few years.

Sponsor & Designer: Off the Rails Arthouse, Ladybank, Fife Contractor: DM Builders, Ladybank, Fife

Frodsham Station lies between Chester and Warrington, and was opened in 1849 by the Birkenhead, Lancashire & Cheshire Junction Railway. Sometime later the Great Western and the London & North Western Railways took joint ownership of the line. It is a two-storey building in the Tudor style, constructed in red brick, with sandstone dressings offsetting this, and with ogee gables at front and rear. When the line was widened in 1897/98 the whole building was alleged to have been jacked up and rolled back several feet.

The station followed the usual cycle of abandonment and being bricked up, but its Grade II listing saved it from demolition. Some years ago it was badly vandalised, and burnt out, leaving little but a shell. Fortunately, Railtrack restored a slated roof to the building, and boarded up the windows, keeping it weather-tight. In 2011/12 Network Rail carried out a first-stage restoration, renewing all the windows and doors, and providing new plastered walls, floors, ceilings and toilets. This project was carried out with advice, but no financial support, from the Trust.

Further work is expected in 2013/14 for tenants, who have been provisionally identified, and the Trust will be supporting this work with a grant.

However, as the station’s appearance has improved, one small detail remained outstanding. Railway building historian Gordon Biddle refers particularly to the fences behind both platforms, and the North Cheshire Rail Users’ Group was concerned that a small section of the fencing was missing, and approached the Trust for a grant towards reinstating this, with the Users’ Group funding the balance of the work. This small project helps to improve the overall ambience of a station that is rapidly returning from the dead – all the more impressive as it has largely been done by Network Rail and community groups, on their own initiative, with the Trust only operating in a light-touch advisory role.

Sponsor: North Cheshire Rail Users’ Group, Frodsham, Cheshire Contractor: Joe Preston & Son Ltd, Widnes, Cheshire

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REVIEW OF PROJECTS

CHESTER STATION: FOOTBRIDGE Chester Station has featured regularly in these Reports, with three entries in the last four years. When we last reported on it, in 2010/11, the long-standing series of projects had reached a point where the original Francis Thompson buildings on the street front had largely been restored, as had the matching island platform buildings. Moreover, new modern subsidiary buildings had given the station a sense of functionality and design consistency that it had long lacked.

Since then we have had both bad and good news. The Trust awarded a grant for the restoration of heritage features on the west wing of the main building, but in the end the grant was not taken Top: Improved lighting & weather protection for passengers Centre: A better view of the bridge from below Bottom: And you can see out as well

up, and that project is now lost. On a happier note, the proposed car park at the west end of the station did not gain planning approval. The Trust had been most concerned about this structure, and had objected to it at the planning stage. Whilst there remains a need for more parking at the station, we hope that any future proposal will recognise the need to relate to the historic station.

Another piece of good news is that a proposal to develop the area to the east of the station, off railway land, has been revised to restore many of the features around the Queen Hotel arcade, with Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWACC) consulting the Trust in this development, and making significant alterations as a result.

One area that remained untouched was the footbridge that linked the island platform to the Thompson building. A traditional London & North Western Railway lattice structure, the bridge was in need of painting and strengthening to carry the heaviest pedestrian loads that arise on race days. In addition, its corrugated-iron sides restricted the view from the bridge, and made crossing it like walking through an enclosed tunnel. Network Rail, in consultation with the Trust and CWACC, developed a very carefully designed strengthening package, that is largely invisible, and with the help of two grants from the Trust, plus support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, also glazed the sides of the bridge. This shows the original structure in all its finery, allows passengers to look down onto the railway, and also gives much better weather protection.

One final job remains for the Trust at Chester. The original arcade along Platform 3 is partly glazed and partly covered in corrugated sheeting. The Trust is now exploring with Network Rail how to glaze the whole arcade, thus revealing the original arches in all their splendour.

Sponsors: Network Rail London North Western, Manchester & Cheshire West and Chester Council, Chester Designer: Network Rail Infrastructure Projects, York Contractor: J Murphy & Sons Ltd, Golborne, Greater Manchester

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NOTTINGHAM STATION: REFURBISHMENT The Midland Railway (MR) undertook major overhauls of its three largest East Midlands stations at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th.

Leicester was addressed in 1892, and Sheffield and Nottingham in 1904, all under the supervision of Charles Trubshaw, the MR architect. Trubshaw visited the United States in 1897, and his experience there influenced his concept of the concourse interior at Nottingham, with the design reflecting the Beaux Arts style. The details of the station frontage have been attributed to local architect A E Lambert, who incorporated many of Trubshaw’s trademark features such as a dominant clock tower, terracotta façades and a porte-cochère structure spanning the tracks.

Nottingham City Council, in partnership with Network Rail and others, has embarked on a major redevelopment of the station which will see a new southern concourse built adjacent to the porte-cochère and alongside the British Transport Police accommodation fronting Queens Road.

One of the main reasons for this change in the focus of the station facilities is the ambitious extension of the Nottingham Express Transit tram system, taking it from the current tram stop on Station Road over the station on an immense, new tubular bridge, following the route of the former Great Central Railway. The extension will contain a new tram stop

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Above left: A view of the porte-cochère area with details of windows (above right) and blind arches in terracotta (below)

serving the station directly, linking into the southern concourse.

The porte-cochère and the booking hall are both being refurbished and the platforms will see improvements to the canopy glazing. The work encompasses, among many aspects, brick and terracotta cleaning and repairs, refurbishment of the Burmantoft tiling in the booking hall, adaptation of the former travel centre area for retail use, and development of the former luggage entrance leading from the porte-cochère as the new ticket office. The works are being supported by the Trust through a significant grant towards the refurbishment of the heritage aspects of the station, but, as the majority of the works are scheduled for 2013/14, a more comprehensive update will be given in next year’s Annual Report.

Sponsor: Nottingham City Council Architect: Pascall + Watson Architects Ltd, London Contractor: Taylor Woodrow, Watford, Hertfordshire

RIBBLEHEAD: STATION MASTER’S HOUSE Although many of the original buildings on the Settle & Carlisle (S&C) line remain in railway ownership, or are the property of sympathetic bodies and owners, it has not been possible to restore all the buildings along the route to the standards of the Design Guide (see page 21). The station masters’ houses are a particular problem, as British

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Railways had sold most of them off before the line was put up for closure but then reprieved.

This was the case at Ribblehead, where the house had become a youth hostel, but The Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust has recently taken the opportunity to acquire the building and, with support from the Trust, and from Network Rail, has carried out an excellent restoration. This has included

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well insulated. Once fitted out, it will be used for holiday lets. Problems of access and weather meant that the Trust had to increase its grant for the project: but then, overspending due to the awful weather conditions is entirely in keeping with the heritage of the S&C, and, indeed, of the Ribblehead location.

Sponsor: The Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria Architect: PPIY Ltd, York Contractor: DTA Construction Ltd, Widnes, Cheshire

Top: The restored building, with new windows & stonework Centre: Inside the dining room, with wellinsulated walls Bottom: Detail of the new windows & barge boards

new windows, barge boards and doors, and, most importantly, the restoration of the courtyard to the rear of the house.

This well-designed feature, although fulfilling a modern use, has fully restored the original external appearance of the building. No other station master’s house on the S&C retains the courtyard.

The use of lime mortar through all the new work as well as the restoration is praiseworthy, especially at such a difficult site, and the restored building is

BETHESDA BRANCH: TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP The London & North Western Railway built a branch line from Bangor, on its Chester and Holyhead line, to serve Bethesda, some five miles away at the north end of the Nant Ffrancon pass. If the branch was supposed to serve the Penrhyn slate quarry, the world’s largest slate mine, it was a failure, as Lord Penrhyn had had his own railway from the quarry to the coast for many years, and he saw no reason to transfer any of its traffic to the new interloper. As a result, the branch eked out a quiet existence, closing to passengers in 1953, and to goods ten years later.

British Railways subsequently recovered the track, and it and its successors gradually sold off most of the land. In recent years the local authority (Gwynedd), in conjunction with Sustrans, the cycling charity, has developed one

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cycle route from the Nant Ffrancon pass down the valley to Bethesda, and a second from Bethesda’s northern edge down the former railway to Bangor.

Between these two cycle routes the former railway runs through a tunnel and over a viaduct. BRB (Residuary) Ltd, the owner of the land, was reluctant to open this section to cycle use because of potential maintenance liabilities.

