Bridgnorth Cliff Railway put up for sale

A Shropshire cliffside railway which first operated in 1892 has been put up for sale.

Bridgnorth Cliff Railway is the last remaining inland funicular in England.

It is being sold as a going concern for between £700,000 and £800,000 by husband and wife Allan and Jean Reynolds, who have run it for 15 years.

The sale includes the Grade II listed buildings at the top and bottom of the cliff which are currently used as a guest house and tea rooms.

The railway transports people up and down the 111ft sandstone cliffs that separate High Town from Low Town, and the River Severn.

Two cars on parallel tracks, connected by steel ropes, counterbalance each other - as one rises to the top station, the other runs to the bottom station.

The cars are now powered by an electric winding engine, but were originally driven by a system of water balance.

Mr and Mrs Reynolds put the railway on the market this week because they have decided to retire.

The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway was first operated in 1892

Mrs Reynolds said: "We've got two sorts of customers.

"One is local Bridgnorth people who use it as part of the transport system simply to get from Low Town to High Town because the shops and the doctors and chemist are in High Town so it's really quite important.

"We are also a tourist attraction and we get a lot of visitors."

She said they had spent the last 15 years updating and preserving the railway and were "anxious" that it went to the right people.

"It really needs someone to carry on where we've left off and look after it," she said.

She added that at the height of the tourist season the railway makes 200 journeys a day and carries 2,000 people, who pay £1 for a return ticket.

There are thought to be around 15 working seaside funicular railways left in England. Examples can be found in Bournemouth, Scarborough, Torbay and Hastings.