Heritage lines and other attractions - cancellations, postponements and closures

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Rail Advent has published (and will update) "The full list of railways affected by Covid-19" ... not really a full list yet, but shows the widespread cancellations, postponements and closures over coming weeks and months.

For "our own area" ...

Dean Forest Railway
CLOSED until end of April

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
Cotswold Festival of Steam 23rd – 25th May 2020 – CANCELLED
Visitors cancelled, possible home fleet event (TBC)
Further announcements to be made regarding pre-booked tickets
Timetabled trains on 21st and 22nd March 2020 – CANCELLED
More information regarding future events and timetabled trains TBC

Hayle Model Railway Club and Duchy Railroaders
May show – CANCELLED

Anyone have details for ...
* Helston
* Bodmin
* Buckfastleigh
* Kingswear
* Minehead
* Cranmore
* Bristol Harbourside
* Blunsdon
* Swindon (Steam)
* Didcot
* Chinnor
* Wallingford
with apologies to any I have overlooked!

[SandTEngineer]

Bodmin and Wenford planned to reopen on Saturday 22 March, but subject to review later this week.  Knowing the ages of most of the volunteers, I'm one of them, I very much doubt it will be open.

South Devon Railway website currently says business as normal.

[SandTEngineer]

Didcot Railway Centre closed until mid-April.

[SandTEngineer]

Statement from West Somerset Railway:

Message from West Somerset Railway Special Events Planning Team.

SPRING STEAM GALA CANCELLED

Following a board meeting today I am very sorry to have to advise that we are having to cancel the Spring Steam Gala in view of the Covid-19 problems.

With government advice to people to avoid social interaction and groups of people there would likely be a large reduction in visitor numbers to the gala. Having looked at the potential outcomes of going ahead, we are concerned that we would struggle to cover the costs of bringing in the 3 visiting engines and other things in connection with the event, let alone make a reasonable profit for our railway.

We will consider this same theme for our 2021 Spring Gala and will of course update everybody as times goes by.

[TonyN]

Severn Valley Railway
Covid-19 Update

The safety and well-being of our volunteers, staff and customers is of the utmost importance and we are monitoring the situation daily and following all Government guidelines.

Due to the changing situation regarding COVID-19 and Government advice surrounding gatherings, it is with regret we feel it is both necessary and sensible to postpone our train services for the rest of this month. Customers who have purchased tickets or experience packages for March 21, 22, 28 or 29 are being contacted individually by phone today.

An announcement regarding our train services, experience packages and special events in April will be made in the next couple of days.

This is going to be a challenging time for all heritage railways as we rely on footfall to keep us running. Your understanding, patience and co-operation is appreciated and we thank you all in advance for your ongoing support.

All at #TeamSVR hope you and your families stay well during this difficult time and we look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Best wishes,
Helen Smith
General Manager

[grahame]

Update from the original page at https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2020/03/coronavirus-the-full-list-of-railways-affected-by-covid-19.html, which is being actively updated - extracting data for "Coffee Shop territory" and near neighbours. Every report in our area shows some curtailment; one or two places elsewhere in the country are reporting "service as normal"; it's fair to guess that attractions in our area not listed are probably also curtailed - just not made the RailAdvent report page.

Blaenavon’s Heritage Railway (Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway)
Train services until 3rd May 2020 – CANCELLED

Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway
Diesel Gala – POSTPONED
Date TBC – possibly October

Dartmouth Steam Railway
18th March 2020 – NO TRAINS
19th March 2020 – trains as timetabled
20th March 2020 – CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Dean Forest Railway
CLOSED until end of April

Didcot Railway Centre
CLOSED until 4th April 2020

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
Cotswold Festival of Steam 23rd – 25th May 2020 – CANCELLED
Visitors cancelled, possible home fleet event (TBC)
Further announcements to be made regarding pre-booked tickets
Timetabled trains on 21st and 22nd March 2020 – CANCELLED
More information regarding future events and timetabled trains TBC
War Time In The Cotswolds 25/26th April 2020 – CANCELLED
No confirmation of any revised dates

Gwili Steam Railway
Temporary closure until mid-April

Swindon & Cricklade Railway
SUSPENDED until May

Severn Valley Railway
Trains SUSPENDED UNTIL APRIL

South Devon Railway
SUSPENDED until 16th May 2020

West Somerset Railway
Spring Steam Gala – CANCELLED
Gala to return in 2021
Beer festival at Diesel Gala – CANCELLED
No confirmation of whether diesel gala will go ahead

[Andy]

Helston:
Planned reopening for the summer season on 26th March has been postponed indefinitely - hoping "to resume operations in the summer".