However, the Trust was able to offer a grant to Gwynedd equivalent to its estimates for overhauling the structures and in exchange for this Gwynedd has taken over title to these structures. As a result of this transfer Gwynedd is now able to join the two parts of the path together, thus giving cyclists a route from Bangor to Nant Ffrancon separate from the Telford-built A5 – a heritage road in its own right, but not a comfortable place to cycle.

Sponsors: Gwynedd Council, Caernarfon & BRB (Residuary) Ltd, London

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GREAT YARMOUTH: VAUXHALL BRIDGE As with so many other British towns, Great Yarmouth was cursed with a number of unconnected stations serving different railways; furthermore, in this particular case none of the stations were actually in the docks, from where much of the potential traffic arose. The Yarmouth & Norwich Railway station opened in 1844, and within four years work was underway to build a new bridge over the River Bure, the Vauxhall Bridge, which connected the railway to the docks and the other stations.

Opening in the early 1850s, the bridge consisted of three wrought-iron girders carrying two tracks and a roadway, with a span of 115 feet (35 metres). The structure was clearly limited in its carrying capacity, and in 1886 it was strengthened by the construction of three lattice arches, which supported the original beams by a hanger system. The resultant change in structural form is most unusual – indeed, the Trust is only aware of one other surviving bridge with this degree of alteration in its structure whilst retaining the original material, Torksey Viaduct over the River Trent.

General view of stairs with (inset) handrail detail

LONDON WATERLOO STATION: VICTORY ARCH STEPS The Victory Arch at London Waterloo is part of the sweeping, curved frontage of the station which was opened in 1922 to the design of architect J R Scott. This building was constructed to replace what had become a confused and rambling terminus which had grown haphazardly, by degrees, from its inception in 1848. The arch forms the London & South Western Railway war memorial, and has been described as Imperial Baroque in style. It is flanked by sculptures representing War and Peace with Britannia seated on the crown of the arch.

Over time the broad steps and associated bronze handrails have

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suffered from the effects of perpetual heavy pedestrian traffic accessing the station through this main approach.

Whilst, over the years, some of the stone treads have been lifted and turned, little more could be done to salvage them, and so, in 2012, Network Rail initiated a programme to replace them. As a result of a current focus on railway war memorials, it was deemed by the Trust to be quite appropriate to give some support to this work, particularly with regard to the refurbishment of the bronze handrails, themselves an intrinsic part of the arch. The outcome is a clean transformation, which will preserve the quality of this memorial for years to come.

Sponsor: Network Rail Wessex, London Contractor: Spence, London

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Above: Vauxhall Bridge as it was

The bridge has provided a pedestrian link to the station ever since its construction, and from 1909 to 1928 it carried trams as well as trains. Despite the 1886 strengthening it continued to require regular attention, and had heavy repairs in 1909 and again in 1929.

However, a weight restriction was imposed in 1930, and a first, unsuccessful, attempt to remove vehicular traffic took place in 1934, with a second ban imposed in 1945.

Rail traffic continued, and clearly road vehicles started to use the bridge again, as in 1959 the tracks were enclosed with

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a timber surface on the upstream span to allow both road and rail traffic, with the downstream span being finally closed to all traffic. In 1975 rail traffic over the bridge ceased, and the second span was also blocked off to road vehicles, although the deck and tracks remained in situ. At some point in its history a pedestrian side span had been cantilevered off the bridge, and this remained open to foot and cycle traffic.

The bridge dominates the view as passengers leave Great Yarmouth Station, but no-one had carried out any substantial maintenance or painting for many years, so it gave an appearance of dereliction to the arriving visitor. The structure became the property of BRB (Residuary) Ltd, who in turn transferred title to Railway Paths Ltd (RPL), a subsidiary of the charity Sustrans. The Trust and RPL have now worked with Great Yarmouth Borough Council, the local Building Preservation Trust, and various charities to put together a package to restore two of the main

beams, and install a new pedestrian and cycle route over the upstream span.

Unfortunately, problems in the administration of the contracts led to a change in both consultant and contractor, and, inevitably, a downscoping of the work that could be afforded. Although, by the end of the financial year, the strengthening works were complete, and installation of the new walkway was well advanced, it was clear that there was not enough money to fully paint the structure. The Trust

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therefore reluctantly agreed that it was best to focus the painting on the original beams and their connections to the lattice arches. Fortunately, the council subsequently found funds to paint two of the arches.

The appearance of this bridge remains a concern, and is the subject of considerable local interest. As neither Sustrans nor the rail industry has any immediate local need for it, the Trust believes that it is best for it to be in the ownership of a local authority.

Accordingly, the Trust would be willing to make a substantial grant to Great Yarmouth Borough or Norfolk County Council, were either to take ownership of, and responsibility for, the structure.

Sponsor: Railway Paths Ltd, Manchester Consultant: The Morton Partnership Ltd, Halesworth, Suffolk Contractor: DGT Structures Ltd, Norwich

Above: Flaking, untreated paintwork Below: The cleaned & painted lower part of the structure

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SCARBOROUGH STATION: FORMER PARCELS OFFICE Scarborough Station opened in 1845, with a classic G T Andrews train shed forming its basis. Over the next 90 years ever-increasing excursion traffic led to repeated enlargement of the station, but always by adding more buildings and platforms, rather than replacing older, small structures with a single, new, large one. Since the peak of rail excursion traffic in the 1930s to 1950s there has been almost a repeat process in the opposite direction, with the furthest-out buildings being abandoned and, generally, demolished: little more than the original train shed and station building are now in use.

One structure that escaped the general demolition was the former parcels office, located on Platform 1, far out from the station. A conventional building, except for its roof structure, it nevertheless was listed Grade II. As the railway had no further use for the building it was abandoned, and had become home to a large colony of feral pigeons, making it a most unpleasant place to visit. Furthermore, the roof trusses had started to fail, so Network Rail had to erect, and maintain, a structural scaffold to keep the roof up.

Unsurprisingly, the building went onto English Heritage’s At Risk register, and was a general problem for everyone.

Fortunately, a group of local artists was looking for premises, and they formed Scarborough Studios Ltd. With great dedication they spent several years finding sufficient funds to be able to

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CHARLES HENRY DRIVER (1832-1900)

repair the structure, including a grant from the Trust, and work started late in 2012. To date the main priority has been the replacement of timber beams in the roof, and covering over the gaps in the roofing material. These two projects have permitted both the removal of the large number of dead pigeons, and the scaffolding, both essential first steps to the full restoration of the building. The Railway Heritage Trust’s grant stretches

Top: Interior dereliction in the parcels office Centre: The parcels building from the station Bottom: A restored chimney, looking over the station

over two years, 2012/13 and 2013/14, so it will be next year’s Report when we describe the finished job. However, it is good to know that work is well underway on this long-delayed project.

Sponsor: Scarborough Studios Ltd, Scarborough, North Yorkshire Architect: Salt Architects Ltd, Scarborough, North Yorkshire Contractor: Wilson Construction Services Ltd, Scarborough, North Yorkshire

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C H DRIVER WAS A PIONEER in the use of ornamental ironwork, and was an expert in casting and manufacture, working largely with Glasgow iron founder Walter Macfarlane. He was a consultant to Joseph Paxton on the Crystal Palace project, as part of the 1851 Great Exhibition, and was responsible for the design of the Aquarium and Orangery there.

In the late 1850s he designed several stations on the Midland Railway route from Leicester to Hitchin, of which only Wellingborough Station buildings remain in railway use.

Working with Joseph Bazalgette on the London sewerage system he devised some extravagant cast-iron lighting columns, often incorporating vents or ‘stinkpipes’.

He designed the pumping houses at Crossness and Abbey Mills, both well known as ‘palaces of engineering’ and employing his distinctive cast-iron fittings and ceramic tiling.

From 1865 he worked with R JacombHood on many stations on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway, including London Bridge, Battersea Park, Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye and Leatherhead (see pages 14-17). At the end of his career he produced the ‘Station of Light’ in São Paulo, Brazil, and such was his prowess that, at the time of his death in 1900, he had amassed a fortune of around £1 million.

BATTERSEA PARK STATION: BOOKING HALL The London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) opened York Road Station on 1st May 1867, from which time the station went through a variety of name changes combining Battersea Park and York Road until 1885 when it became known simply as Battersea Park.

This must have been very confusing for travellers as the London, Chatham & Dover Railway had a nearby station of its own, originally called Battersea Park (York Road).

The LB&SCR station was designed by Charles Henry Driver who was responsible for the architecture of

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several of that company’s stations in the South London area. A great champion of decorative cast-iron structures, Driver lavished the station building with a distinctly Italianate style, giving the toplit interior space the air of a stage set, divided by a proscenium formed by a pair of large diameter arches sitting on paired, decorated columns.

