Lottery turns down funding for GCR Museum

I would agree although I would not put it in quite those terms. From what little of substance was actually communicated to FOGCML members, plus information in press releases etc (e.g. "at no cost to the NRM"), it seems this proposition was half-baked to start with. One problem is the dynamics of organisations, as while it may be screamingly obvious that the proposition did not have legs, organisations, particularly government ones will probably feel obliged to spend lots of time and money to confirm that conclusion rather than suggest the emperor has no clothes up front. And all the incentives are skewed the other way. No-one gets promoted for saying no, there is a natural wish to be associated with "bold" initiatives, and the NRM desperately wants to be a go-getting organisation rather than a stuffy institution (using Selznick's definitions). Now they can say they tried but those nasty people at HLF weren't such a soft touch as they thought and turned it down. In fairness to present incumbents, it may be that the initial decisions were taken by their predecessors.

 

I think, and hope, that this is a little unfair to the HLF. In any project, there’s only so far you can go before you need to spend a material amount of money to make sure that, if the project is kicked off for real, it will actually be viable.

My understanding is that the Stage 1 pass is intended to allow that detailed work to take place.

As a member of FoGCML, I’m naturally disappointed that a really interesting project is under threat, and that Leicester North may well remain an odd backwater. However, I am also conscious that lottery funding has gone to projects that have been economically unsustainable, and would much rather the project be pulled than continued regardless of that is the upshot of the review.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I can imagine they were vandalised, but take this picture from the GCRs own website about it showing it on the day they first started knocking it down in 1977. Doesn't look that bad to me. I am sure if this was today the effort would have been made to restore instead of get your sledge hammer out. You can see some more pictures here in 1981 http://www.gcrleicester.info/html/demolition.html even the station master house gone in 2001.
Surely the HLF would want to see what Heritage has already been preserved at the site already ?

 

An unusual way to demolish a building, starting at the bottom!

 

It worked for Fred Dibnah...

Tom

 

True.

 

Whilst it is a set back to those who did so much work to get the application in, i do wonder, would the involvement of the NRM now part of an government department have had an impact? are there rules that may have swung it away, from a positive outcome? prehaps a re think is needed, for instance, if the space museum is only a short distance away, and there is room for a terminus prehaps that might be a plan B assuming the railway don't say, we leave things as they are and decide the already have enough projects on the go.

 

I haven't looked at the Heritage lottery stuff recently but did so in detail in the past. They basically wont fund new stuff at all, it has to be money spent on old heritage stuff. They only way you will get a new building out of them is if you can persuade them it is to protect an existing heritage collection, ie they want to know what will go inside and that you basically putting a roof over that and of course it cant be to protect a private collection, so for a museum like this there would need to be a lot of stressing of the heritage items that will go in it.

 

But if the GCR was to create a new station at the space centre and use historic parts from other stations, there might be a chance of a grant. You could also add the museum using a rebuilt railway building to attract lottery money.

Keith

 

It depends on what land is availible, i suppose if you could re use the old bricks from the dismantled loco shed, or another suitable building to construct an replica GC station but if theres enough land could you build a semi roundhouse? it could act as both a museum building and running shed to house engines at the Leicester end of the line especiallly if it was decided to have watering and coaling facilities .

 

Out of interest, how would you suggest getting to the space centre, or Abbey lane pumping station?


The old formation (from memory) ran almost immediately due south from the current Leicester north station- so logically following this path would not take you to the space centre.


There is a significant road, a major roundabout and a pretty big change in elevation as well, plus much of the land near the Leicester outdoor pursuits centre on the south side of the a563 is on the flood plain for the River Soar.......which regularly floods during the winter.

 

http://www.gcrleicester.info/html/demolition.html

If I am not mistaken, this was actually Lutterworth Station.





[/QUOTE]

 

I thought extension to the space centre was close to impossible?

I've also never bought the argument that Belgrave and Birstall wouldn't have been suitable due to opening out onto the road. The only cars that use that section are accessing the golf club car park, and I'm sure a deal could have been done to make that incredible short section much safer.

I feels to me more likely that the ambition for a "proper terminus" was a significant factor in the decision to knock B&B down and open Leicester North, only for those plans to be foiled and to end up with something that looks like a 1:1 scale model of a Horny Skaledale building

 

[/QUOTE]

Too many buildings to be Lutterworth. There is only one station this could possibly be, and that is Birstall. See how carefully the buildings are being dismantled ? Not.

 

Yeah I had a quick look at Google maps. An extension in this direction is impossible as so many Bridges and embankments have been removed and new roads built. The Space centre isn't even near where the track was anyway, probably about a mile away. You can see the road here to the Golf club at Leicester North so the argument that it wouldn't have been good to open out onto the road is false as it would only be cars to and from the golf club no trucks thundering past etc. It is a big wide road with little traffic. In my opinion the station should have been kept as it was (like the gems Rothley and Quorn) and the part where the Leicester North station now is could have been used as car parking.

 

Whilst I can only agree that B&B station buildings should have been preserved not demolished, with the benefit of hindsight, what's done is done.
What should now be done here if the Museum as envisaged cannot now go ahead?
How much land does the GCR actually own?
Andy

 

The contractors demolishing the bridge over the Medway which connected Tovil to the ex SER Maidstone to Paddock Wood line managed to drop the whole lot in the river. Demolition contractors are not always the cleverest people.

 

That's one way of getting rid of rubble I suppose, better than fly tipping. What happened? were they made to remove as much as they could from the river? Or is the river too wide at that point?