The Colne Valley Railway has launched an appeal to raise up to £1 million for a major development of its Castle Hedingham headquarters – and for possible extensions.
Having secured ownership of the 11-acre site and 0.9-mile running line in 2016 thanks to a £1.75m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Colne Valley Railway Preservation Ltd is now looking to raise match-funding, allowing it to seek further grant aid for its plans.
A list of 10 projects has been drawn up: a steam locomotive running shed; a steam locomotive engineering building; diesel locomotive maintenance, carriage restoration, and wagon maintenance buildings; a goods yard area, with shunting demonstrations taking place on selected dates; an extension to the current Brewster Museum; installation of the former Kennett signal box to control the western end of the running line at Drawell; a ‘village hall’-type building to act as a multi-purpose venue, with classroom and function room; and a children’s outdoor play area.
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The railway stated: “Most funding bodies require an element of matched funding ranging from 20% to 50%, so a small amount from the fund can release a much larger amount from grants. Most of the projects will need £100,000 or more; having £20,000 of matched funding available will greatly increase the chances of a project going ahead.”
As far as modern regulations allow, all the new developments will be constructed along the lines of original Colne Valley & Halstead Railway buildings: the steam running shed, for instance, will be designed to resemble the shed at the route’s former northern terminus of Haverhill. Being located adjacent to the station entrance road, it is also intended for this building to have public access.
CVRPL chairman Paul Lemon also revealed that the railway wants to build up its reserves of funding so that it can consider possible extensions to the running line.
There are three options for extending the CVR, though which is chosen will depend on what land can be purchased. In a north-westerly direction, the original line towards Great Yeldham could be rebuilt; and to the south-east, the goals would be Sible Hedingham and Halstead, though this would require the construction of a deviation to bypass new housing, built on the original trackbed in Castle Hedingham.
The third option is to head in a north-easterly direction towards the village of Gestingthorpe – creating an all-new formation over the route of a light railway to Long Melford that was proposed in 1898, but never constructed.
Donations – to which 25% Gift Aid can be added – can be made to Colne Valley Railway Preservation Ltd at The Hedingham Development Fund, Colne Valley Railway, Yeldham Road, Castle Hedingham, Essex CO9 3DZ, or Barclays Bank account number 33617947, sort code 20-97-40.
Meanwhile, the CVR is seeking to hire a steam locomotive for the 2025 season, preferably with a cab large enough to accommodate driver experience courses. Its current loan engine, Andrew Barclay 0-6-0ST Works No. 2138 Swordfish, is about to move to the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, where it will work out the remaining weeks of its boiler certificate on Santa specials.
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