Externally, the full impact of the building was diminished some time ago by the removal of the original cast-iron ridge and furrow canopy, but the structure still retains an air of elegance as a result of the incised floral details on the keystones, and the contrasting brick colours, both so typical of Driver’s style.

Internally, a gloomy and tired environment had developed, not improved by water ingress which had wreaked havoc with the detailed plaster surfaces. Network Rail undertook waterproofing works to solve this problem, and also refurbished and reglazed the rooflight. Following on from this, train operator Southern, aided by

Above: The refurbished booking hall with (left) the restored rooflight and (below) the replacement Driver-designed balustrades

grant funding from the Trust, has now refurbished the interior, with moulding details reinstated to the blind arches at ground floor level. Service runs have been appropriately concealed and a new lower flight to the staircase accessing the platforms has been constructed, with balustrades incorporated using the highly-decorative pattern Driver originally produced for Peckham Rye Station (see page 16).

The effect of this transformation has been enormous, and, furthermore, the interior has been lightened up considerably by the introduction of a much more reflective and brighter colour scheme than that which previously existed.

Sponsor: Southern, Croydon, Greater London Designer: Frankham Consultancy Group, Haywards Heath, West Sussex Contractor: B & M McHugh Ltd, New Eltham, London

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The 1866 building is capped at high level by a large convex roof, surmounted by a stylish French pavilion covered in fish-scale tiles. Beneath this roof is a very large space stretching the width of the building, which originally had a curved ceiling and was, for many years, used as a billiard room, until it eventually fell into disuse. The space was accessed by a staircase which led from the forecourt and was mostly constructed in stone, with ornate castiron balustrades, but had an upper flight and landing built in timber. The upper flight and landing, together with part of the floor of the room, have now been deemed unsafe and while structural issues relating to the timber elements are investigated the stair has been terminated short of the upper landing, with access to the room restricted to a door at platform level.

PECKHAM RYE STATION: SOUTH TOWER STAIRCASE

Benedict O’Looney Architects

Opened in 1866, Peckham Rye is yet another example of the decorative work of Victorian cast-iron supremo, Charles Henry Driver, working on behalf of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR).

The three-storey building is one of the first of Driver’s station designs in the

Above: Refurbished windows & doors in forecourt Right: The scene beforehand Below: Driver staircase through window Below left: Door & window details

French-Italianate style. Constructed in yellow brick, it is set between two converging viaducts, with two bays projecting forward of the main booking hall, and a façade detailed with cast-iron balconies and round-headed windows with foliated keystones. During the 1930s the station was modified and a new access stair built at the rear of the booking hall, which severely altered the interior arrangements. Also at this time, the frontage was closed off to the outside world in general by the introduction of a large shopping development into the once grand forecourt area.

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The opportunity has been taken to restore the entrance door and windows to the stair tower and renovation of the lower sections of the stair has also been initiated. Once engineering design information has been provided for its reconstruction, the stair will be brought back into use to access the upper floor which, it is anticipated, will become a community facility.

This year the Trust provided a grant to the London Borough of Southwark for the works to the staircase and windows, together with a small grant to assist with the associated structural engineering assessment. The building is a fine survivor and deserves to be seen by a wider audience as an example of the bold design philosophy associated with both Driver and the LB&SCR. Staircase & Windows Sponsor: London Borough of Southwark Architect: Benedict O’Looney Architects, Peckham, London Contractor: CM Building Services UK Ltd, London Structural Engineering Support Structural Engineer: Structure Workshop Ltd, London

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LEATHERHEAD: STATION MASTER’S HOUSE The Epsom & Leatherhead Railway (E&LR) opened the first station in Leatherhead in 1859, but only a year later this company was jointly taken over by the London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) and the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). Having extended their lines in 1867, these two companies reached an agreement to operate independent stations at Leatherhead. However, by 1927 the L&SWR station had closed, and the LB&SCR facility had become the focus of the railway services.

The LB&SCR station was designed by that company’s prolific architect, Charles Henry Driver, who maintained his penchant for the decorative by creating an asymmetrical building flaunting a pyramid-capped turret, with contrasting brick detailing including a polychromatic ‘zig-zag’ band and a Lombard frieze. The window heads also exhibit the polychromatic detailing, which, together with the use of cast-iron details, typify Driver’s work. The platform buildings have remained with only minor alterations, but the onceornate platform canopies have been replaced in more recent times by very unsympathetic, functional structures.

Patent’, interlocking, red clay vault tiles dating from 1867, which had previously been covered in an inappropriate bitumen coating, rendering them no longer functional. Replacement vault tiles have now been reproduced to the original design, along with decorative ridge pieces to the main roofs, and a cast- iron finial to the turret.

A modest grant from the Trust has supported the replacement of damaged and missing roof details, plus work to entrance doors and windows. Following some interest, it is hoped that a new tenant will soon be housed in this splendid example of a small mid-19th century station building.

Above: Details of roof & window Inset: Window & balustrade detail Below: Restored station house awaits a tenant

Sponsor: Network Rail Property, London Designer: Network Rail Property Construction & Maintenance Team, London Contractor: Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex

Additionally, the station house had been deteriorating for some time, clearly needing repairs and also a new use to prevent further decline.

Network Rail Property set about a programme of repairs, aimed initially at addressing the roof structure and undertaking brickwork repairs. The roof covering was formed of ‘John Taylor

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HUDDERSFIELD STATION: WATER TOWER Huddersfield Station is one of the grandest in the United Kingdom, and one of only six Grade I listed operational stations in England, alongside St Pancras, Kings Cross, Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads and Newcastle Central. It was built between 1847 and 1850, and Gordon Biddle considers it the finest classical station in Britain, with its portico reminiscent of the lost Hardwick portico at Euston.

Huddersfield was on a joint line, serving both the Manchester & Leeds and the Huddersfield & Manchester Railways.

These later became parts of the Lancashire & Yorkshire and the London & North Western Railways: Huddersfield did not achieve a common ownership until those lines merged in the early 1920s.

Top: The new meeting room, with a feed pipe to the tank left in situ Left: The restored water tower – you would not know its new use

The Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) had moved its base within the north of England several times. Further expansion meant that they were looking for a new home, and they put forward a convincing plan to reuse the water tank building as their permanent office. With sash windows

restored, the ventilation equipment hidden from view inside the water tank itself, and a lot of the surrounding structures removed to open up the views of the building from the railway side, ACoRP has created a fine office. We congratulate them on their work, which has restored this long-vacant building and given it a sustainable purpose.

Sponsor: Association of Community Rail Partnerships, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Architect: PPIY Ltd, York Contractor: Bermar Building Company Ltd, Bradford, West Yorkshire

A station that served so many lines obviously had a lot of trains running, and in the days of steam traction that meant a high demand for water. It was thus inevitable that Huddersfield would have a large water tower, and this was built at the north-eastern extremity of the station site, on a high retaining wall overlooking John William Street.

The water tower, as with most of its brethren, was a basic box-like brick structure, albeit broken up by recessed panels containing pairs of sash windows. Unlike most other water towers it was not demolished with the end of steam, although it has not been used to hold water for many years. Even though it was clearly not included in the station’s designation it has always been treated as being listed, and demolition was never an option.

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In our 2010/11 Report we described how two locomen lost their lives when an experimental locomotive exploded on the Lickey Bank, south of Birmingham, in November 1840. Both men, Thomas Scaife and Joseph Rutherford, were buried in St John’s Churchyard at Bromsgrove, and their workmates paid for headstones. In 2010/11 the Trust funded a conservation plan for the headstones, and this year we have contributed a substantial percentage of the cost of their full restoration.

We are very pleased at the way the industry has rallied round to help fund this work, with contributions from CrossCountry, DB Schenker, ASLEF, and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (whose formation resulted directly from the 1840 accident). In addition, The Bromsgrove Society and the Len Giles Trust have supported the work.

Whilst the work is progressing satisfactorily, it was not completed by the

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Alastair Moseley

BROMSGROVE: LOCOMEN’S GRAVES

end of the financial year, and we are happy to show Mike Ford at work on the restoration, which he is doing to a magnificent standard. We look forward to the rededication of the graves during 2013.

Sponsor: St John’s Church, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire Contractor: Mike Ford, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

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BERMONDSEY: ABBEY STREET BRIDGE

Street are most unusual, with each arch supported by fourteen cast-iron, fluted doric columns on each side. This feature alone justifies their Grade II listing.

