Signalling box opens to public after restoration

The box was retired in 2019 after the Norwich to Yarmouth and Lowestoft railway lines were upgraded to a digital system

Volunteers who have brought a railway signalling box back to life hope to "inspire the next generation" after an almost two-year restoration process.

The 120-year-old signal box of Reedham junction was brought to Holt to form part of the North Norfolk Railway heritage line.

It was retired in 2019 after the Norwich to Yarmouth and Lowestoft railway lines were upgraded to a digital system.

Welcoming visitors to the newly opened refurbished box, Steven Ashling, Holt Interactive Visitor Experience project director, said: "I realised that this is a dying skill and soon it will be gone as modernisation takes over."

When the project is completed, the box will overlook a workers' terrace and corner shop with an exhibition space.

Steven Ashling said workers would sit in the shed for eight hours, pulling leavers

Mr Ashling started his railway career in 1995 at Reedham junction and worked there for four years.

He said: "It's about the building, it's also about the people.

"It's about how it used to work, what it's like to be a signalman sat in a shed on your own for eight hours a day pulling heavy levers.

"You can't mimic that in a photograph, you have to have the real thing."

Opening the signal box to visitors for the first time on Saturday, he said it had been a "reward" for his team and it had not been empty since he unlocked the door at 08:30 BST.

The signalling box was cut in half and taken to Holt

Nick Garnham travelled across the region from Peterborough, however, it was not his first time visiting the signalling box.

He said: "I visited Reedham box when it was in operation about 15 years ago, and it's really good to see it preserved for the public to see how it's actually operated.

"I think its a marvellous opportunity to see how signalling did and actually still does operate in many places."

Michelle Davidson says the work that has been done on the signalling box means it has a "real wow factor"

Michelle Davidson has been a volunteer at the Weybourne shed and more recently has been working on the Reedham signalling box.

She said: "It's just the start of what we plan to do here.

"People are not prepared for what they find when they step inside, it has real wow factor and now that we've got all the levels installed, the bench with all the instruments in place, people just love it."