Lemon drizzle and bug hotels - the volunteers boosting a 'lifeline' railway

Gerald Townson chairs two volunteer groups aimed at making the Bentham Line "available to all in the community"

Volunteers who have helped to drive up passenger numbers on a railway line between Leeds and Morecambe are celebrating the route's 175th anniversary.

The Bentham Line, originally completed on 1 June 1850 and highlighted by travel publisher Lonely Planet for its diverse scenery, has been designated the UK's first "dementia-friendly railway".

The route, through the Yorkshire Dales, is one of 75 in the UK supported by a community rail partnership, with one station on the route adopted by volunteers.

Gerald Townson, chair of the Friends of Bentham Station (FOBS) and the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership, says the railway is a "vital ingredient in the community".

The Little North Western Railway company chose "mock tudor" as the original design style for Bentham Station, pictured around 1900

Improving the station means "substantially more people are making use of the line here at Bentham", Mr Townson says.

When the FOBS group was set up in 2011, approximately 11,000 journeys were made through the station each year, compared to 37,000 in the 2024/25 financial year.

"It makes a superb gateway to the town," adds Mr Townson.

"If you can get everybody out [and] off mobile phones and tablets, there's a good world outside."

In 2007, before the renovation, the station building was "dark and forbidding", Ms Barrington said

Recalling its history, Mr Townson explains how station buildings on the line were initially designed in a "mock-tudor" style.

But after "the woodworm got" Bentham in 1954, the station was demolished, with a new modular building constructed in just 16 weeks.

Until 1970, the station had 21 staff, with facilities including a porters' room and large waiting room.

Over the following 30 years, the station became an "old, rundown place - with graffiti and all sorts of stuff", according to Friends of Bentham Station (FOBS) secretary, Lin Barrington - but the last decade has seen a transformation.

"The passengers can look out of the window, and it just looks welcoming and friendly," says retired maintenance electrician Chris Birkbeck, who moved from Bradford to work in the factory over the road from the station.

Scenic highlights include "lush green fields, and the flora and the fauna", as well as Yorkshire Dales mountains, Mr Townson says

Mr Townson believes the route "offers it all" - starting in previous industrial heartlands of Leeds, Bingley, Shipley and Keighley, emerging into the Yorkshire Dales at Skipton, passing by the "mighty" Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent mountains, along the Forest of Bowland, through the historic Georgian city of Lancaster, and ending at the coast.

"One of the most popular things, all the way from those Victorian times, has been the pilgrimage to Morecambe for an ice cream, a stick of rock and a fish-and-chip supper."

'It's a lifeline'

The community is "quite fortunate to have our line", says another FOBS volunteer, Pete Hardman.

"So many others have closed down, but for people who live here, it's a lifeline. Without it, we'd be a bit isolated."

The retired engineer says members of the group are brought together by "a will to help", but also have individual skills.

"I've done some bug hotels and some of the heritage side," he says.

Pete Hardman's grandchildren helped him to create bug hotels on the platform, supporting local youngsters to learn about biodiversity

And their efforts are by no means purely aesthetic.

"Don't think about us as a set of people with trowels and not much else," Mr Hardman warns.

"The fact is, Gerald managed to get some of the train timetables changed to offer better connectivity in Lancaster and so on."

This has proved even more important because of a declining bus service in recent years, Ms Barrington adds.

"I've got a son who was growing up in Bentham, and it means they get the chance to go to Leeds - the big city, or Lancaster," she says.

Artwork on the platform at Bentham Station was created by local schoolchildren, as part of a project to educate them about railway safety

Groups like FOBS work with a community rail partnership officer, who is paid to support them.

Catherine Huddleston, who works on the Bentham Line, says it brings people together, enabling "active discussions about what people need, rather than presuming".

"It feels great to give people a variety of opportunities and create a welcoming environment, while also helping wider causes like greener travel."

She has supported FOBS and the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership to make the line more welcoming for people living with dementia, work which has been recognised at government level.

Schools along the line have also taken part in initiatives focused on the environment and railway safety, while volunteers have given their time to help local refugee groups enjoy the Yorkshire Dales.

Catherine Huddleston says the project "brings people together"

Ms Huddleston explains how the community rail groups' work has, in some cases, been enabled by "skill swaps".

"Gerald's a retired maths teacher and has delivered A-level lessons before, in return for a bit of gravel," she says.

FOBS members' individual skills have also helped to raise money for a defibrillator on site, says former local government worker Martin Collins.

He, himself, has a "secret talent" as a quiz-master, according to Mr Townson, while "Margaret's famous lemon drizzle cake" is a regular feature at bake sales.

Margaret Cowling is a former teacher from Coventry, who first joined the "Bloom in Bentham" group, and now leads gardening efforts at the station.

However, she says: "It's all thanks to Gerald – he's the big Mr Motivator."

Benches and plaques on the platform pay tribute to people in the community who have died, Ms Cowling says

Mr Hardman says everybody in the group "has a sense of pride" about the station, which is currently decorated to celebrate the 175th anniversary.

"The celebrations only come once every 175 years, so that's worth a bit of bunting."

Another group member jokes: "This is your third one, isn't it?!"

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