Yatton Station - Strawberry Line cafe project

[whole diary]

[Lee]

11.00 Yatton Station.

Walk or cycle the route

Guided walk from Yatton station to Congresbury Station.

There will be shuttle buses in operation, with pick up points along the line, returning to Yatton Station.

see website n-somerset.gov.uk/Environment/news-20070716-strawberryline.htm

[Lee]

The Queen was at Yatton Station yesterday (20/07/2007 , link below.)
http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144913&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231190&home=yes&more_nodeId1=144922&contentPK=17887776

[martyjon]

Yea but did she return to London on the Royal Train, no it was by helicopter.

[Lee]

After two years of improvements the Strawberry Line , which stretches 10 miles from Yatton through Congresbury, Sandford and Winscombe and ends in Cheddar , has officially opened to the public (link below.)
http://thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=242195&contentPK=18310640&folderPk=113662&pNodeId=242222

The opening had originally been scheduled to take place in July , but more than a week of heavy downpours meant it had to be postponed.

[Lee]

The Strawberry Line now has its own website (link below.)
http://www.thestrawberryline.co.uk/

[Chris from Nailsea]

Woodspring MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Liam Fox has become the patron of a cafe at Yatton station.
The cafe, a Community Interest Company (CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company )), will be used by rail commuters and users of the Strawberry Line cycle path, as well as being a training base for adults with special needs learning catering skills.
A CIC is a form of social enterprise that exists to benefit the community.
And the Strawberry Line Cafe Project CIC, as it is known, whose partners include The Brandon Trust and North Somerset Mencap, has been formed to raise money to restore the disused station building, built by Brunel in 1841, on the downside platform.
A waiting room and toilets would also be made available to the public.

For the full article, see http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/clevedon/news/MP-railway-cafe-patron/article-472569-detail/article.html

[Chris from Nailsea]

From thisissomerset:

A Yatton man who spent his life working on the railways has written his memoirs in a book to help raise money for a restoration project at the village station.

Colin Forse, 76, has worked with Faith Moulin, also of Yatton, to put the book called A Life On The Railway, together. The grandfather-of-six started working for British Rail on the Yatton west signal box at the age of 15 in January 1949. A year later, aged 16, he moved on to work in the station engine shed at Yatton, cleaning steam engines which chugged their way up and down the Cheddar Valley Line and the former Clevedon line.

Working on the railway proved a real family affair as his dad Albert was a shed man and his brother Roger was a fireman at Yatton.

After a spell there, Colin moved to the Bath Road depot in Bristol where he worked as a fireman before joining the Army as a Royal Engineer. His time in the forces was also spent on the railway, working in the Suez Canal base depot in Egypt.

In 1954 he left the Army and returned to the Bath Road depot before swapping jobs with a fellow fireman so he could return to his home village of Yatton. By then trains were developing from steam to diesel, so he changed jobs again in 1985 and went back to Bristol as traction inspector before retiring in 1996.

Colin moved to Yatton in 1940 after his home in Hotwells, was bombed in World War II raids, and lives with his wife Verbena, 75, at Elborough Avenue.

He said: "I met some real characters during my time on the railways. Someone said to me that I ought to write down my memoirs and over the years I have been putting them together. I haven't got any A-levels or anything like that, because I didn't stay at school long enough, so it's a potted history. The book is not only about my work on the railways over the years, but about the people I worked with and there are some funny stories in there which should raise a few smiles."

The book, edited by Mrs Moulin, goes on sale next week, priced at ^5.95 and is available from Yatton Books and Prints.

The Cheddar Valley line was busy for nearly a century until closing in 1965 and it has since been reclaimed by nature and is now a nature reserve known as the Strawberry Line, managed to protect and enhance a rich variety of wildlife habitats. Work began converting eight miles of the line to a walking and cycling route in 1983 by volunteers from the Cheddar Valley Walk Society.

All money raised from the sales will go towards a project to turn a disused waiting room, designed by Isambard Brunel, at Yatton station into the Strawberry Line Community Caf^.

Faith and Colin will be selling and signing the book at a fundraising evening at Horsecastle Chapel, Yatton, on Tuesday, November 10, at 7.30pm. Colour slide illustrated talks on BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) steam in the West Country and Bristol made industrial steam locos. Admission ^2.50.