The columns separate cars and pedestrians, but, whilst an excellent piece of engineering, they created a dark environment, which emphasised the way the railway splits the area bounding the Thames between Tower Bridge and Greenwich from its hinterland. The repainting and illumination of Spa Road made this environment much more welcoming, and the Trust and the London Borough of Southwark subsequently intended to carry out a similar programme with Abbey Street.

In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 Reports we described how the Trust had worked with the London Borough of Southwark to improve the underbridge at Spa Road in Bermondsey: the Trust has now turned its attention to the nearby, and very similar, Abbey Street Bridge.

The London & Greenwich was the first railway line to open in London, in 1836.

It ran on a three-and-a-half-mile long viaduct from, initially, Spa Road to Deptford. The viaduct, designed by Col G T Landmann, was later extended in length, to London Bridge, and in width, as more tracks were added on both sides, but the historic original structure remains with little alteration.

Most of the viaduct is of conventional arches: there are 878 of them, each of 18 feet (five metres) span and 22 feet (seven metres) high. However, the threespan bridges at Spa Road and Abbey

HELSBY STATION: ROOF WORKS Helsby Station opened in 1852, but the present buildings probably date to the opening of the branch line to Ellesmere Port and Birkenhead 11 years later, as they are very similar in design to Ellesmere Port Station. The style is largely Tudor, and the ogee gables and ball finials follow that style.

Although the station remains open, and a junction, the main building is no longer used for railway purposes. As a result it has fallen into disrepair in recent years. However, Network Rail has recently been involved in restoring it as a possible commercial let, and the Trust has given a small grant towards the reinstatement of the ball finials, and to renew a sandstone course in the otherwise brick chimneys. We look forward to making a further contribution, towards the interior restoration, in 2013/14.

Sponsor: Network Rail London North Western, Manchester Architect: Capita Symonds, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire Contractor: CPMS Ltd, Manchester The roof & a restored chimney at Helsby

London Borough of Southwark

Above: The restored Abbey Street Bridge Inset: Cast-iron columns Below: The original Abbey Street Bridge before widening

Budgetary limitations on the Borough meant that this project only started at the end of the 2012/13 financial year, and carried over into the 2013/14 financial year. Although now substantially complete, Network Rail has to carry our repairs to some of the columns before they can be given their final coat of paint.

Sponsor: London Borough of Southwark Designer: Mouchel, London Contractor: F M Conway Ltd, Dartford, Kent

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POLLOKSHAWS WEST STATION: CYCLING FACILITY In our 2011/12 Report we described how the Category B listed Pollokshaws West Station, built in 1848 and Glasgow’s oldest surviving rail passenger facility, was to be restored by the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust (GBPT) to provide a cycle workshop and offices on the east platform and a community room and café on the west.

The work, supported by the Trust, commenced at the start of the financial year, and was completed, despite considerable problems regarding the water supply, by the end of February 2013.

The work on the station has been of a very high quality, and extremely well designed. As the main building had been stripped back to a shell GBPT was able to fit it with insulation to the best modern standards, and also to address the issues of accessibility, providing a lift to the first

NEWCASTLE CENTRAL STATION: CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Gordon Biddle describes the Grade I listed Newcastle Central Station as ‘the finest of Britain’s grand stations’, with its wonderful combination of the portecochère, the classical buildings and the amazing quadruple-barrelled train shed roof. John Dobson, who designed the original station, was a Newcastle architect who opened out much of the city. There is no doubt as to why the station holds the highest listing grade there is, one of only six such stations in England.

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Above: The business centre on the first floor Left: The ground floor before the work Far left: The cycle workshop in the ground floor Below: The restored exterior of the station

development of a tripartite lease between GBPT, Network Rail and First ScotRail, and we hope that the legal work on this will be available for reuse in future Scottish projects. floor (and the southbound platform).

GBPT has also restored doors and windows that had been bricked up or boarded over, all to the original designs and using original material so far as possible.

GBPT is to be congratulated on its considerable efforts to raise the finance for this project, with a multitude of sponsors necessitating careful coordination of the (often contradictory) requirements of all the grant-giving bodies. The project was also a first in the

Sponsor: Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, Glasgow Architect: Richard Shorter, Edinburgh Contractor: Elmwood, Glasgow

Central Station has been subject to many changes over the years, some good, some less so, with the awful 1950s British Railways-installed signalling scheme showing how badly even the most historic station can be vandalised.

Happily, more recent times have seen a great improvement, and the worst damage has been made good. The Trust has invested over £1 million into the station, on a wide variety of projects from removing the signalling centre to new cast-iron railings.

It is clear that Newcastle is about to go through another round of change, and also that much detailed knowledge of the station’s history is being lost

through retirement. Following on from the successful development of the York Station conservation management plan last year, train operating company East Coast saw the benefit of a similar report for Newcastle, and gathered a group of funders, including the Railway Heritage Trust, so it could commission PPIY Ltd, who last year produced such plans for both York and Carlisle, to carry out the work. This report is now complete, and available to all who want to make alterations to the station, in order to ensure a consistent approach to its unique heritage in all future changes.

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Sponsor: East Coast, York Consultant: PPIY Ltd, York

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SETTLE & CARLISLE LINE: DESIGN GUIDE Ever since the route’s reprieve from closure in 1989 the Trust has had a close interest in the Settle & Carlisle (S&C) line: we have invested well over £1 million in grants towards its upkeep.

A key part of the restoration of the line was the introduction of the Design Guide, partially funded by the Trust, which laid down how the stations and other buildings should be designed and

maintained, with the aim of achieving a 1950s feel for the route. This has been amazingly successful, and has proved popular for other stations not on the S&C: Llandudno is currently being painted in the S&C ‘blood and custard’ colour scheme. However, the actual guide is now getting on in years itself, and the Trust has made a small grant towards updating it, and making it webBelow & right: Application of the Design Guide principles is now evident on a wide scale

publishable, so that it continues to be available for the 21st century. The new guide can be found at www.settlecarlisle.co.uk/design-guide.

Sponsor: The Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company (on behalf of The Settle-Carlisle Partnership), Settle, North Yorkshire Author: Martin Firth, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire

NETWORK RAIL ARCHIVES The Trust has continued its regular support for the restoration of historic drawings and records in Network Rail’s archives. Very excitingly, this year the archive staff have found two drawings

from the York & North Midland Railway dated circa 1838 and showing track and points – one of these is signed by George Stephenson himself. Network Rail’s Network Rail Archivist, Vicky Stretch, at work on historic drawings in York

archivists have conserved these drawings using part of the Railway Heritage Trust grant.

In addition, the Trust’s grant has supported the conservation of newlyaccessed drawings relating to Euston, Stratford and Waterloo. These were then displayed on Network Rail’s website in a section relating to the railway’s involvement in the Olympics of 1908, 1948 and 2012.

Finally, our grant has helped fund the preparation of three large plans in support of a privately-organised study of the railway archaeology of the York South area. The individuals behind this project, who are well known to the Trust, are planning to create an online exhibition of York, and our grant has enabled Network Rail to release material that would not otherwise be available.

Network Rail’s online archive is available at www.networkrail.co.uk/VirtualArchive.

Sponsor: Network Rail National Records Group, York

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Top & bottom: Interior views of Mocatta building Left: Stripped interior of Edwardian building roof

the LB&SCR, to access the station forecourt by spanning over the lower level of Trafalgar Street, an arrangement that still exists today. Later, a three-span pitched roof over the platforms was designed by the LB&SCR engineer J U Rastrick and this was then extended with the addition of a fourth span in 1861. Subsequently, the ground floor of the Mocatta building was also extended along its length facing the platform area.

In 1883 the Rastrick roof was replaced by the present train shed designed by engineer H E Wallis, with construction taking place over the original roof, before its eventual removal. During this

BRIGHTON STATION: CONCOURSE The London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) constructed its route from London to Brighton in 1841, terminating with a grand station building overlooking the town, designed by noted architect David Mocatta. This structure, commonly described as the Mocatta building, was executed in a Palladian style with a three-bay pavilion at each end and a stucco-finished, twostorey frontage which featured a projecting arcade of nine Roman arches to the ground floor and a large clock above its centre.

In 1845 Queens Road was constructed, with partial funding from

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period, the frontage of the Mocatta building was not only altered, with the unfortunate removal of the arcade, but also substantially hidden from view, by the erection of a large porte-cochère which spanned the forecourt area.

