Worth Valley’s historic Oakworth goods shed gets new lease of life
WELL-KNOWN for its starring role in The Railway Children film, the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s Oakworth station still holds a special place in many people’s hearts 50 years on.
What is less well-known is that Oakworth is also the location of one of the best-preserved Midland Railway goods sheds in the country.
When the line passed into preservation in 1968, Oakworth goods yard, being roughly half way along the branch, was adopted by the permanent way and signal and telegraph (S&T) departments for storage of their materials. The goods shed made an ideal location for storage of the less robust items of S&T equipment which needed protecting from the elements.
Wind the clock forward half a century and the railway takes over the Old Parcels Office bar and cafe at Keighley, and along with this comes a substantial storage area ideal to house all of the S&T spares – perfectly placed to help out with the line’s Keighley signalling project.
Clearance
Once the removal project was given the green light, it was all hands on deck to clear the accumulated collection from the goods shed up to Keighley.
Fortunately, goods sheds are designed specifically for loading and unloading trains, so a range of wagons were pressed into service alongside the usual civil engineering vehicles, which include a Weltrol and a Lowmac with a hydraulic Atlas crane. The shed road and the loading dock were cleared of their resident vehicles to enable the works train to enter the shed so each vehicle could be loaded in turn, either by hand or by crane.
There was one moment towards the end of the clearance when I found myself standing outside one of the two loading doors, looking across the newly-cleared platform as one of the recently loaded trains pulled slowly out of the shed, that gave me quite a shiver – seeing the shed being used almost as intended when it was built 150 years ago.
For two days we had the unusual sight of two works trains in traffic – passing at the loop at Damems – as they transferred the enormous store of equipment up the line.
Unloading at Keighley was less straightforward. Equipment was moved onto the platform either by hand or using the Atlas.
Removal
From there it was lifted into the adjacent car park using our Manitou loader which usually resides at Haworth for filling tenders with coal and other lifting duties.
The equipment to be stored was then moved the length of the car park to the new area below the Old Parcels Office.
The project has so far involved a great deal of work, both organisationally and physically, and thanks must go to everyone who has assisted in any way.
What we have revealed must be one of the most original Midland goods sheds in the county. It has no electricity and, like the rest of Oakworth station, is lit by gas.
The crane on the loading platform is still in place and there have been hardly any alterations to the fabric of the building since it was last used for its designed purpose.
We now have a unique opportunity to portray as accurately as possible the story of goods traffic on a Midland branch line at the beginning of the 20th century. The next steps in the preservation of this gem are to ensure that the building is structurally sound (it certainly appears to be) and safe for members of the public to enter.
Attraction
We hope to use the shed this summer to house an exhibition celebrating 50 years since The Railway Children was released (it is now 51, but last year arranging any celebratory event proved difficult because of the pandemic), giving visitors the chance to get up close to the Old Gentleman’s saloon which featured so prominently in the film.
Looking ahead, the goods shed (or luggage warehouse, as the original drawings are labelled) will be restored to its 1905 condition to match the rest of the station, and visitors will be able to learn about the variety and importance of goods traffic during this period of railway history.