Former railway house becomes latest Dales tourist base

Wednesday 24 Apr 2013

Former railway house becomes latest Dales tourist base

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Anyone interested in walking, caving, potholing, photography, nature - and of course, the railway - now has brand new self catering accommodation in which to base themselves in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

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The former station master’s house at Ribblehead on the famous Settle to Carlisle railway line has been completely transformed by a Trust dedicated to preserving buildings on this historic line.

The Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust invested approximately £300,000 to turn the house into self catering accommodation that can sleep up to six people.

Trust chairman Peter Drury said: “I'm enormously proud of what the Trust has achieved in restoring the house to its original glory, with painstaking attention to historical detail.

I would also like to pay tribute to the excellent project management provided by Network Rail, and to the restoration team which persevered through some very hostile weather and has done a great job.”

A substantial financial contribution towards the work came from the Railway Heritage Trust whose chairman Sir William McAlpine officially opened the house on 24 April.

Sir William said: “We were very pleased to support the Settle and Carlisle Trust in restoring this building. The project reunites all the buildings at Ribblehead station as one group, and also has restored the building to its original appearance, whilst meeting a modern-day need. We congratulate all involved in the project.”

Funds also came from the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line, and Edward Album who is a founder member of the Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust.

The house is available to rent from the end of May and has been added to two other self catering railway properties the Trust owns at Kirkby Stephen. All three can be booked through the Trust’s website at www.sandctrust.org.uk/stayatastation and provide vital income for restoration and maintenance of other buildings along the line.

Notes to editors

For further information contact
Keith Lumley
Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust
media@sandctrust.org.uk
07974 756213

Sir William McAlpine, chairman of the Railway Heritage Trust will officially open the refurbished station master’s house at 1230 on Wednesday 24 April 2013

You are invited to send representatives to cover the opening event

If travelling by train to the event you need to catch either the 0853 from Carlisle to Ribblehead (which will give you nearly two hours to sample the delights of the area including the nearby Station Inn) or the 1049 from Leeds arriving at 1202.

If travelling to the event by car the postcode for your satnav is LA6 3AS

The station master’s house

The house was built in 1875 by the Midland Railway and was one of 20 built to serve the stations along the line.

It is the only one to be fully restored to its original external appearance.

It was taken out of use as a house in the 1960s

It was latterly used by a school as outward bound accommodation

It was acquired by the Trust in 2006

Restoration work was carried out by DTA Construction Ltd and project managed by Network Rail

The Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust - background

The Settle to Carlisle railway line was built between 1869 and 1875 by the Midland Railway to provide it with a fast route to Scotland across the Pennines.

However, it progressively lost out to the east and west coast routes and came under threat of closure from the 1960s onwards.

A six-year fight against closure ensued from 1983 to 1989 leading to the decision by the then Department of Transport not to close the line.

The Minister for Transport proposed the establishment of a charitable trust to assist with the restoration of buildings and structures along the line.

The Trust was established by Trust Deed on 14 March 1990 and is registered with the Charity Commission.

Contact information

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03457 11 41 41

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