[inspector_blakey]

I've met Mr Forse several times - a very pleasant and entertaining gentleman he is too. His knowledge and experience of operations must be pretty much unrivalled, and he's got so many stories to tell from his time on the railway that I can almost guarantee his book will be a great read - he's a fantastic storyteller.

[JayMac]

From the Clevedon Mercury:

After two years of hard work, enough money has been raised to turn a disused station building at Yatton, North Somerset, into a cafe. Work will start this month to restore the downside station building, which was originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and is Grade II listed, into the Strawberry Line Cafe.

Marina van Vessem, one of the project's directors, is a rail commuter who has had a long-held wish of being able to have a cup of coffee while she waits for her train.

She said: "We are very excited that funders have wanted to support our work. We want to meet the community's needs and will provide a training venue for people with learning disabilities who want to work in catering. We know there is a big need for this kind of establishment and also hope to involve lots of local people in a variety of ways. We know that many people will be delighted to see this historic building brought back into use".

A ^148,985 grant from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) provided the majority of funding for the restoration and the Railway Heritage Trust also contributed ^65,000 to restoring the heritage features of the building. All the Victorian oak panelling will be professionally stripped and refurbished, including the external timber panels of the original rear extension to the building. The former office, waiting room and toilets are to be refurbished, along with two rooms at the western end of the building. An environmentally friendly foul drainage system and rainwater flushing for the toilets are just some of the efforts incorporated into the design to make the building more sustainable, and a wood burning stove fuelled by recycled waste wood will provide heating.

It is hoped the cafe will open in the autumn, initially with a full-time manager and two part-time assistants.

There will also be volunteering opportunities and, with the Brandon Trust, the cafe will also be used as a training and employment venue for adults with learning disabilities.

Anyone interested in finding out more information can visit www.strawberrylinecafe.co.uk  or call Faith Moulin on 01934 834282.

[JaminBob]

Great news! Nice place to wait for the train after a ride to Cheddar!

The pubs nice, but sometimes I prefer tea... 

[inspector_blakey]

Sounds like a nice idea, I really hope it succeeds. Who knows, given time it could turn into one of those independent little gems of station cafes that are dotted around the network.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I rather think it will succeed. 

At the FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site) (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) meeting in Yatton last Saturday evening, one of the guest speakers gave a very interesting explanation of the various hoops they have apparently had to jump through, just to get to this stage.

Apparently, just getting planning permission and agreement from Network Rail led some of their supporters to question whether 'the authorities' would rather see the currently semi-derelict building demolished than turned into a going concern.  All credit to the Strawberry Line Cafe team, then, for their determination! 

Chris. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

An expanded version of the article from thisissomerset:

After two years of hard work, the Strawberry Line Cafe Project has raised enough money to restore a disused building at Yatton Railway Station.

Work will start this month to restore the downside station building into a cafe ^ which was originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and is Grade II-listed ^ much to the excitement of those involved with the project.

Marina van Vessem, one of the projects directors, is a rail commuter who has had a long wish of being able to have a cup of coffee while she waits for her train.

She said: "We are very excited that funders have wanted to support our work. We want to meet the community's needs and will provide a training venue for people with learning disabilities who want to work in catering. We know there is a big need for this kind of establishment and also hope to involve lots of local people in a variety of ways. We know that many people will be delighted to see this historic building brought back into use."

A ^148,985 grant from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) provided the majority of funding for the restoration and the Railway Heritage Trust also contributed ^65,000 to restoring the heritage features of the building. All the existing Victorian oak panelling will be professionally stripped and refurbished, including the external timber panels of the original rear extension to the building. The former office, waiting room and toilets are to be refurbished, as are two rooms at the western end of the building. An environmentally friendly foul drainage system and rainwater flushing for the toilets are just some of the efforts incorporated into the design to make the building more sustainable, and a wood-burning stove fuelled by recycled waste wood will provide heating.

It is hoped the cafe will open in the autumn, initially with a full-time manager and two part-time assistants.