The station has seen many other changes over the years, to address increasing passenger demands, and train operator Southern has recently embarked on a programme to improve the concourse - to give a more open feel to the area and to open up views of the imposing, curved, train shed. This has been achieved initially by realigning the ticket barrier line and removing the large train indicator board. A 1970s office building will also be removed from the east side of the central concourse area.

Further improvements include the refurbishment of the range of later buildings to the east of the concourse, formerly known as the ‘milk dock’, which will contain retail, waiting and toilet facilities. A building from the Edwardian period located in the southeast corner of the station is also being refurbished to provide a new ticket office although this element proved a challenge due to structural issues related to the coffered roof. This structure, with large, curved, plasterwork coving details, had been adversely affected by the insertion of modern tie-rods which broke up the clean space at high level, but this problem has now been resolved by the design of a more appropriate perimeter support system, enabling the tie-rods to be removed.

The Mocatta building, which had been significantly altered internally over the years, has also been opened up by the removal of later partitions, where appropriate, in order to provide new retail facilities. Some interesting detailing to beams and ceilings have been exposed as a result of this work.

The Trust has given a grant this year to deal with initial works to the eastern range and south-east corner and also to the Mocatta building. A second grant next year will support the continuing works which will greatly improve the function and accessibility of the station, whilst preserving and enhancing existing historic details.

Sponsor: Southern, Croydon, Greater London Architect: The Trevor Patrick Partnership, London Contractor: Walker Construction (UK) Ltd, Folkestone, Kent

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REVIEW OF PROJECTS

PITLOCHRY STATION: DRINKING FOUNTAIN

fountain survives in a garden at Strathyre, moved from the station there on the Caledonian Railway’s Callender to Oban line, recently discovered photographic evidence clearly shows that the Pitlochry heron was present at least as early as 1911.

Repainting had obscured much of the fine casting detail, and the black and white colour scheme did the fountain no favours. The ‘Pitlochry in Bloom’ campaign therefore raised funds, including a grant from the Trust, to remove and repaint the ornament. This involved stripping it back to bare metal and then repainting it in a much more ornate colour scheme of greens, red, cream and gold, which has resulted in a glorious restoration. First ScotRail reinstalled the fountain in May 2013, ready for the sesquicentennial celebrations of Pitlochry Station’s opening on June 1st.

Pitlochry Station has featured in these Reports before, but always in connection with the station buildings, a wonderfully complete Highland Railway station that has seen few changes over its long life.

The railway and the station buildings both celebrated their sesquicentenary this year, having opened in 1863.

A feature of this historic station is a cast-iron drinking fountain, located on the upside (southbound) platform. The fountain is a standard 1880s design of Walter Macfarlane & Co, from the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, with a heron and flowers as part of the casting; examples are found all round the UK, often with an equally florate cast-iron pagoda over them, although there is no evidence of a pagoda ever being associated with this particular item. The fountain was probably provided by the Highland Railway. Although Gordon Biddle has said it was installed at Pitlochry in 1969, and a similar

LLANELLI GOODS SHED: CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN The South Wales Railway (SWR), later a constituent of the Great Western Railway (GWR), opened Llanelly Station (sic) on 11th October 1852, the station later sharing its site with a modest goods shed of standard GWR design. There was an even earlier station serving a route from Llanelli to Llanelli Dock, opened by the Llanelly Railway (sic) in 1839, but that closed in 1879, at which time some significant changes were

made to the SWR station. The original goods shed was swept away by the GWR, with a new redeveloped station constructed over its footprint, and a new, much larger, stone goods shed constructed on a site to the east of the level crossing.

This new goods shed dominated the skyline and became a significant structure in the town, even acquiring a provenance linking it to Brunel.

However, the Grade II listed shed was closed in October 1965 and deteriorated to such an extent that its condition generated an Improvement Notice from the local authority, although detailed investigation confirmed that the building’s construction actually dated from a period some time after Brunel’s Above left: A general view of the goods shed and (below) its expansive interior Davies Sutton Architects

Davies Sutton Architects

Sponsor: Pitlochry in Bloom, Pitlochry, Perth & Kinross Artist & Contractor: Mohsinah Underwood, Edinburgh

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death. Despite this, the goods shed retains its significance within the context of both railway and town, most notably in that it was the location for the last reading of the Riot Act in mainland Britain – during the tragic Llanelli Riots of 1911.

Following receipt of the Improvement Notice, Network Rail undertook necessary repairs to the roof and guttering, and local interest has been galvanised through the formation of the Llanelli Railway Goods Shed Trust (LRGST). In order to develop proposals and begin the arduous process of securing necessary funding and a future new use, the LRGST commissioned a conservation management plan to which the Railway Heritage Trust lent support through the award of a modest grant.

We are now awaiting the outcome of the study which will determine the future of this historic structure, and look forward to supporting the physical works to bring the building back into use.

Sponsor: Llanelli Railway Goods Shed Trust, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire Architect: Davies Sutton Architects, Grangetown, Cardiff

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REVIEW OF PROJECTS

Left: Interior of waiting room Below: Exterior view of waiting room building

original architecture of the building.

The station is now functioning well, particularly with the open space of the new booking hall attracting customers via a redefined and greatly-improved approach. This example of a successful partnership has given Southampton a facility to be proud of, and one which has the ability to cope with both present and anticipated future passenger capacity.

Sponsor: South West Trains, London Architect: Robinson Kenning & Gallagher, Croydon, Greater London Contractor: Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex

SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL STATION: REFURBISHMENT Last year we reported on works carried out under the National Stations Improvement Programme to this 1935 Art Deco-style building, in conjunction with South West Trains and Southampton City Council. The Trust spread its grant funding to cover not only the last financial year but also the current year, and the downside building has now finally been completed with external refurbishment of the central area, removing earlier incompatible repair work carried out some time ago following war-time bomb damage.

Windows and doors have been brought to a consistent style reflecting the

LOUGHBOROUGH STATION: RELOCATION OF LISTED FOOTBRIDGE TO BUTTERLEY

General view showing bridge columns in place at Butterley

The Department for Transport’s Access for All scheme is opening up stations by provision of lifts and ramps. In many cases this inevitably involves providing a new footbridge as the originals cannot meet today’s needs.

At Loughborough the Access for All scheme tied in with a need to extend the length of the station, which was badly restricted by the lack of clearance under the A60 road bridge at its south end, and also with the need to improve clearance under the footbridge for electrification. This left no choice but to remove the footbridge, a classic Midland Railway lattice structure. The bridge was Grade II listed, and the local

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

24

REVIEW OF PROJECTS

Conservation Officer made it clear that whilst he could live with the removal of the bridge, he would not accept that proposal unless Network Rail found a new use for it.

After some discussion, the Midland Railway Trust (MRT) agreed to install the bridge at the end of Butterley Station, on the former Ambergate to Pye Bridge line, appropriately part of the Midland Railway system. The Trust agreed a contribution towards the reerection, and the bridge was removed and relocated to Butterley early in 2012, in time to clear the Loughborough site

Staircase awaiting attention

Supports in situ

Clive Grewcock

before the Olympics. The MRT then started to re-erect the footbridge, and had erected the columns, when Derbyshire County Council decided that it needed the site where the steps were to be placed for a temporary road, to gain access to a construction job. As a result work is at a halt, and the Trust is holding the balance of the grant until

DUNROBIN CASTLE STATION: PROVISION OF TOILET Dunrobin, situated on the Far North line from Inverness to Wick and Thurso, is one of the more unusual stations on the network, or rather not on it, as the station building belongs to the Sutherland Estate, and not to Network

Rail. This is because the then Duke of Sutherland built this section of the line back in 1870, with a station at the entrance to his castle, so when the Highland Railway took over the line the following year he retained ownership of the station. (Thereafter the Duke had his own engine and carriage so he could

25

the MRT can regain control of its site and complete the footbridge, hopefully later in 2013.

Sponsor: Network Rail East Midlands, Derby Project Management & Footbridge Design: Midland Railway Trust, Butterley, Derbyshire Designer (foundations): William Saunders LLP, Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire Contractor (groundworks): Rexco UK Ltd, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Derbyshire

drive himself along the railway – both vehicles survive.)

The present station building dates from 1902, and was designed by a local architect in the Cottage OrnĂŠ style, with timber framing. The station was labelled private right through until 1965, when it closed, but in practice the public could use it. Subsequently British Railways reopened it in 1985, and the Estate let the building out to BBC correspondent Daniel Brittain-Catlin some years ago.

The station was by then in a sorry state, but has gradually been restored.

However, the toilet facilities had never been reinstated, and this omission was particularly noticeable when special trains stopped at the station. The Trust has given a grant to restore the toilets, and Michael Portillo reopened them, with due ceremony, when he visited the station as part of his Great British Railway Journeys programme.

