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Friday 30 Jan 2009

LORD PENDRY OPENS NEW STATION BUFFET BAR EXTENSION

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Lord Pendry has opened the new conservatory that forms part of the famous buffet bar on Stalybridge station and replaces the original 123-year-old structure.

With the support of Lord Pendry and the Railway Heritage Trust, Network Rail has replaced the old structure with a like-for-like facility incorporating many of the original features, particularly stained glass windows.

Unveiling a plaque to mark the completion of the £50,000 project, Lord Pendry said: “This buffet bar has a special place in my heart as one who helped resurrect it in 1994 when it was condemned to be demolished by British Rail/Railtrack at that time. I led a delegation to British Rail at Manchester Piccadilly and successfully gained a reprieve.

“In view of the state of the conservatory however, it would not have stood the test of time without the involvement of Network Rail and the Railway Heritage Trust for they, after listening to those of us who cared for this part of Stalybridge’s heritage, helped restore the conservatory to its present form. We would not have witnessed the restoration of this building otherwise.”

The buffet bar is famous throughout the north west and even further afield, and regularly has 50 people a night sampling the wide range of real ales available from the eight hand pumps in the bar. It was voted the best bar in Tameside in the 2008 Tameside Food & Drink Festival and got a special recognition award 2008 from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for having 20 separate entries in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

Over 6,800 guest ales have been sold since 1997 under the watchful eye of landlords John Hesketh and Sylvia Wood

Patrick Cawley, Network Rail’s territory buildings engineer commented: “This is a perfect example of what can be achieved when hearts and minds come together to achieve a single goal. Network Rail has received financial and moral support from both Lord Pendry and the Railway Heritage Trust, and we worked closely with John and Sylvia to minimise disruption to their regular customers. The end result is a facility that could well last another 123 years.”

The original station opened in 1845 and was replaced by the existing building 40 years later – because of complaints about overcrowding and poor facilities.

At one time, the buffet consisted of just the conservatory, bar and a kitchen but it was later extended and what was the first class ladies waiting room is now the main part of the buffet bar.

The conservatory lasted 123 years but eventually had to be replaced because it was quite simply beyond repair. However, care was taken to replicate the original but using modern materials, including stained glass windows which were specially restored and incorporated in the new building.

Jim Cornell, executive director of the Railway Heritage Trust, stated that he was delighted that the Trust had been able to support the careful restoration of this historic building which not too long ago had been a building at risk. Through becoming involved in a partnership approach the Trust had also fulfilled one of its key objectives in helping to conserve the nation’s built heritage.

Further information can be found by visiting the bar’s own website at www.buffetbar.freewebspace.com