The Isle of Wight Steam Railway has purchased the former Ashey Station building – currently a private home – as part of a £1.5million restoration project, which could ultimately see the reinstatement of a passing loop, sidings and an authentic 1920s waiting room.
The first phase is a 2-year project that will see the former station building, which has been owned by the Holbrook family since 1980, brought back into operational railway use for the first time since the late 1960s.
The acquisition marks one of the most significant developments in the railway’s recent history and has been described as the ‘missing piece of the jigsaw’. It will eventually enable Ashey Halt to be brought back to its former glory as a station, expanding the attraction’s offering to visitors.
It has been confirmed that the initial purchase has cost £700,000 – funded by £400,000 in bequests left to the Railway over the years and a £300,000 commercial mortgage. This includes all buildings on the north side of the track and additional land to the north.
It can be revealed that the Steam Railway plans to reinstate the platform and restore the external buildings to their authentic 1926 appearance. This includes refurbishing the public waiting room and signal box for future use. The rest of the building will be converted into a holiday let, which will generate a regular income for the Steam Railway.
This initial phase is expected to cost £550,000.
Further down the line, there are plans for the reinstatement of track and signalling to allow trains to pass at Ashey once again, as well as restoring a former siding. This next phase is expected to cost an additional £250,000, taking the total value of the project to around £1.5million.
Marc Morgan-Huws, Chief Executive of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, has told Island Echo:
“Acquiring Ashey Station has been a long-term aim for the Railway and we are indebted to the Holbrook Family for ensuring that the station has been passed back into railway ownership over 60 years after it was sold.
“The station has been very much the missing piece of the jigsaw for the IWSR.
“While requiring full restoration the buildings are remarkably original and intact, making a full authentic restoration possible, albeit at significant cost.
“Ashey is significant as a historical railway station as it is unencumbered by the modern world – there are no nearby houses, roads, industrial estates – it offers the opportunity to recreate a near perfect step back into the 1920s, served by our authentic Island locomotives and rolling stock”
Ashey Station sits between Smallbrook Junction and Havenstreet and originally opened in 1875. It served as a rural request stop and once had a passing loop and a siding that served both a chalk quarry and the nearby Ashey Racecourse, which drew large crowds before its closure in the 1920s.
In 1926, the station was extended to accommodate longer trains. However, in 1953, the station was downgraded to a permanent halt. In 1961, a small shelter and platform were built – and they remain to this day.
Ashey Station was closed for good – or so they thought – on 21st January 1966, with the station building sold off just 2 years later. But 25 years down the track, on 21st July 1991, the clock was rewound and Ashey Station was reopened under the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
The next chapter in Ashey Station’s history is about to be written. You can learn more about Ashey’s past at https://www.islandecho.co.uk/ashey-%E2%80%92-the-tiny-hamlet-that-used-to-boast-2-railway-stations/.
The Isle of Wight Steam Railway has expressed deep gratitude to the family for enabling a direct sale after nearly a year of negotiations, surveys and due diligence.
Excellent purchase. Look forward to seeing the
finished project.
Full steam ahead.
‘In 1961 a small shelter and platform were built.’
The ‘small shelter’ is typical of the ugliness and complete lack of charm, of structures that were built in the 1960’s. Please knock it down & replace it with a structure more in keeping with the visual delight that this wonderful railway affords.
Blimey, some good news! Whatever next?