The Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership (LMCRP) are pleased to announce the opening of a brand new educational facility.
Box on the Bay – Old Railway Signal Box at Hest Bank Transformed into STEM Classroom
Aerial view of the box at Hest Bank
The old railway signal box at Hest Bank has been transformed into a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) classroom which includes displays showing train movements that the pupils can follow live. The London Midland Region Type 15 Box was built by British Railways and opened in December 1958. It helped to operate part of the West Coast Main Line for 55 years before being decommissioned in 2013, when control was passed to the Power Box at Preston.
Gerald Townson, Chairman of the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership said “it has been a genuine pleasure to work together with Network Rail North West and Central to create this unique space for education about the railway and Morecambe Bay”. “I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the train operators Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, Northern and CrossCountry for creating a community funding pot and for offering in-kind support for the project”.
Network Rail’s Amelia Routledge about to perform the opening ceremony
The ‘Box on the Bay’ was officially opened by Amelia Routledge, Infrastructure Maintenance Delivery Manager at Network Rail, on 10th July with guests coming from a wide spectrum of the rail industry including train operators and the Community Rail Network.
Amelia said “it is a ‘first-of-its-kind project’. She added, “it was really exciting to see the decommissioned signal box turn into an educational centre that the communities can use and benefit from”.
The most important guests were the school children and Staff from St. Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Heysham who thoroughly enjoyed the first sessions and activities, on rail safety and bridge construction, to be delivered at the box.
Activities underway #1
Activities underway #2
Alison Dodd, Headteacher of St. Peter’s Church of England Primary School at Heysham, said “this workspace brings the learning from inside the classroom into a real-life perspective in such a wonderful environment”.
Brian Haworth from the Community Rail Partnership, who helped set up this exciting new facility with Gerald, said “the location is just absolutely brilliant”. He noted, “a core subject for bringing the children here is rail safety, part of the National Curriculum, and I can’t emphasise enough that you won’t find a better location for talking and learning about it.’
School presentation
Any school interested in joining us at the ‘Box on the Bay’ should contact the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership (The Bentham Line) on 015242 98940 or email the.bentham.line@gmail.com
Further details about the ‘Box on the Bay’ and the Bentham Line can be found online at thebenthamline.co.uk