Sponsor: Daniel Brittain-Catlin, London Contractor: Ian Chambers (Plumbing & Heating), Golspie, Highland Region

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

REVIEW OF PROJECTS

CRYSTAL PALACE STATION: REFURBISHMENT & CAFÉ Crystal Palace Station was opened by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in 1854 to serve Joseph Paxton’s magnificent Crystal Palace which had been relocated from Hyde Park to Sydenham. Construction was supervised by R Jacomb-Hood, engineer of the LB&SCR, and the key feature of the design was a platform structure set low into the adjoining topography, accessed by a pair of staircases from an upper entrance structure. By 1877 the line had been extended from Crystal Palace to Wandsworth and the station entrance was reconstructed under the supervision of LB&SCR chief engineer Frederick Dale Banister and his assistant Whitney H Mannering, reputedly with design by noted ecclesiastical architect Hugh Roumieu Gough.

The building has a large booking hall with a high roof carried on decorative, pierced, iron ribs and topped by a glazed rooflight, very much in the style of the LB&SCR’s other favoured architect, Charles Henry Driver. At either end of the building are two towers with mansard roofs in French Chateau style. The building is constructed in yellow brick with stone window details, and originally the booking hall had a patterned Minton encaustic tiled floor.

Transport for London embarked on a major programme to upgrade Crystal Palace Station in 2009, supported by the Trust. The scheme for the entrance hall resulted in the removal of the redundant timber booking office structure, which was fortunately preserved and relocated to the East Anglian Railway Museum.

This year the Trust gave a grant for work

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

Above: Refurbished booking hall Inset: Restored south façade Below: Interior of Brown & Green Café

which opened up the whole of the upper concourse, which now serves a new ticket office, toilets and automatic ticket gates. Sadly, owing to loading issues with the jack-arched floor structure, it was decided not to install a replication of the Minton tiled floor.

Further works to improve accessibility in the inner train shed and works to the platform buildings, all supported by a further grant from the Trust, will be reported next year.

One redundant area on the fringes of the booking hall had lain fallow for many years. This was the location of the original station restaurant and is significant in that it contains the only remaining portion of the attractivelypatterned red and black Minton floor.

The restaurant was incorporated onto the sloped surface originally leading to the Park, and it must have been a rather strange experience for those using the room, faced with such a gradient, and one can only wonder how tables and chairs were incorporated within the space.

As part of the development of the booking hall this redundant space was leased to the Brown & Green Café. Its enthusiastic proprietors already had an established outlet at Gipsy Hill Station,

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and the prospect of another branch at Crystal Palace was an opportunity not to be missed, as well as a challenge.

The work has resulted in a remarkable transformation of the space, with the remaining Minton floor area expertly refurbished, and the problem of the incline addressed by a raised-level staging, to provide a café with a contemporary atmosphere linking both the requirements of a modern outlet and the retention of those features which give Crystal Palace Station its character.

The scheme has achieved one of our key aims, which is to bring new life to redundant areas of our historic stations, and we wish the Brown & Green Café every success as the station becomes even more popular.

Refurbishment Sponsor: Transport for London Architect: John McAslan + Partners, London Designer: WSP UK Ltd, London Contractor: Mansell Construction Services Ltd, London Café Sponsor: Brown & Green Café, Gipsy Hill, London Contractors: 360 Degrees Property Solutions Ltd, London & Palace Victorian Tiling and Restoration, London

REVIEW OF PROJECTS

LONDON MARYLEBONE STATION: HAREWOOD AVENUE ENTRANCE Completed in 1903 by the Great Central Railway, Marylebone Station and its approaches cut a great swathe through the predominantly residential area immediately north of Marylebone Road.

The site was developed with a large Flemish-style building in red brick with buff terracotta details, and incorporated a substantial goods facility. Passengers entered the station beneath a portecochère linking the station and the Great Central Hotel opposite.

Above: Replacement York stone paving Left: Jarrah floor blocks refurbished

The goods facility was accessed through three arched gateways leading into delivery bays off Harewood Avenue.

Later development of the station in the 1990s saw the bays heavily modified, with the creation of a public bar in the two bays nearest to the station frontage, whilst the third became a pedestrian access into the concourse.

The flooring of these bays was originally constructed using blocks of jarrah, a particularly durable Australian hardwood used in the United Kingdom at that time as a road-building material.

MARCH STATION: REFURBISHMENT In our Report for 2010/11 we described how March Station, where the line to Spalding, Lincoln and Doncaster once diverged from the Peterborough to Ely line, had, like so many other stations, suffered from the neglect resulting from reduced usage by the rail industry. We also described the formation of the Friends of March Railway Station (FoMRS), with initial support from the local authority, and how we had funded a conservation management plan (CMP) for the island platform buildings.

We are pleased to see that since then FoMRS has developed into a small, but very successful, self-standing group. Its regular presence on the station has made it a much more welcoming place, and controlled an incipient vandalism problem. With help from Network Rail the Friends have cleared and restored the trackbed in the former Spalding platforms, and installed tracks in them.

They have also generally cleared and tidied the formerly semi-derelict fourth platform, and painted the footbridge span over the Spalding bay: as a result the station now looks much better than it has done for some years.

The Friends have also gained funding, including a Trust grant, for the restoration of three rooms that they occupy on the island platform. This project is the first stage of delivering the

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However, central sections, where horses would have drawn in, were latterly finished with granolithic surfacing. This had broken up, making it unsuitable for pedestrian traffic. Chiltern Railways included the Trust in discussions regarding the restoration of this area, and, after the project team recommended the introduction of York stone paving and a low-key restoration of the jarrah blocks, the Trust was happy to support the work with a small grant.

Sponsor: Chiltern Railways, Aylesbury Contractor: Walker Construction (UK) Ltd, Folkestone, Kent

recommendations of the CMP. Organisational delays have held the start of work back until 2013/14, but it is now underway.

Sponsor: Friends of March Railway Station, March, Cambridgeshire Designer & Contractor: Mark Hufford, March, Cambridgeshire Below: Interior view of March Station before restoration

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

REVIEW OF PROJECTS

Above: The station seen from outside Left: A restored room as a classroom Inset: Derelict windows before restoration Below: The new skylight over the former Gents

HARWICH TOWN STATION: REFURBISHMENT FOR TRAINING CENTRE In our Report for 2011/12 we described the Great Eastern Railway’s (GER) development of Harwich Town Station, and how the railway facilities there gradually fell into disuse, until The Harwich Mayflower Project (HMP) took over the goods shed as a base for its shipbuilding and training project. We concluded with the hope that HMP would be able to take over and restore the main station building, and a year later they are well on the way to completing that project.

The station building is a fairly typical, single-storey, GER structure. Built in yellow brick, with a hipped, slated, roof, the station is divided physically into two portions, with a passageway between them giving today’s passengers access to the trains. The platform canopy has been cut back, but sufficient remains to see

OXFORD: FORMER GOODS YARD WEIGHBRIDGE OFFICE The Great Western Railway (GWR) opened its first station at Oxford on 12th June 1844 – a terminus located to the south-west of the city centre in Grandpont. In 1845 the Oxford & Rugby Railway (O&RR) began construction of a line from New Hinksey to the south of the GWR station, and a service opened as far as Banbury on 2nd September 1850, although this was run by the

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

how it was built. On the street face, two small bay windows produce an effect somewhat reminiscent of a Midland Railway design, with a canopy between them over the entrance to the former booking office. However, all the building had been abandoned, and the southern block vandalised and set on fire, although Network Rail had partially restored the roof.

Having taken a lease of the station in November 2011, HMP initially used the northern section as an apprenticetraining facility. In consultation with the

Trust they agreed a plan to alter and restore the southern section, into which the apprentices would move whilst the northern building was restored. With a grant from the Trust, completion of the southern section took place late in 2012, and by March 2013 work on the northern portion was well advanced.

Restoration has maintained the exterior appearance of the building, and original features have been kept wherever possible. We are particularly pleased with the restoration of the sash windows, carried out by the apprentices.

However, the station is now a working building, is not listed, and some of the installation of central heating is perhaps more reflective of this than we might have hoped. Despite this, HMP has, in a very short time, brought three buildings (the goods shed and the two parts of the station building) from abandonment back into use, and thus ensured their survival. In addition, it is providing a valuable apprentice-training facility in a somewhat deprived area: for both of these achievements they are to be congratulated.

