Heritage Centre Site Virtual Tour

mi360 Virtual Tours is a local company based in Rothley who specialise in producing 360 degree views of an area, building or venue. This allows viewers to full immerse themselves in the tour and to gain an understanding of the area without actually visiting the site.
   
We are pleased to say that mi360 Virtual Tours has very kindly sponsored the production of a tour for the proposed heritage centre at Nunckley Hill. In fact there are three tours, one in the base of the old quarry showing where the museum building (phase 2), the stone masons' demonstration huts and the halt platform will go. The second tour shows the heritage centre and tea room as well as the car park area. The third tour is on the Nunckley Trail looking out over the old quarry.
   
http://www.mi360.net/Tourism/MountsorrelProject/_auto/mi360_Mountsorrelproject.html
   
We are very grateful to mi360 Virtual Tours for producing these tours for us. Not all our supporters live locally and can come along to see the site for themselves on one of up coming consultation days on March 22nd and 29th, so the virtual tours allows them to gain an understanding of how the scheme will fit into its surroundings.
   
John Shelton of mi360 Virtual Tours commented "When we heard about the community project to create a heritage centre for Mountsorrel and Rothley, we looked at the project and were in awe of what has been achieved so far and the benefit the new heritage centre will bring to our local communities. We felt we wanted to be involved so hopefully the 360 degree tours we have produced will help people to gain a better understanding of the project and maybe encourage a few people to sponsor a brick".

“Sponsor A Brick Appeal” Launched

Having received a conditional grant from Lafarge-Tarmac’s Landfill Communities Fund of £540,000 towards the proposed Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre on Swithland Lane, the Mountsorrel Railway Project still has to raise £56,000 in matched funding. This is urgent since the project needs to be completed within eighteen months and work cannot start until the match funding is raised.

 

To help raise this figure a “Sponsor A Brick Appeal” has been launched where you can sponsor the bricks that will be used to combine, into one unified building, the different structures that form the core of the Heritage Centre.  The names of sponsors will appear on a large commemorative plaque that will feature in the tearoom at the Centre. The price of sponsoring an individual brick has been set at £50.

Project Leader Steve Cramp said “Whilst we are ready to go with the construction of Bond Lane Halt, we are also set for a very busy few months raising the relatively small remaining balance needed to progress the Community Heritage Centre. I hope this ambitious scheme will capture the publics' imagination and they will want to join us in clearing this last financial hurdle.”

If you want to view progress on the railway, walk round the newly created nature trail and see the plans for the Community Heritage Centre, there will be Open Public Consultation Days on March 22^nd and March 29^th from 11am to 2pm with guided tours starting at the Swithland Lane entrance. Please note that there is no site parking so please make every effort to arrive via other means where possible.

If you want to help the Brick Appeal, cheques for £50 (or multiples of £50!) should be sent to The David Clarke Railway Trust (Registered Charity 1104839) 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire, LE12 7EW. Please write “Sponsor a Brick” on the back of the cheque.

Local Radio Interview on Sunday February 23rd

Project Leader Steve Cramp is being interviewed live between 11:00am and 12:00 this coming Sunday morning on radio station 103 The Eye.

103 The Eye is a local radio station which broadcasts from Melton Mowbray on 103 FM. If you can't listen locally they also broadcast on the internet via their website.

This is an ideal opportunity for you to find out all about the restoration of the Mountsorrel Railway and our exciting new project to build a community heritage centre! Don't miss it!

Two Major Funding Successes Totalling £606,000 for the Mountsorrel Railway!!

The Mountsorrel Railway Project has secured conditional promises of two significant grants from Lafarge Tarmac’s Landfill Communities’ Fund to develop its plans to complete and enhance the project that began back in 2007.

Mountsorrel Halt Station

Currently, the reinstated track runs to the end of the line at Bond Lane, Mountsorrel, where it is intended to construct a station and car park. A conditional grant of £66,008 from the Lafarge Tarmac fund , which represents 90% of the capital cost, means that finance is now fully in place for work to commence. The remaining 10% has already been promised or secured by the combination of an award from the Bradgate, Rothley, Mountsorrel and Birstall Community Forum and an award from the David Clarke Railway Trust.  

Artist's impression of Mountsorrel Halt.

Planning permission for the platform and associated works was granted at the end of January. It is hoped to start work in a few weeks time with completion hopefully by the end of this year.

Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre

This grant is, however, accompanied by another conditional grant from the same source towards the proposed Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre at Swithland Lane, Rothley. Here the contribution from Lafarge Tarmac’s Landfill Communities Fund is a very substantial £540,000! Again representing almost 90% of the proposed total project cost. The Mountsorrel Railway Project will need to raise an additional £56,000 of match funding to release the Lafarge Tarmac grant.

Proposed new community heritage centre viewed from the south.

Proposed new community heritage centre viewed from the north.

This particular project aims to create and develop a new recreational and educational resource on the eastern side of the proposed Charnwood Forest Regional Park. The Community Heritage Centre will be alongside the restored Mountsorrel Railway, which itself functions as a heritage corridor between the Loughborough-based Great Central Railway and Stonehurst Family Farm and Motor Museum. The existing “Nunckley Trail”, which is a community created nature and history trail, will also form part of the overall attraction.

Historic Time Office

Kinchley Lane Barn

The scheme intends to save, relocate and restore three historic buildings which are at risk of being lost. These are a 200 year old granite barn from Kinchley Lane, Rothley, once used as a mess room for German prisoners of war during World War 1; the only remaining original building within the old Mountsorrel quarry site, the ‘Time Office’; together with remnants of a granite built explosives store at the disused Nunckley Hill quarry, will be carefully dismantled and rebuilt to form the basis of the Heritage Centre and a tea room.

The heritage centre has been designed to tell the story of both Mountsorrel’s and Rothley’s village history. In addition, to the heritage centre and tea room there will be a car park with access to the adjoining road and a quarry museum area telling the story of granite quarrying in the area. This will include demonstration stone masons’ huts, recreating a quarrying scene that would have been common in the late 19^th century. A small railway platform will allow passengers to join and leave the trains to visit the new attraction. At a later stage, there will also be a small museum building linked by rail to the Mountsorrel Railway. The museum will exhibit historical railway vehicles that once worked at Mountsorrel.

Proposed site plan

Subject to detailed planning permission, the various components of the project will all be constructed in and around the disused Nunckley Hill quarry on the Rothley/Mountsorrel parish boundary. The quarry is designated as a Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Site (RIGS) and will help visitors gain an understanding of both granite quarrying in Leicestershire and the general geological importance of the area.

Mountsorrel Quarry Time Office pictured in front of the chimney in the 1870's.

Stone Mason's huts at Mountsorrel Quarry circa 1890's. These would be recreated at the new heritage centre.

Project Leader, Steve Cramp, commented “The reinstated railway is now viewed as a unifying force for the parishes of Rothley and Mountsorrel and the construction of Bond Lane Halt and the Community Heritage Centre are vital further steps towards realising the potential benefit that the project can bring. We will be working with the Rothley History Society, the Mountsorrel Heritage Group and the Rothley Heritage Group to ensure that the heritage centre tells the story of our past in as thorough and accurate way as possible. We are enormously grateful for the support we have received from the local communities and, of course, our tireless volunteers who have worked to bring the project to its current stage. This is a community project built by the community for the community. If you would like to volunteer and help make this a reality then please get in touch by email to steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk”
 

He added “The level of support from Lafarge Tarmac for this project through their Landfill Tax Communities Fund grant scheme is hugely appreciated.  We have an opportunity to create an outstanding recreational and educational resource for our local communities to enjoy. We are grateful to Lafarge for sharing this vision and providing such a generous grant. We now need to justify the level of Lafarge’s confidence in us by raising the remaining £56,000. Work cannot progress further until the match funding is in place. If you want to help make this a reality then, please, consider making a donation. Maybe you are a local business who would like to make a donation towards our match funding? Everything helps, but one thing is certain, we need to raise the money quickly as the grant offer is only available for a short time and will be lost if we don’t reach our target.”

To make a donation please send a cheque made payable to "DCRT" (David Clarke Railway Trust) and write "Mountsorrel Railway" on the back and send to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, LE12 7EW. If you are a UK tax payer please print and fill in our Gift Aid Form. Send this with your cheque and we can reclaim an additional 20% from the Tax Office at no additional cost to you.
 

First Item Made For Mountsorrel Halt

Local wood craftsman Dave Richardson, has very kindly made and donated a solid Oak timber bench for Mountsorrel Halt platform. The bench will look wonderful on the new platform when it is built and we are hugely grateful to Dave for creating this for us!
         

Dave's website is www.artisan-woodworking.co.uk check out his gallery page, it is well worth a look, he makes some fantastic things.

