Eden Valley Messenger

STATION’S NEW ALFRESCO DINER

A NEW alfresco dining area has opened for visitors to Kirkby Stephen East Station.

The Stainmore Company officially opened the new picnic area at the east station.

The charity invited Councillor Margaret Albon, Vice-president of the Cumbria Wildlife trust to cut the ribbon on the new picnic area, the highlight of several months work by the volunteers of the Stainmore Railway Company.

The project was kick started with a grant of £10,473 from the Cumbria Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (CALSF) CALSF is a  DEFRA funded scheme, administered by Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust on behalf of the Cumbria County Council. We were delighted that the CALSF Grants Manager, Helen Squires, was able to join us for the official opening.            

The picnic area is unique as it is twenty feet above yard level, affording good views of the site. It is set in a small wooded area, with a disabled ramp for access. The area its self is about 40 ft in length and around 20 ft wide. They’re a six picnic tables and seats. A large quantity of bird feeders, tables, plus hedgehog houses have been put in place next to the picnic are to encourage the wild life to use the woods.

Mike Thompson SRC chairman said: “This is another massive step forward for the railway. The site is taking shape, following the completion of the disabled ramp at the eastern end of the station plus the car park round the back of the station building. We now have this wonderful picnic area.

“The volunteers had done so much hard work on the picnic area, and the site on the whole, its all credit to them.”

Work started on the picnic area last autumn. Bushes, trees and vegetation had to be cleared. The boundary stone walls had to rebuilt in place’s and the poison ivy cleared off, there have been days in the winter months when volunteers working in the picnic area have been bombarded by snow, hail and rain, but the work never stopped. Contractors moved in once the area had been cleared, and constructed the disabled ramp and levelled off the top of the embankment. Grass was laid and the access path was laid with tarmac. Volunteers then moved in again to construct the picnic tables and put up the fencing.