News

Celebrating our Former Committee Members

On Thursday 13 June we celebrated a few hundred years’ of volunteering for the Friends. This event had been on the drawing board for several years, and finally we were able to invite 10 former Committee members for a lunch at Herriots Hotel, Skipton.

Former Committee members who attended included Edward Album, Mark Rand, Pat Rand, Margaret Hargreaves, Paul Kampen, Paul Levet, Colin Luckett, Rod Metcalfe, Martin Pearson and Rachel Pearson.

SPECIAL GEOLOGY EVENT 

Ribblehead: Footsteps in Time 

Wednesday 3rd July 

What a glorious day at Ribblehead on Wednesday 19th June  and a lot of interest in the viaduct talk, the treasures of the shanty site and of our exhibition in the visitor centre. The exhibition attracts a wide group of visitors and tourists of all ages. We look forward to welcoming you all on our next event, Ribblehead Rocks, on 3rd July when we visit the site of excavation of the limestone used in the viaduct build and learn about then geology of the area. We will have our guest geologist with us, Bill Frazer. This is a more strenuous walk. 

Join us at Armathwaite signal box on Tuesday 16th July for a day of celebration to mark its 125th anniversary.  

Signal box open 10 am to 4 pm with a lively talk given regularly throughout the day.  Safely enjoy the view of the line and its many exhibits and original features.  

There will also be a 7-mile guided walk at 10.30 am.  

Refreshments in the village hall.

Contact John Johnson 07759 593224 or [email protected].

The small gardens of Armathwaite are open again the weekend of 29-30 June 2024.  Come by train to Armathwaite station!

For details see http://www.opengardens.co.uk/open_gardens.php?id=750

The Friends of the Leeds - Settle - Carlisle Line, are proud to announce that following a major restoration project by our sister property company, there are now new facilities at our Horton In Ribblesdale station.

Our heritage station has been sensitively repaired and renovated and now has an operational Cafe Bar and holiday let.

Ribblehead Reborn was a limited publication following the viaduct repairs in 1988-1991.  In a recent visit to Suno in Italy , the book was spotted displayed in the railway museum there by the now retired project manager of the repairs , Tony Freschini, who features on the cover and in the book. The museum team were delighted to meet him and posed for a photo with him.  Many features are similar to those displayed at Ribblehead visitor centre. We hope to establish links between us. 

Northern Rail have announced from Saturday 8^th June, they will be running a twice-daily Saturday-only service from Greater Manchester through to the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle Line. Starting at Rochdale, the stations served includes Manchester Victoria, Bolton, Darwen, Blackburn and Clitheroe. The train will join the line at Hellifield and will terminate at Ribblehead. This new service will allow passengers to also catch a connecting train on the line from Ribblehead through to Carlisle.

Free events April to September, see https://www.foscl.org.uk/content/ribblehead-tours for details. 

Pick up your leaflet from stations along the Leeds Settle  Carlisle line.

New Cafe Bar coming to Horton-In-Ribblesdale!

If you have travelled on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle line through Horton-In-Ribblesdale station in the last few months, you might have noticed work being carried out on the southbound (Leeds) platform station building. 

Membership Renewal Guide:

Hello Friends

Membership subscriptions are due for renewal before 1st March 2025 and can be renewed now. We value your continued support and details of how to renew are outlined below.

The subscriptions for 2024 are as follows:

Volunteers are always welcome.  If you fancy doing something a bit different, as much or as little as you like, contact [email protected] to explore possibilities - we have a surprisingly varied portfolio of activities.

We are delighted to report that Edward Album has been awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours list.  He became the Friends' Legal Adviser in 1985 and has served the Settle to Carlisle Line ever since. 

He was instrumental in setting up the Settle to Carlisle Trust which was formed initially to raise funds for the repair of Ribblehead Viaduct, cited by BR as the main reason for closing the Line in 1989. BR costed the repair as £10m : eventually it was repaired at a cost of only £2.5m, raised by the Trust, of which he was the first Chair.

Walkers are Welcome is a U.K. wide, community led network of accredited towns whose purpose is to develop and promote walking in areas with something different to offer.  There is a branch in Kirkby Stephen, easily accessible from Kirkby Stephen West station on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle Line.

See the attached annual report for more information or visit their website www.walkeden.org/

FoSCL baseball cap, colour maroon and black, standard size, price £12.50 incl postage and packing

We are looking for volunteers to work in the shop on Settle station operated by the Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line (FoSCL).

Work as part of a small team working in the shop and selling refreshments,books, railway memorabilia and other items to visitors using the shop. This is a rewarding opportunity to support your local community and work with like-minded volunteers.

No retail experience is necessary and training will be given on how to use the till, credit card machine and stock management.

If you'd like to know more please contact – Ann:

We need more station gardeners at Appleby, Dent and Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

If you are recently retired or are looking for an opportunity to support your local community by volunteering we might have just the role for you.

We are looking for people to help with the management of the beautiful gardens at the above iconic stations.

We will provide equipment, training, personal protective equipment and opportunities to meet with colleagues.

This is an exciting role for the UK's largest railway support organisation.

The Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line are delighted to be supporting a pilot initiative for a bus service from Kirkby Stephen Station to Penrith running on Saturdays from 1^st April 2023. The bus connects at Kirkby Stephen Station with the 0748 train from Leeds (0824 Skipton and 0850 Settle). This recreates a much-missed link with the West Coast Mainline withdrawn in 2016 and an opportunity to reach Penrith and the northern Lakes from our line. Residents of the Upper Eden area will also be able to reach the 0849 southbound train to Leeds.

Our popular Ribblehead heritage walks, trails and tours will get off to a great start during the Ride2Stride festival on Wednesday 26th April. Details of other future dates will also soon be published.

Free FoSCL Guided Walks this Autumn & Winter.

Come and join us on Car Free Walks from stations along the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle Railway.