Unlocking new possibilities for Peebles weighbridge hut
MEMBERS of the Peebles Railway Heritage Group have received the key to the door of the North British Railway weighbridge hut at the town’s station.
Following the handover by Coun Shona Haslam, leader of Borders Council, the group now plans to apply for funding to renovate the listed structure, the last railway building left standing in Peebles.
The group intends to turn it into a railway museum, celebrating the rich North British, Caledonian, LNER, LMS and British Railways heritage of the Borders tourism and mill town.
The hut was preserved by the council after the station was bulldozed to make way for a car park after closure of the town’s rail link to Edinburgh in 1962, and plans for the proposed museum were made public in 2018, when the not-for-profit Peebles Community Trust proposed taking the project forward.
Plans
Now the railway heritage group plans to use the latest computer and audiovisual technology to tell the story of local railways, as well as displaying photographs, signs, maps and artefacts.
The group is proposing to combine the museum with a facility to provide information for visitors, after the town’s tourist information centre, formerly on the main street, closed last year.
Les Turnbull, chairman of Peebles Community Council, of which the railway heritage group is a subset, said: “We are delighted that the council has supported this project. Our priority is to restore the exterior of the building, which is a listed structure, to its original, railway condition.
“As the last remaining building from what was once an extensive railway presence in the town, it is important that the weighbridge hut is used to tell the story of the railways which, in many ways, made Peebles as a mill and tourist town. The museum will enhance the town’s tourism offering and ensure that our railway heritage isn’t forgotten.”
Coun Haslam said: “The council is very pleased to be able to support this important project recalling the railway heritage of Peebles. We have leased the building to the railway group for 25 years at a peppercorn rent and I am sure that the railway museum will be a great success.”
History
Peebles was formerly served by North British lines to Edinburgh and Galashiels on the Waverley Route, with the Caledonian Railway running from Peebles to Symington on the company’s Glasgow-carlisle main line. Besides the weighbridge hut, a plaque marks the site of the NBR station.