Bluebell seeks to return sparkle to ‘jewel in the crown’

THE Bluebell Railway has launched an appeal for at least £500,000 to help finance the repair of leaking roofs and replacement of rotting beams at the Grade II-listed Horsted Keynes station.

Built in 1882 by the

London Brighton and South Coast Railway as part of the Lewes-East Grinstead line, it was bought by the Bluebell Railway in the 1960s and the heritage line has maintained it and decorated it in the style of a Southern Railway junction station from the 1930s.

The railway’s appeal coordinator Trevor Swainson said: “The station buildings were built in Victorian times and are now showing signs of wear and tear. For its age, Horsted Keynes station is in remarkably good condition but now is the time to get on top of the deterioration.

“We view Horsted Keynes as our ‘jewel in the crown’ and we hope this appeal puts the sparkle back into the station.”

The railway has carried out a major survey of the station and calculates the first phase of the repair work will be at least £500,000. The priority is to work on the Station House and Platform 5, followed in succession by Platforms 3 and 4 and then Platforms 1 and 2.

Thus, in Phases 1 and 2 of the project comprising the Station House & Platform 5, the immediate goal is to make the buildings waterproof. This entails 40 separate areas of work. Planning for this phase is already underway but, for practical and operational reasons, it is unlikely that work will start until the late winter/ early spring of 2022.

Members of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society have already pledged £20,000 and the railway’s charitable arm is promising to match-fund, on a pound-for-pound basis, all public donations between now and the end of January, up to a total of £150,000.

Visit www.bluebell-railway. com for further details of the appeal and how to donate.