Ceremony marks rebirth of steam age at Consall

On March 12th the Churnet Valley Railway will celebrate completion of its seven-year restoration project at Consall when a plaque marking a prestigious national award is unveiled.

The £200,000 restoration has seen the rebuilding of the wooden Consall station along with two platforms, signal box, new signalling system and restoration of a unique waiting shelter. It’s a meticulous reconstruction that has returned the station to how it looked on its opening day back in 1902.

The Victorian-themed VIP event on Sunday March 12th will also include the unveiling of a plaque at Kingsley & Froghall station. The £300,000 scheme to build this station was recognised along with the Consall project in the 2005 National Railway Heritage Awards.

Special guests will include former Blue Peter presenter Simon Groom who first visited the Churnet Valley Railway back in 1983 when the BBC TV programme featured the transfer of the old signal box from Clifton, near Ashbourne. The box now forms part of the meticulous restoration project at Consall.

Hidden deep in the Churnet Valley, Consall lost its railway services in the Sixties. In the years that followed the station building was demolished, the platforms crumbled and the wooden waiting shelter – built overhanging the Caldon Canal – started to fall to pieces.

The first train of the Churnet Valley’s new steam age stopped at Consall in 1998 and since then the station – backed by the sale of shares, voluntary efforts and grants from the European Regional Development Fund and the Single Regeneration Budget – has grown into one of the highlights of a visit to the railway.

“We are really delighted with Consall, it’s an absolute gem. The station’s so authentic that it looks like it’s been there for years,” said CVR director David Gaskin, who used period photographs to design the replacement station to precisely match the lost original. CVR commercial manager Margaret Mountford agreed. “It really is the jewel in the crown of the Churnet Valley Railway,” she said. “It’s such an idyllic setting where the railway crosses both the Caldon Canal and the River Churnet.”

Visitors will be able enjoy the Victorian-themed celebrations for themselves with services operating from both Cheddleton and Kingsley & Froghall from 10am onwards on Sunday March 12. Passengers should note that they can only visit Consall station by train because there is no public access to the site.



SOURCE Churnet Valley Railway