Saturday (21 July 2018) saw the official opening of Middleton Railway’s new running shed, by local ward member and Leader of Leeds City Council, Cllr Judith Blake.
Photos by Steve Thompson
The shed has taken a number of years to complete and was funded in part byu the Friends of Middleton Railway’s Buy a Brick campaign.
The Running Shed will enable the locomotives to be kept inside, reducing the negative impact of adverse weather and meaning that the work undertaken by volunteers will last longer.
Cllr Judith Blake told South Leeds Life:
“I’m delighted to be here today and I really want to start by paying tribute to the incredible number of volunteers who come along day after day, through all sorts of weather and conditions and just make it possible for Middleton Railway to continue.
“It’s the oldest working railway in the world and today is a real opportunity to celebrate the industrial heritage of Leeds. Braime’s, the incredible engineering firm in Hunslet, now the site of the University Technical College, has provided the wooden flooring which came from their sheet pressings factory which was built in 1913 so a lot of heritage to celebrate today.
“But as a local ward member I just want to pay tribute to everyone who has made it possible to have the opening of the shed today. We know the railway has been subject to some mindless vandalism and it’s the spirit of everyone who is involved to just get beyond incidents like that and make sure that we have the opening and so many people coming along today to really celebrate this incredible achievement.”
Cllr Kim Groves added:
“You can see from the volume of people here today just how popular Middleton Railway is right across the city and to all age groups.
“I’m delighted to be here with the Friends of Middleton Railway who play such a valuable part in our community, not only for the history but also on the educational front for our children.”
This post was written by Steve Thompson.