There will also be volunteering opportunities and with the Brandon Trust, the cafe will also be used as a training and employment venue for adults with learning disabilities.

The Strawberry Line Cafe Project Community Interest Company (CIC^▸ (Community Interest Company )) was formed in 2008 after the Brandon Trust had to step down from the leading position in the partnership.

A CIC is a form of social enterprise whose profits are put back into the community.

Marina said: "We have to be profitable so from that point of view we are a business trading within the same financial constraints as any other. The big difference is that we will not be making profits for individuals or a parent company. We will be rooted in the community and we are here to help people. We plan to work with local businesses and use local suppliers whenever we can to strengthen our local community. We are very grateful that Yatton Parish Council and local Freemasons have both recognised the value of our project and have given us funding at a critical stage."

The CIC has received a number of small grants over the past two years which have paid for the project development and professional fees.

Special support has come from Bristol solicitor firm TLT, which gave corporate legal work free of charge after one of its partners spotted a notice on the station when his train was cancelled and he wanted a coffee.

Other professional work which was equally vital to the project's success was donated by commercial agents Alder King, which carried out the lengthy lease negotiations with Network Rail and First Great Western.

Anyone interested in finding out more information can visit www.strawberrylinecafe.co.uk or ring Faith Moulin on 01934 834282.

[Lee]

From This is Somerset:

Full steam ahead for new cafe

A community cafe in a former disused waiting room at Yatton railway station will officially open to the public next week.

A group of volunteers set up the Strawberry Line Cafe Project and have been working for the last two years to turn the redundant station building into a cafe.

The cafe will open to the public for the first time at 7am on December 13, serving up coffees and home-cooked breakfasts and lunches.

Volunteers have raised ^250,000 over the last two years to transform the Grade II-listed former waiting room.

The Rural Development Programme for England earmarked ^150,000 towards the project and grants were received from Woodspring Masonic Lodge, Yatton Parish Council, Yeo Valley Lions, North Somerset Mencap, Quartet Community Foundation and the Millennium Oak Trust.

Volunteers and local residents also did their bit to help the fundraising drive, holding coffee mornings and sponsored events to bolster funds.

The building has been completely refurbished with the help of the Railway Heritage Trust and will now be leased to the cafe project from Network Rail.

A new kitchen area and toilets have been created along with a dining area. Some of the original panelling inside the waiting room has been preserved as part of the development.

Pictures of the railway station in its heyday will also be hung in the cafe to celebrate the building's past.

The cafe is working with local businesses to supply their day-to-day needs, including Fair Trade coffee. The bread and cakes will be from the award winning Yatton baker, Pullins, and the bottled spring water will be supplied by the Cheddar Valley Water Company.

Initially the cafe will be open 7am to 2.30pm every weekday and from 10am till 3pm on Saturdays. The cafe will also be used as a training base for people with learning disabilities, with training starting in the New Year.

Strawberry Line Cafe Project director Natasha Pester said: "The cafe has been a dream of mine for four years or more, and at times it has seemed impossible. We are very excited that we have got there and we look forward to welcoming customers next week. We are proud to have created three new jobs in Yatton, including one we have created for a person with learning disabilities, and we hope to have more available later.

"We will also start offering catering training to young people with learning disabilities in the New Year".

The cafe will be run on a not-for-profit basis and any money will be reinvested into the project to create more employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities and to improve facilities for the customers.

Mrs Pester added: "We would like to give people their first taste of paid work so that they can go to an employer able to demonstrate that they can work. It's hard for people with learning disabilities to find that first employer who will take a chance on them. We want the cafe to be fully part of the local community and once they have tried it out, if anyone has ideas for its development or use, they should get in touch".

The cafe's manager, Simon Coles, who previously managed restaurants and bars in London, Melbourne Australia and most recently in Weston-super-Mare, said: "We need to cater for different groups of people ^ commuters in a hurry, walkers out for a leisurely stroll, cyclists in need of a pit stop, and that is going to be challenging.

"In this economic climate it is even more challenging, but we are confident that the support of the community will help us succeed so that we can help even more people with learning disabilities to achieve more independence in their lives."

[devon_metro]

Is this the building on the Taunton bound platform that has had metal barriers around it for a while?