Campaigners say the constructing ‘stands uncared for, with no clear plan for its future’.
A charity fears for the way forward for the previous station (Picture: Thomas Ollivier)
A former UK railway station stands deserted and deteriorating, with a charity warning it’s in danger. As soon as a bustling transport hyperlink, Strand Railway Station in Barrow-in-Furness is now recognised as a “vital survivor from the earliest part of the city’s speedy industrial progress,” the Victorian Society stated. Right this moment, it’s vacant, and its future is unsure, it added.
In-built 1863, the station served a small however fast-expanding group earlier than it was reworked into a serious industrial and maritime centre, pushed by the extraction of iron ore and the event of rail and dock infrastructure. The opening of Devonshire Dock in 1867 additional accelerated this progress, prompting then-Prime Minister William Gladstone to foretell that Barrow would develop into “one other Liverpool”.
We use your sign-up to supply content material in methods you’ve got consented to and to enhance our understanding of you. This may increasingly embrace adverts from us and third events based mostly on our understanding. You’ll be able to unsubscribe at any time. Learn our Privateness Coverage
The Strand Station shaped a part of a wider complicated that included the places of work of the Furness Railway Firm and related engineering works. Nevertheless, its position as a passenger station was comparatively short-lived, as the unique railway alignment required trains to terminate at Barrow after which reverse out to proceed their journey, however this association rapidly proved inefficient. In 1882, a brand new through-route and Barrow Central Station have been opened, and the unique website was relegated to secondary makes use of.
The construction is vacant (Picture: Thomas Ollivier)
The constructing was not demolished, however tailored. There have been reported plans to transform it right into a studying room and library for railway staff, with components of the location additionally used as a drill corridor. What adopted was an extended interval of reuse, and by the early twentieth century, the location was the Railwaymen’s Membership, which offered academic and social services for over a century.
Alcohol was launched in 1947, and by the Nineties, the membership confronted monetary pressures, narrowly avoiding closure. It lastly closed in 2008, after greater than a century.
The Victorian Society stated: “Right this moment, the constructing is owned by an absentee landlord and is in seen decline. As soon as a part of the bustling centre of Barrow’s industrial and civic life, it now stands uncared for, with no clear plan for its future.
“With out intervention, additional deterioration is inevitable.”
The charity is asking for the constructing to be introduced again into energetic use by means of “delicate restoration”.
It added: “As a sturdy and adaptable construction that has already supported a variety of capabilities, it presents a transparent alternative for regeneration. This can be a constructing that has regularly developed to fulfill the wants of the city, and may achieve this once more.”
The previous Strand Railway Station will additional deteriorate if no motion is taken, it’s feared (Picture: Thomas Ollivier)
Griff Rhys Jones, president of the Victorian Society, stated: ”I really like a railway station. The Victorians have been virtually at their greatest, constructing their good-looking, accessible, usable, human-scaled transport community on strains that modified the world.
“Right here is an instance of an excellent constructing that has already been repurposed. That is the inexperienced possibility. Use it once more. Don’t let it fall into decay.”
James Hughes, director of the Victorian Society, stated: “This constructing is intently tied to Barrow’s exceptional rise as an industrial powerhouse.
“Its historical past of adaptation exhibits precisely the form of sustainable reuse we ought to be championing right this moment. What is required now’s a transparent dedication to securing its future earlier than additional deterioration takes maintain.”
Leave a Reply