[Umberleigh]

Lynton & Barnstaple closed with Spring Gala cancelled

[SandTEngineer]

Bodmin and Wenford Railway not reopening as planned on 22 March 2020.  Closed until further notice (no date given).

[SandTEngineer]

The National Lottery Heritage Fund have announced a £50m emergency fund to support heritage sector (Note that this is not just for railways): https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/news/heritage-emergency-fund-launches-help-sector

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has put together a £50million fund to support the heritage sector as an immediate response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

The UK^▸ (United Kingdom)-wide fund - money raised from The National Lottery - will address immediate pressures over the next three-six months for those organisations most in need. It will be open for applications within the next few days.

We will continue to support more than 2,500 projects that we have already committed to - an investment of more than £1billion.

“We know that circumstances are incredibly challenging for our heritage community right now and we want to do everything we can to support them."

Eilish McGuinness, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Executive Director, Business Delivery, said:  “We know that circumstances are incredibly challenging for our heritage community right now and we want to do everything we can to support them. We hope this new fund will be a lifeline and a beacon of hope for organisations affected.

“Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, creating economic prosperity and supporting personal wellbeing. All of these are going to be vitally important as we emerge from this current crisis.”

Heritage Minister Nigel Huddleston said: “It is important that we do all we can to ensure our nation’s remarkable heritage landscapes, buildings and monuments - and the hardworking organisations that protect them - are supported at this difficult time.

“Heritage plays an important role in our communities by supporting jobs and economic growth as well as helping us to understand our shared past. This new £50 million package from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will help to protect our most at risk heritage throughout this unprecedented period.”

The £50m fund will be available for grants of between £3,000 and £50,000.

It is available to organisations across the full breadth of heritage, including historic sites, industrial and maritime heritage, museums, libraries and archives, parks and gardens, landscapes and nature.

Organisations which have received funding in the past or are either a current grantee, or still under contract following a previous grant, can apply.

Priority will be given where:

There is limited or no access to other sources of support
Where heritage is most at risk
Where an organisation is at risk of severe financial crisis due to COVID-19

We know that the majority of heritage organisations are facing temporary closure, severe impact on their revenue and staff shortages. Many face threats to their long-term futures. A small percentage fear they will not be able to last into the summer.

This is why we are taking a short, medium and long-term approach to our support for your immediate challenges and longer-term resilience and recovery.

As well as the Heritage Emergency Fund, we will also support the sector in the following ways:

Accelerating the provision of our £1.2m Digital Skills for Heritage initiative to help the sector through the crisis and beyond:

By continuing to support the 2,500 projects we have already committed to funding.
By being as flexible as possible for our existing grantees.
By providing bespoke advice and support.

A £2m commitment to our network of ROSS consultants in the new financial year. We will direct that support to organisations in need. In doing so we are also helping several hundred freelancers and self-employed people.   
Working closely with the Government, other funders and heritage organisations to bring together support for the sector.

In the longer term, we have invested £4m in two Enterprise Development programmes across the UK for heritage leaders, and Business Support Programmes in all four countries. More information on this soon.

In order to address the crisis, we have taken the decision to halt all new grant applications with immediate effect.

The Heritage Emergency Fund will consist of money diverted from new grants.

Decisions on funding for the Heritage Horizon Awards will be deferred from March 2020 into the 2021-2022 financial year.

We will not be opening a further round of funding for Heritage Horizon Awards. 

Our response was based on consultation across the sector, including more than 1,250 respondents to our survey. We found:

82% of respondents reported a high or moderate risk to their organisation’s long-term viability
46% of organisations can survive for no more than six months
75% respondents wanted greater flexibility for existing projects/grants
53% asked for emergency funding

These are just the first steps in our response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. More details will be released over time.

Thank you to everyone who responded to our survey and to all those who have been in touch. We will continue to listen to you, and keep you up to date with developments.

[Electric train]

Lets hope staycations are a big thing once the crisis is over

[johnneyw]

I read yesterday that the Glos Warks had raised over 100 grand for it's own emergency appeal. That's a lot in a very short while.

[eXPassenger]

Lets hope staycations are a big thing once the crisis is over

I imagine that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) tourist industry will open before international travel restarts.

[MVR S&T]

Guessing large museum type places where numbers inside can be controlled and distanced such as York and Didcot, not been to Steam at Swindon, so dont know haw open or large it is?

[johnneyw]

Guessing large museum type places where numbers inside can be controlled and distanced such as York and Didcot, not been to Steam at Swindon, so dont know haw open or large it is?

Steam in Swindon is quite big and IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) has a sort of Ikea like route to get around (without the short cuts) so in theory, you could regulate the flow in just one direction avoiding people crossing each other.