We will shortly be starting the tender process for the construction of Mountsorrel station and car park. If you are a local building company who would be interested in quoting for the work please get in touch.

Planning Permission Granted for Mountsorrel Halt

We are very pleased to announce that planning permission has been granted to build a station and car park at the Mountsorrel end of the branch line.

"Mountsorrel Halt" will be a simple 50m long platform built into the base of the cutting next to the bridge at Bond Lane. The platform will be constructed from concrete blocks faced with Mountsorrel Granite. There will be a disability accessible friendly access path running up the cutting side where there will be a small car park and tractor trailer turning area in the corner of the field.

The halt will allow passengers to join and leave the trains at Mountsorrel where we intend to link up with Stonehurst Family Farm and Motor Museum, via their existing tractor trailer rides that already run along Bond Lane.

We are grateful for assistance from Charnwood Borough Council's planning, environmental and ecology departments, for their help and advice to ensure that the scheme complements and minimizes the impact on this very pretty part of Leicestershire.

It is hoped to start work on the new station as soon as is practically possible with completion later this year.

Our aim is to use local contractors to construct the station where ever possible. If you are a local building contractor who would be interested then please get in touch by email with project leader Steve Cramp.

Willow Items Added to the Nunckley Trail

At the end of 2013 Mountsorrel Railway Ecology Group volunteers were hard at work enriching the ecology of the Nunckley Trail by adding an 18 feet long Willow tunnel, a Willow dome and three "living" Willow chairs.

 









Purchase of the Willow items was made possible thanks to a grant from Leicestershire County Council's Stepping Stones Project. This further builds on the work we did back in October to create a wildflower meadow next to the trail.

 

 




 Hopefully when spring arrives and the Willows start to grow, the dome will form an interesting eco den to keep younger visitors amused, the tunnel will provide shade from the sun in the open area next to the meadow and the living chairs will provide a rest point for visitors wishing to sit and look out at the flowers growing in the meadow.

More Films and Photos of Historic First Passenger Train

 Friday's test train.

 

From Saturday.

Photos and Video From November 23rd Historic Train

The historic first steam passenger train to run on the Mountsorrel Railway was a triumphant success!

The train ran to Nunckley Hill as there wasn't sufficient time to put all the pieces of the puzzle into place to allow the train to run through the Swithland Lane bridge to Bond Lane. Never the less crowds of local people turned out to see the train arrive and it really was a thrilling day for everyone!

A huge thanks must go to the volunteers who have worked for the last 6 years to restore the railway, it has been a hectic few weeks as we have pushed to get the line ready. We are very thankful to the GCR who have pulled out all the stops to get everything in place at their end as well.

There is still much to do to complete the line to open to general passengers so it is not to late to get involved. Get in touch with project leader Steve Cramp to volunteer.

Friday test train pictures.

 

Photo Steve Cramp

 

Photo John Mace

Photo John Mace

Photo Graham Wignall

Photo John Mace

Clive Hanley's website has some wonderful photos from the day. If you took photos or film please  let us know.

Youtube video and photos from Saturday.

Photo Graham Wignall

Project leader Steve Cramp is presented with a "golden spike" by Railway Vehicle Preservations in recognition of his work to restore the Mountsorrel Railway. 

Photo Graham Wignall. Note the smoke above the coach from a GCR steam train running on the main line over half a mile away. Is there anywhere else in preservation where standard gauge steam trains can be seen running on different railways over such a distance?

Historic First Passenger Train This Saturday!!

History will be made this coming Saturday November 23rd, when the first steam hauled passenger train will run along the restored Mountsorrel Railway.

The first train is a private charter for the volunteers who have worked to restore the railway and is not open to the general public. It will be a few months yet before the line can open to general passengers.

The train will consist of five carriages from the GCR's Pullman set with LMS 'jinty' no. 47406 having the honour of hauling the historic first train.

Please come along to see history in the making. The new Nunckley Trail foot path that runs alongside the line will be open, providing excellent photo opportunities of the train. Access to the Nunckley Trail can be found next to the bridge on Swithland Lane.

Access will be close to the green tree symbol.

Please note that GCR line side passes are not valid for the Mountsorrel Railway. No line side photography will be permitted because of the safety rules that allow the train to run. Volunteer marshals will be on hand at Nunckley Hill to show you the best locations to see the train, please follow their safety instructions.

The train is due to arrive at Nunckley Hill around 1:20pm.