Railway Children heritage train line given £1m to rebuild bridge

Tourist stream train trips have been run on the line since 1968

A heritage train line which featured in The Railway Children film has been awarded £1m for a bridge rebuild.

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society (KWVRPS) said the government funding would secure the West Yorkshire line's long-term future.

The group runs tourist steam train trips on a five-mile route between Keighley and Oxenhope.

The grant was part of £12.3m of funding announced on Monday to preserve "cherished community institutions".

The three-week rebuild of the bridge, which crosses Bridgehouse Beck at Haworth, is scheduled to take place in September 2024.

David Pearson, KWVRPS's coordinator of external finance and resources, said he was "overjoyed to have received this funding".

"It means that the long-term survival of train services on the railway is ensured and means everything to our railway, our villages and our people," he added.

The original bridge was built in 1867 and is now in poor condition, said KWVRPS. It is due to be removed and replaced by a steel structure.

The railway line has featured in dozens of films and television shows, including the 1970 adaptation of Edith Nesbit's book The Railway Children.

KWVRPS took over the stretch of track in 1968, six years after it was closed by British Railways.

Other projects awarded money from the Community Ownership Fund include a new aerospace discovery centre in Kinross, Scotland, and the Vale of Aeron pub in Ystrad Aeron, Wales, which was frequented by poet Dylan Thomas. Both been given £300,000.

Levelling-up minister Jacob Young said: "These places - from pubs to historic railway lines - are the golden thread which run through our social fabric, and keeping them going is vital for supporting communities."