A PROPOSAL to sell off the Wensleydale Railway’s (WR) disconnected Aysgarth station (see map below) has caused division within the railway’s membership.
The plans have been put forward as the railway’s board seeks to remedy a growing financial deficit.
Aysgarth lies just short of three miles from the WR’s current Redmire terminus, but is not connected to the rest of the railway.
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The well-preserved site consists of two platforms, a station house, waiting room, signalbox and goods shed, and has been looked after by a local station group on behalf of the WR for the last few years.
It sits just a short walk from the popular Aysgarth Falls, and as such is seen by many members as the crown jewel of the line.
Sale of the site would therefore derail any hopes of the WR ever reaching this tourist ‘honeypot’ in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
‘Difficult situation’
In a letter from Wensleydale Railway plc to the membership concerning the proposed sale, the board states that the railway is “in a difficult financial situation, with the Trust (Wensleydale Railway Association [Trust] Ltd) having made major contributions to maintain the railway as a going concern over the last year”.
Read more in the September issue of The RM – on sale now!
