Victorian railway carriage to get new life as tea room

Nicky Cope says she will be pleased to get her garden back when the carriage has gone

A woman whose property came with an 149-year-old railway carriage says she can reclaim her garden after finding a new home for it.

Nicky Cope, from Needingworth, Cambridgeshire, offered the Victorian structure for free on social media.

A community group in March has offered to collect it - hoping it will get a new lease of life as a tea room at a local railway exhibit.

Ms Cope, 64, said she would be "pleased to get her garden back".

"I could not believe the property came with a Victorian railway carriage dating from 1875," she said.

"It takes up a large space in my garden, it's about 34 feet (10 metres) long - I have been using it as a shed.

"Visiting friends are always surprised when they see a train in the garden. It was needing some repairs and attention, so I decided to offer it for free on social media."

Ms Cope was contacted by Gary Christy, chairman of the Fenland Association for Community Transport (FACT), based in March, who came up with an idea for a new use for the carriage.

The carriage is believed to date from 1875

Mr Christy contacted the Make and Mend Shed, a community project based at the FACT site, and its members have taken on the challenge of dismantling and moving the carriage, which they hope to complete by May.

Mr Christy is also vice-chairman of the Friends of March Railway Station, formed in 2009 to preserve platforms and buildings on the disused side of the station, and the group intends to use the restored carriage in that location as a tea room.

"It is so rare to see one of these things being offered," said Dave Everett, who runs the Make and Mend Shed.

The carriage would have originally contained six compartments

"I came over to see it, and was blown away with what I saw. It was originally a six-compartment, third-class with smoking area carriage, used on the Great Eastern Railway, which means it could well have travelled through March many times.

"When I find the carriage number I will be able to delve more into its past and find out where it was based and how it ended up here in a back garden in Needingworth."