Sponsored by
Your chance to rent a train spotters' haven in the Dales
FOR a rail enthusiast it could be the ultimate holiday destination.
Trains rumble past within feet at the end of the Ribblehead Viaduct and when they have gone there are amazing views across Yorkshire's Three Peaks.
Although the Settle-Carlisle railway was reprieved in 1989 and Ribblehead station north of Settle is now a popular stopping off point for walkers wanting access to Whernside, Ingleborough and Penyghent, the
former stationmaster's house remains semi-derelict.
Now the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is considering a planning application to restore the house, which forms part of the Settle-Carlisle linear conservation area, as a holiday let and also use the site for residential educational seminars.
The house was last used as a residential outdoor centre by King Edward VII and Queen Mary's School in Lytham St Annes, but its condition has deteriorated. There are gaping holes in some of its ceilings.
The project has the unanimous support of the Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line, who say they believe it will "greatly enhance the existing site comprising the station buildings and preserve the essential features of the old Midland Railway building".
They told the National Park Authority the Stationmaster's House "is in a dilapidated condition and urgently needs the restoration proposed".
Today the railway is a huge success, operating around the clock carrying coal, gypsum and other freight in addition to providing a passenger service through stunning scenery. The Stationmaster's House, which Settle and Carlisle Railway Properties Ltd wants to refurbish, is one of many heritage buildings along the line. Garsdale Station to the north is being restored by Network Rail.
At Ribblehead the trust wants to demolish a single-storey flat roof extension and replace it with a pitched roof extension, which would provide a hall, open plan kitchen and dining area and living room and seminar space. The completed project would have four bedrooms.
National Park planning officer Lisa Bartlett is recommending approval subject to a legal agreement being signed to allow an approval for two holiday flats granted in 2006 to be rescinded.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Video: Yorkshire brings out the bunting on a Jubilee weekend to remember
- Leeds United takeover in detail: The line-up of investors who could buy from Bates
- Yorkshire beaches may wave goodbye to blue flags as Europe moves goalposts
- Tomkins’s ‘genius’ leaves Leeds shell-shocked as Wigan run riot
- Review: Top Cat: The Movie (U)
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Monday 04 June 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South
