On Friday 1st June members of the project team organised an event as part of the Lincolnshire Wolds Walking Festival.

The event allowed people to come and learn about the history of the station and it’s importance to the town. Those in attendance were able to enjoy a 1.5 mile walk, this was made even more enjoyable because of the glorious weather we had on the day. As the route started and ended at the station there was also an opportunity for a guided tour of the station building and a chance to ask questions to some of the Lindum employees who were in attendance.

Our Heritage Officer Hazel Barnard led the tour, and throughout the route paused at regular intervals to explain the history of the town and the significance of some of the buildings. Hazel brought with her old photos and other artefacts to allow participants to fully appreciate the heritage of the station and the town.

Daniel Clark who works in the Marketing team at the Lindum Group assisted Hazel on the tour and was on hand to answer any questions about the project.

Below shows the route of the walk.

On Tuesday 1st May and Thursday 3rd May members of the 2nd Market Rasen Scouts, Cubs and Beavers Group visited Market Rasen Train Station to see how the work is progressing.

The children, parents and leaders were given a guided tour by Lindum BMS Site Manager Andy Atkinson, he explained some of the heritage techniques used in the restoration of the building such as the method of plastering, how the windows are restored or replaced and the stone masonry skills on show. During the tour the children also learnt about what health & safety measures need to be in place whilst working on a building site.

After the tour Daniel Clark, part of the Marketing team at Lindum Group Ltd did a presentation to the children at the Scout Hut explaining the storey of the restoration work so far. He explained about how the heritage lottery funding works and showed the groups what the building will look like when completed. Daniel also brought with him some old photos of the project including some when the signal box was present and when the roof was over the train track.

Dan Cole leader of the 2nd Market Rasen Cubs Group said, “It was a brilliant evening, everyone really enjoyed their visit to the station. It’s nice to see that this building is being brought back to life. We would like to thank Andy and Dan for giving up their time and giving us an insight into the  brilliant work Lindum are doing at the station. We look forward to visiting again once the project is finished.”

The 2nd Market Rasen Scouts, Cubs and Beavers Group kindly donated two bird boxes to the project as a thank you and we would like to thank them for their generous donation, we will be putting these up at the station when the project is completed.

Bird Boxes donated by the 2nd Market Rasen Scout Group

On Friday, 16th March we were delighted to open the Station doors to 42 students and their tutors to allow them to gain an insight into heritage construction and some of the skills and methods being used daily on our project to restore the Station.

Students attended from De Aston School, Lincoln and Grimsby Colleges. The morning was hosted by our good friends at Lindum Construction who started the day with a health and safety induction carried out by Site Manager, Andy Atkinson which enabled them to see how a ‘real’ building site works.

The groups were then given a guided tour of the building including an external view which gives good views from the platform side of the windows and doors that have already been replaced. This was followed by a demonstration and discussion with our stone mason, Gary who explained how this traditional skill is so different to modern construction methods, followed by Ian who went through the process of repairing traditional sash windows.

Also attending was Sara Hobson, training manager, Daniel Clark marketing coordinator at Lindum and Ian Hind our architect.

Despite the wet and windy weather, all students enjoyed their time at the Station and are looking forward to re-visiting the project before completion at the end of May.

As we continue to make good progress with the restoration work, we are pleased to announce that our first tenant has been confirmed.

Market Rasen resident, Mandy Wilton has decided to set up a new venture at the station having seen the potential of the building. Mandy will be opening a coffee shop at the train station called Platform 2. Mandy had a “lightbulb moment” when she saw the property.

She said “I am a regular train user and have often thought I could do with a coffee whilst standing out in the cold on the platform”.

Mandy will be running the shop with her daughter and will hopefully look to recruit in the future once they are settled in their new premises. She is also keen to use local produce in the cafe and work with a local home baker to supply cakes etc.

Having Mandy at the station will provide train users with the opportunity to buy a coffee for the journey or sit inside in the warm whilst they wait for their train. Visitors to the Heritage Room will also be able to learn about the station history and then stay for a snack, as will users of the Community Room.