Sponsor: The Harwich Mayflower Project, Harwich, Essex Contractor: The Harwich Mayflower Project volunteers & apprentices

GWR who had, by then, taken over the O&RR. The operating arrangement was convoluted in that trains had to reverse out of the terminus southwards over a junction before heading north on the line to Banbury, and undertake the reverse manoeuvre on the return journey.

This arrangement did not last long, and in 1852 the Grandpont terminus closed to passenger traffic and the present through station opened on Park Street. However, the Grandpont

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terminus continued to be used as a goods depot until November 1872, and, indeed, the level of goods traffic was such that the area between Grandpont and Park Street was eventually extended to become Oxford South Goods Yard. The yard entrance, located at the end of Beckett Street, featured, as would be expected, a weighbridge and its associated office building. Following closure of the goods yard, this building gradually deteriorated but was never removed.

REVIEW OF PROJECTS

Didcot to complement the mechanism, and provide a demonstration feature.

The Trust gave two small grants towards the relocation of this building, one to BRB (Residuary) Ltd towards the dismantling of the building on behalf of GWSL, and a second to GWSL for transportation to Didcot. Although small, both of these grants are significant in that they represent the first paid from the recent legacy to the Trust from the estate of the late Henry Basil Maber.

BRB (Residuary) Ltd

As BRB (Residuary) Ltd had decided to market the portion of the former yard on which the weighbridge was located, interest was generated through the Great Western Society Ltd (GWSL) for the weighbridge office to be rescued and used at Didcot Railway Centre. The building is a standard GWR structure in blue and red engineering brick, with a simple, gabled, slated roof, with slate roll-top ridge tiles, and a small chimney stack originally serving a ‘Tortoise’ stove. The building was furnished with a door at one end, a window at the other, and a larger observation window facing the weighbridge, with the Pooley scales located inside, at one end. The GWSL had previously obtained a weighbridge table and mechanism from Martock on the former GWR Yeovil branch line, and the Oxford building will be re-erected at

The weighbridge building presents a sorry picture before removal

restoration of the whole station.

Although a small job, this project has been done to the usual high standards that we expect here, with conservation of the dado rails, door and window Left: Exterior view of the station building Below: Interior view of the station master's room

Dismantling Sponsor: BRB (Residuary) Ltd, London Contractor: Times Construction (Southern) Ltd, Salisbury, Wiltshire Transportation Sponsor: Great Western Society Ltd, Didcot, Oxfordshire Contractor: John Werrell & Son Ltd, Wootton, Oxfordshire

architraves, and repainting of the castiron fireplace, all being particularly noteworthy.

Sponsor: Brading Town Council, Isle of Wight Architect: R M Associates, Bembridge, Isle of Wight Contractor: John Martin Building & Groundworks, Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight

BRADING STATION: STATION MASTER’S & PORTERS’ ROOMS Brading is a typical example of a small country station. It is located on the Isle of Wight, and was the junction for the long-closed Bembridge branch. Despite the closure of this branch and the more recent singling of the Ryde to Shanklin line through the station, the actual buildings remain remarkably unspoilt and Brading Town Council has leased them all, on both platforms, as well as the now-disused signal box.

In 2005/06, and again in 2009/10, the Trust gave grants to the Council towards the restoration of the station.

The first grant enabled the opening up of the booking hall and waiting area for community use, whilst the second contributed to the restoration of the buildings on the disused platform, and the signal box.

This year a third, small, grant has enabled the Council to restore the station master’s office and the porters’ room, located at the south end of the main building, thus completing the

NATIONAL RAILWAY HERITAGE AWARDS The Railway Heritage Trust Conservation Award for 2012 was won by Pivovar Tap Ltd for the restoration of the Art Nouveau former tea room at York, creating the York Tap. The works were described in the Trust’s Report for 2011/12.

Additionally, the project to restore the former platform building at Burntisland (Fife Historic Buildings Trust), to which the Trust gave a grant, was also a recipient of a National Railway Heritage Award.

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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

GRANTS AND EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS: 2012/13

NETWORK RAIL The Trust has supported 36 projects (2011/12: 60) with 37 grants, which totalled £1,802,336 (2011/12: £1,837,459). 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 cancelled, brought forward or deferred.

BRB (RESIDUARY) LTD The Trust has supported two projects (2011/12: nil) with two grants, which totalled £320,000 (2011/12: nil). The grants assisted BRB (Residuary) Ltd in its management of non-operational buildings and structures remaining in its ownership.

MABER LEGACY The Trust has supported one project with two grants, which totalled £6,300, from the bequest of Henry Basil Maber. This project met the Trust’s objectives and also reflected Mr Maber’s sphere of railway heritage interest.

The projects were: NETWORK RAIL GRANT

BRB (R) & MABER BEQUEST GRANT

£

£

Page ENGLAND 14 Battersea Park Station: Interior restoration work 19 Bermondsey: Abbey Street Bridge: Environmental upgrade 29 Brading Station: Station master’s & porters’ rooms restoration 22 Brighton Station: Heritage works as part of station redevelopment 18 Bromsgrove: Locomen’s Graves: Restoration Carlisle: Victoria Street Overbridge: Colour scheme & improved parapet screen (£25,000) 9 Chester Station: Footbridge: – Strengthening works & masonry repairs plus new glazing – Replacement of corrugated cladding with glazing 26 Crystal Palace Station: – Heritage works in conjunction with station regeneration – Conversion of former restaurant to café 8 Frodsham Station: Installation of heritage fencing 12 Great Yarmouth: Vauxhall Bridge: Repairs & repainting 28

19 18 6 17

27 12 24 27 5 21 20 6 10 28

45,000 150,000 2,000 25,000 4,500 DEFERRED

18,548 (1) 225,000 (2) 2,000 (3) 0 0

36,251 163,749

100,000 (4) 0

250,000 23,000 771

366,172 (5) 20,000 (6) 771 (7) 50,000 BRB (R)

Harwich Town Station: – Restoration works for training centre 100,000 – Restoration of goods shed (£20,000) BROUGHT FORWARD Helsby Station: New stone finials & string course for chimneys 4,793 Huddersfield Station: Water Tower: Refurbishment for reuse as offices 55,000 Keighley Station: Restoration of platform waiting room 39,000 Leatherhead: Station Master’s House: Works to windows, doors, masonry, 10,000 roof & cast-iron details London Kings Cross Station: Replacement of OHL structures BROUGHT FORWARD in train shed with headspan wires (£150,000) London Marylebone Station: Renovation of heritage paving 8,560 at Harewood Avenue entrance London Waterloo Station: Refurbishment of bronze balustrades & 18,500 installation of new treads to Victory Arch steps Loughborough Station: Relocation of footbridge to the Midland 13,500 Railway at Butterley Station March Station: Refurbishment of three rooms 9,000 Morpeth Station: Production of a conservation management plan 4,000 Network Rail Archives: Conservation of historic drawings 10,000 Newcastle Central Station: Production of a conservation management plan 5,000 Newcastle upon Tyne: George Stephenson Statue: Restoration 19,200 Nottingham Station: Alterations & refurbishment as part of the HUB project 100,000 Oxford: Former Goods Yard Weighbridge Office: – Dismantling for eventual re-erection – Transport of dismantled office to Didcot Railway Centre

16

Oxford: Rewley Road Swing Bridge: Restoration (£75,000) Peckham Rye Station: – Repair & restoration of windows & doors – Engineering support to scheme to restore & extend cast-iron & stone stair

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

30

EXTERNAL EXTERNAL CONTR’B’N CONTR’B’N NETWORK BRB (R) & RAIL MABER BEQUEST £ £

341,700 (8)

142,853 (9) 0 345,000 (10) 22,531 (11) 0

9,685 (12) 0 9,937 (13) 13,500 (14) 4,000 (15) 0 10,000 (16) 28,800 (17) 198,555 (18) 6,000 MABER 300 MABER

0 0

DEFERRED 4,500 1,500

1,795 (19) 5,000 (20)

