Next stop... historic train turntable tourist attraction
VOLUNTEERS SPEND YEARS RESTORING LANDMARK FOR WALKERS TO ENJOY
WORK to transform a forgotten former railway turntable into a visitor attraction is edging close to completion.
Dedicated volunteers began planning to restore Godley Turntable, near Hyde, back in 2014.
The site had been left overgrown after decades without use, but with its picturesque location on the Trans Pennine Trail, volunteers were keen to restore it. Now, after receiving a £45,000 grant in 2017, the work is almost done.
Volunteer Charlotte Brocklehurst said: “I think it was forgotten about. There are some people who were children when the turntable was still in use, and we’ve heard stories of them climbing up to go and look at it.
Before we started, not many people went out there because it’s a deadend. There was not much to do down there, it was only local dog walkers who would go to it. But since we have been doing the renovation and making it a destination we have seen more people there.”
The turntable was first used from the early 1930s until the late 1960s to turn freight wagons from the electric line from Sheffield towards the steam line down to Cheshire.
For more than 45 years the site was left abandoned, but a group of volunteers from the Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail felt it was worth restoring.
After receiving cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund, volunteers set to work clearing vegetation, relaying the base of the turntable and repairing the walls.
Working with the Sustrans organisation, they also placed in a new walkway and benches, relayed the path and installed information boards explaining the site’s heritage and importance.
Charlotte said: “We have seen a big increase in people here – on some days it can be quite busy, especially when it’s nice out.”
The latest addition to Godley Turntable is a new mural of a steam train, painted by volunteers earlier this month. Gee Cross Scouts have created bug hotels to attract wildlife. Charlotte added: “We’ve got bat boxes going up in the area and some flowers, just to make it look a bit nicer.”
The volunteers hope the site will be complete later this year.