Although the weather continues to be against us, we’re delighted to let everyone know that work is now going ahead at speed at the Railway Station with an anticipated date for completion being end of May THIS YEAR!

West Lindsey District Council has approved our sample of lime mortar rendering which will be used for external repairs and we’re just waiting for the sample of stone repair to dry out and hopefully be approved.  The work on these samples has been carried out by our master stonemason Gary whose photo is here and also a photo of one of his colleagues carrying out a stone repair.

Gary has a wealth of knowledge of working with stone and Ancaster stone in particular which is the type of stone that was originally used on the Station, so if you are interested in talking to Gary please let us know as he is often on site.

Although our progress at the Station is slower than we would like, our master Stone Mason, Gary Dickman has produced a sample of stonework to make sure it matches the existing stonework in the entrance and windows, and the sample was pronounced to be ‘absolutely beautiful’ by officers at West Lindsey District Council.

Next week we will be carrying out repairs to the flat roof above the main entrance which will ensure that this part of the building will be watertight and in good condition going forward.

We already have interest in the offices and have been happy to show people round the building and luckily they seem to be able to envisage how good the building will look when work is complete!  We have also had interest shown in using part of the building as a tea room, so refreshments may also be available for visitors at the same time as learning about the history of the building.

If you would like further details on the office space please contact Lynn Ritson on 01522 852441 or 07795 604996.

After lots of hiccups along the way, our building work is progressing and thanks to our Heritage Lottery Grant we will also be able to provide Heritage Displays in the Station.  We have been busy  gathering information on the history of the Railway Station for  display and you may be able to help!

If anyone has any artefacts, or railway memorabilia, pictures etc which they would like to loan or donate to the Heritage Centre in the Station, do please get in touch with us on 01522 852441 or email via our website.

Our research has revealed a typical working day in the Station Master’s life in the 1950’s:

• 6.00am the mail and milk train arrived which the duty porter would deal with.
  7.30 the station was inspected and the drivers rota’s sorted for the day.
  9.00 the sack account was balanced, making sure each sack was accounted for.
  During the day all the passenger trains were seen off by the Station Master’s whistle.
  In the afternoon the goods, grain and produce that arrived from local farms were loaded onto goods wagons.
  3.00pm full wagons of coal arrived.
  On wages day the Station Master would travel to the signal boxes and gatehouses to deliver their wages by self propelling hand card.

There were three porters, two lorry drivers, a clerk and two other members of staff.

We hope to have lots of items and information to display but we need your help, so please get in touch.

The Girl Guides At the Station Waiting to Go to Camp – does anyone recognise themselves?  Please let us know if you remember this!

Now the excitement of being awarded our heritage lottery grant has sunk in, the real work begins!
Restoration works are programmed to start at the beginning of June, when we will begin to see real changes to the Station taking place.
In the meantime, advice has been taken from the West Lindsey Conservation Officer in conjunction with the Council Planning Officers to ensure that we do our best to restore the building sympathetically.
We are making arrangements to strip the stonework of its paint, as one of our first major jobs is to find out how much of the stonework actually needs replacing or repairing.
Replacing and repairing the stonework is highly skilled and expensive work. The highly skilled stonemasons at the Cathedral have been very helpful in giving us advice and confirming the original stone to be Ancaster Hard White,
Lots of craftsmen will be on site at different times with opportunities for trainees to learn about working on a listed building and the skills required, and at some point during the course of the refurbishment, we will be holding a demonstration where our stone mason will be able to show case his skills and for some hands-on work by trainees.
If you would like more information please email or keep checking our website or sign up to our blog to be kept informed.

The restoration of Market Rasen Old Railway Station has been given the green light thanks to National Lottery players!

Following a successful second round application by the specially formed Market Rasen Station Community Project Community Interest Company, a grant of £463,900 has been awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to transform the derelict Grade II listed railway station building.

Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this grant will now enable works to begin to restore the building dating back to 1848, when it was opened as part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.