Crowle and Peatland Railway Society awarded £107,000 from North Lincolnshire Council

Crowle and Peatland Railway Society aims to steam ahead as a visitor attraction after award of £107,000 from North Lincolnshire Council.
Celebrations as railway society receives 107,000 from council for new visitor centre and cafeCelebrations as railway society receives 107,000 from council for new visitor centre and cafe
Celebrations as railway society receives 107,000 from council for new visitor centre and cafe

The money will be used to create a visitor and education centre to include a café, shop and toilets. Throughout the visitor centre there will be information boards that take people on a journey of the moors: its social and industrial heritage.

Children and school groups will be able to go to the centre to find out about the local history of the moors, including how they were used and the importance they had on communities.

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After walking through the centre, visitors will then be able to ride on a locomotive on the 500 metre long track around Crowle Moors.

The existing footpaths around the moors are being looked at to create a series of short walking routes.

The restoration of the peatland railway on Crowle Moors is part of the Isle of Axholme and Hatfield Chase Partnership’s projects.

Ward member for Axholme North, Coun Julie Reed, said she was delighted to see work progressing on the renovation of Crowle Moors and the Peatland Railway and added: “Crowle Moors is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest with a huge industrial and social history. We want residents and visitors to be able to discover this unique history and get a glimpse into what it was like on the moors years and years ago.”

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Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Coun Rob Waltham, said: “We are keeping our promise to keep investing in the Isle. The investment on Crowle Moors is an exciting development that should bring increased spending and jobs into the area. We have already delivered a new Axholme North Leisure centre and extra investment in local schools. The volunteers are certainly very enthusiastic about the project and we look forward to working with them for years to come.”

Isle MP Andrew Percy added: ““This is a very exciting development and all praise must go to the volunteers who have built up an incredibly important project that will seek to sustain the Crowle moors for future generations.

 “ The Conservative-run council have once again kept to its promise to keep delivering investment across the Isle. The historic Isle of Axholme is widely recognised as a special landscape and it is important that we keep protecting and preserving it for future generations.”

 Crowle Peatland Railway Society is leading on this project, which will see three Schoma diesel hydraulic locomotives – the only ones left in the UK – once used in the extraction of peat from Crowle, Hatfield and Thorne Moors, restored.