Wensleydale Railway invites visitors to step back in time to the 1920s at Leeming Bar station near Bedale

The Wensleydale Railway Association Trust has restored Leeming Bar station house, thanks to a £500,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The parcels office, ticket room and ladies waiting room and kitchen are now being decorated and furnished to how they looked a century ago, with the walls painted in the mustard and red North Eastern Railway colours, ready for the return of visitors in three months time.

Volunteers will dress in period costume to add to the atmosphere.

Leeming Bar Station dates from 1848, when the line was first built and features a classical portico entrance facing the old Great North Road.

The building - which was threatened with demolition in the 1960s - has been used most recently for staff working for the railway and there has been no public access.

Spokesperson Rachael Roberts said the 1920s were “probably the peak time for rail travel”, adding: “It was a very busy time for railways.

“They had a lot of freight traffic on the line and were increasing milk movements to London. Milk from Wensleydale could be on the tables by tea-time.”

When the railway reopens, visitors will be able to travel on heritage diesel trains or Pacer trains and there will also a busy schedule of tours, talks and period cooking demonstrations.

For now talks are being delivered over Zoom or Facebook at 7pm every Wednesday, with Wensleydale Railway management trainee Connor Lagus due to deliver the next one on March 10 on the day the railway opened in Wensleydale.

The heritage line, which operates over 22 miles, starts at Northallerton and runs up to Redmire on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, passing through Bedale and Leyburn.

For a Zoom invite to take part in a talk contact [email protected].