Shropshire Star

Railway society's museum plans on track

It's full steam ahead for a railway restoration project as it gets the green light for a museum experience on old rail site.

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The team taking part in the restoration of the weighbridge building on the old railway site in Bishops Castle. Pictured L-R: Peter Broxholme, Roger Dalton, Mike Boyd, David O'Neill and Malcol Reeves.

Bishop's Castle Railway Society said they are thrilled that their plans to transform an old railway building into a museum and visitor centre have been approved.

Shropshire Council's planning department approved the plans to restore the building and an original Great Western Railway Banana Van, on the site in Station Street.

Malcolm Reeves painting woodwork during the restoration of the weighbridge building on the old railway site in Bishops Castle.

The group hopes it will bring in more tourism to the town and said they are now excited to look to the future of the site.

Lin Dalton, of the society, said: "We are thrilled to have received the green light from Shropshire Council's Planning Department to enable us to go ahead in earnest to restore and regenerate the original railway building on its original site.

"We were particularly pleased that they considered the project to be conserving and enhancing a heritage asset and that the addition of the GWR Banana Van is sympathetic to the character of the site.

Interior shot of the weighbridge building on the old railway site in Bishops Castle as it undergoes a full restoration.

"We want to bring history to life and attract people who are interested in railway but also people who are interested in the social history."

The society, led by chairman, John Rimmer, has already successfully restored the weighbridge mechanism on site and has nearly completed restoring the historic railway building.

Each window on the building has been sponsored by local people or companies and will in the future house research on the history of the railway that ran through Bishop's Castle until 1935.

The restoration of the weighbridge building on the old railway site in Bishops Castle.

Lin said: "The plan is to provide a railway interpretation and visitor centre, exploring how the coming of the railway in 1865 changed the lives of those in a small isolated community by enabling cheaper goods to come into the area, local produce to reach wider markets and make travel to the larger towns possible, thus bringing prosperity to the area."

The stories of the people who worked on the railway, the businesses that used it and the community that travelled on it will be explored at the museum through the society's research.

Once completed, there will be an area for small community meetings, refreshments and relaxation.

The site will next be open Saturday, March 21 to coincide with the Model Railway Exhibition in the adjacent public hall which aims to raise funds for the project.

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