Our Plans for 2017

If you’ve visited recently you’ll have seen the massive changes taking place thanks to all the hard work by our teams of volunteers.

Railway Museum

Ruston and Hornsby 48DE diesel

Ruston and Hornsby 48DE diesel on loan from Leicestershire council

We hope to open the railway museum and the other quarry exhibits early in March. You may already have noticed some of the exhibits arriving. As well as the diesel shunter we have a wagon in the livery of Ellis and Everard; both are on loan from Leicestershire County Council. We hope to be able to use the engine for shunting demonstrations in the summer.

Two further plank wagons are awaiting restoration as is a narrow gauge tub wagon.

Quarry Heritage Building and Recreation Area

Fitting out of the Heritage building is nearing completion and we hope to have a variety of exhibits and display boards ready in the next few weeks.

Construction of the wooden doors for the Stonemasons’ Huts should start shortly.

Nature Trail

Kiosk and Railway shed

Summer serving kiosk and shed for the garden railway

The second nature trail, adjacent to the car park, is rapidly taking shape and should also open in the Spring. This trail includes a den building area for the children, as well as elevated views over the quarry. The additional seating area will provide an excellent look-out over the entire site and will be served by a small kiosk in the summer months.

We also hope to have the garden railway finished in time for the summer.

The video below is an accelerated version of our regular time-lapse video: each year is condensed down to just 10 seconds!

Best wishes to you all for 2017!