The Old Station Building

Rob Shorland-Ball has now finished his report and we would like to thank him for all his hard work. Liz Davies, the NVR's Curatorial Advisor, is now working with the NVR to try to develop the fund raising appeal.

The old Wansford station is a Grade 2 Listed Building which now needs urgent repairs.

It stands beside platform 3 of the Nene Valley Railway (NVR) but does not belong to the railway.

The Nene Valley Railway Heritage Centre Group was set up in 2003 to rescue the old Wansford station building and provide a home for the Nene Valley Railway's growing collection of historic objects and information.

What are our plans?

We plan to raise enough money (£160,000) to purchase the Old Station Building.

After purchasing the building we intend to apply for a Heritage Lottery Grant to restore the building and develop it as our new Railway Heritage Centre, with displays of objects and information about the Nene Valley Railway and the history of steam power. We also plan to create a community space where group activities and special events can be held.

Our Aims

• Purchase and restore the Station Building
• Recreate the original Victorian booking hall
• Provide a room for group and community use
• Display the many objects we have collected
• Develop new hands-on activities
• Reveal the people who worked on the railway
• Tell the stories of our railway passengers
• Develop new children's activities and events
• Set up a new Old Station Building website

Progress so far:

Spring 2003

Fund raising appeal launched:

£20,000 raised so far

Summer 2004

Grant received from the Heritage Lottery Fund to appoint a Project Planning Officer to develop plans for a Heritage Centre in the old station building

Summer 2005

Report by Project Planning Officer completed

Report includes:

Conservation Management Plan
Audience Development Plan
Access Plan
Design Concept Proposals

What's next?

Continue fund raising to purchase the building Introduce changes suggested in our Project Planning Report

Begin work on a major lottery bid to restore and develop the building

Develop new activities and events to raise funds and improve facilities

We need your help!

To purchase the old Wansford Station Building we need to raise another £130,000 as soon as possible.

Any donation that you can give will go towards our campaign to purchase the building and develop a Nene Valley Railway Heritage Centre.

All donations will be recorded in a book which will be on permanent display in our new Heritage Centre.

For further information about the project and how you can help please contact Brian White at the Nene Valley Railway on 01780 784444.

A Heritage Centre for the Nene Valley Railway

The Nene Valley Railway has been collecting items and information about the railway since 1977.

We now have over 2,000 items as well as hundreds of photographs and a wealth of written information about the station and the people who worked there.

We need a new building to enable us to tell the story of the railway and to explain the magic of steam to all our visitors.

If we were not able to purchase the Wansford Station Building we will use the money raised through donations to develop the Heritage Centre on another part of our site.