GRANTS AND EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS: 2012/13

NETWORK RAIL GRANT

BRB (R) & MABER BEQUEST GRANT

£ Page 105,000 Ribblehead: Station Master’s House: Works to return building to a typical 10 Midland Railway condition DEFERRED Salisbury Station: Water Tower: Relocation to Swanage Railway (£26,500) 14 Scarborough Station: Restoration of former parcels office as an art studio 50,000 1,000 21 Settle & Carlisle Line: Design Guide: Updating document & making it web-publishable 67,000 7 Sheffield Midland Station: Refurbishment of former dining room to include a meeting room & showcase microbrewery 65,000 24 Southampton Central Station: Heritage refurbishment as part of major development scheme 4 Wakefield Kirkgate Station: Refurbishment for reuse 200,000 BROUGHT FORWARD York Station: Refurbishment of former tea room & conversion to a bar (£33,000) SCOTLAND Aberdour Signal Box: Conversion to a café (£75,000) DEFERRED 2,404 25 Dunrobin Castle Station: Restoration of toilet facilities Helmsdale: Station Master’s House: Refurbishment for reuse (£35,000) DEFERRED 7,340 8 Ladybank: Station Master’s House: Refurbishment for use as artists’ studio & workshop CANCELLED Laurencekirk Station: Fitting out of store room for reuse as a local museum (£4,000) 23 Pitlochry Station: Restoration of Victorian drinking fountain 1,268 20 Pollokshaws West Station: Restoration & conversion to cycle business & 190,000 community facility WALES 11 Bethesda Branch: Transfer of ownership allowing for creation of cycle route

£

23

Llanelli Goods Shed: Preparation of a conservation management plan

COMBINED NETWORK RAIL, BRB (RESIDUARY) LTD AND MABER BEQUEST GRANT TOTAL

93,500 (22) 2,500 (23) 98,720 (24) 186,425 (25) 1,363,333 (26)

3,000 (27) 10,864 (28)

1,902 (29) 542,674 (30)

270,000 BRB (R)

10,500 1,802,336

EXTERNAL EXTERNAL CONTR’B’N CONTR’B’N NETWORK BRB (R) & RAIL MABER BEQUEST £ £ 88,000 (21)

250,737 (31) 15,109 (32)

320,000 BRB (R) 6,300 MABER

3,930,174

592,437 BRB (R)

2,128,636

COMBINED NETWORK RAIL, BRB (RESIDUARY) LTD AND MABER BEQUEST EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS TOTAL External contributions were from: (1) Battersea Park Station: Southern (2) Bermondsey: Abbey Street Bridge: London Borough of Southwark (3) Brading Station: Association of Community Rail Partnerships, South West Trains (4) Chester Station: Footbridge: Cheshire West and Chester Council, Heritage Lottery Fund (5) Crystal Palace Station: Transport for London (6) Crystal Palace Station: Laura Thomas & Jess Allen (7) Frodsham Station: North Cheshire Rail Users’ Group (8) Great Yarmouth: Vauxhall Bridge: Asda, Fair Share Trust, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Railway Paths Ltd plus others (9) Harwich Town Station: The Harwich Mayflower Project, Harwich Town Council (10) Huddersfield Station: Water Tower: Association of Community Rail Partnerships, ERDF (11) Keighley Station: West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (12) London Marylebone Station: Chiltern Railways (13) Loughborough Station: Midland Railway Trust Ltd including voluntary labour (14) March Station: Friends of March Railway Station (15) Morpeth Station: Greater Morpeth Development Trust, Northumberland County Council (16) Newcastle Central Station: East Coast (17) Newcastle upon Tyne: George Stephenson Statue: Newcastle City Council (18) Nottingham Station: Nottingham City Council (19) Peckham Rye Station: London Borough of Southwark Cleaner Greener Safer Fund

4,522,611

(20) Peckham Rye Station: London Borough of Southwark (21) Ribblehead: Station Master’s House: The Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust (22) Scarborough Station: Arts Council England, Coastal Communities, English Heritage (23) Settle & Carlisle Line: Design Guide: Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line, Northern Rail, The Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company (24) Sheffield Midland Station: Pivovar Tap Ltd (25) Southampton Central Station: Department for Transport (NSIP), South West Trains, Southampton City Council (26) Wakefield Kirkgate Station: Eggborough Power Ltd, ERDF, Garfield Weston Foundation, Grand Central, Groundwork, Metro, Northern Rail, Wakefield Metropolitan District Council (27) Dunrobin Castle Station: Daniel Brittain-Catlin (28) Ladybank: Station Master’s House: Fife Council, Off The Rails Arthouse (29) Pitlochry Station: First ScotRail, Perth & Kinross Council (30) Pollokshaws West Station: The Architectural Heritage Fund Project Development Grant, Better Glasgow Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Glasgow Housing Association, Glasgow South West Regeneration Agency, The Hugh Fraser Foundation, Landfill Tax, Merchants House: Dean of Guild Charitable Trust, The Robertson Trust, The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, Scottish Power Green Energy Trust, South West Community Cycles, The Steel Charitable Trust, The Trades House of Glasgow, Transport Scotland, Trusthouse Charitable Foundation (31) Bethesda Branch: Gwynedd Council, Railway Paths Ltd (32) Llanelli Goods Shed: The Architectural Heritage Fund, Carmarthenshire County Council, Communities First Trust Fund, Llanelli Town Council

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RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

THE TRUST’S ACCOUNTS: 2012/13

The Annual Report and Accounts covers the operations of the Railway Heritage Trust during the period 1st April 2012 to 31st March 2013.

Established in 1985, the Trust is an independent registered company limited by guarantee, supported by Network Rail the conservation and enhancement of buildings and structures owned by these organisations that are listed or scheduled, or of special architectural or historical interest; and ■ 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.

FINANCIAL REPORT The Trust’s financial activities in 2012/13 are summarised as follows: FUNDING ALLOCATED TO PROJECTS

By Network Rail

By BRB (Residuary) Ltd

By Maber Bequest

■

In 2012/13, the Trust awarded 41 grants towards the costs of 39 restoration and other projects. Nine grants were cancelled, deferred or brought forward.

AUDITED ACCOUNTS Price Firman, London, audited and approved the Trust’s Accounts for 2012/13. At the Trust’s Annual General Meeting in July 2013 the Executive Board considered, approved, adopted and signed the audited Accounts and, as required by law, then deposited the signed Accounts 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 2013, the Auditors stated: ‘In our opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s affairs as at 31st March 2013 and of its profit for the year then ended; have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006’. They further stated: ‘In our opinion the information given in the Directors’ Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements’.

Price Firman Chartered Accountants Registered Auditor London July 2013

EXPENDED ON PROJECTS 37 Grants to Network Rail projects 2 Grants to BRB (Residuary) Ltd projects 2 Grants to Maber bequest projects

1,802,336 320,000 6,300 2,128,636

FUNDING FOR TRUST’S OPERATIONS From Network Rail From BRB (Residuary) Ltd

220,099 20,000

Total Income Total Expenditure – Administration

240,099 240,099

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY As the Report shows, we have dealt with fewer projects in the last year. However, the size of individual projects has generally been greater. This has meant that we have had to deal with considerable complexity, particularly as several projects were delayed so that they only started at the very end of the financial year. We would not have been able to complete our grant-giving programme without considerable efforts by Malcolm and Claire, and, as ever, I am most grateful for their on-going help.

Last year I mentioned the difficulties we faced with changes in train operating company (TOC) franchises. The subsequent collapse of the West Coast rebid process has been, for us, a blessing in disguise as we now have longer periods to develop projects with most TOCs. However, despite my concerns about the risks that the prototype 99-year lease to Greater Anglia could give, I am pleased to report that the model is working successfully, and we are seeing more projects developing in East Anglia.

We relocated our office twice in the year covered by this Report. As a result we are now located next to Network Rail’s Town Planning Team, and both of us are finding considerable benefits from this, as we generally are aware of developments at listed stations earlier, and can feed in our comments at the concept stage. Another benefit of the move was that we finally had to address what to do with 28 years of filing, and as a result we have managed to send vast amounts of paperwork for archiving.

During the last two years we have had considerable problems in getting adequate financial information from Network Rail. Happily, new personnel at Manchester and at their London headquarters have now resolved this, and we are able to follow our expenditure more simply than had been the case in the past.

There is a final, pleasant, duty for me to report on: we have become involved in the discussions about the recreation of a doric portico at Euston (the Euston Arch). Whilst we remain broadly neutral on whether or not the portico should be rebuilt, we have strong views on the location of the structure if it is recreated. We have argued that it must not detract from the listed lodges and war memorial at the front of the station, and my letter to The Times to this effect seems to have raised more debate on the subject. The Euston Arch Trust is discussing options with us, and its website shows both our and their current proposals.

Andy Savage Executive Director London July 2013

The Trust is registered in England and Wales as company number 1876790.

RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST 2013

£ 1,799,600 320,000 6,300 2,125,900

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Railway Heritage Trust 1 Eversholt Street London NW1 2DN 020 7904 7354 rht@railwayheritagetrust.co.uk www.railwayheritagetrust.co.uk