On Track…
Longridge Heritage Centre in the Old Station, has been a huge success since it opened and that looks set to continue with a line-up of fascinating events in the pipeline
Having enjoyed an amazingly successful decade, Longridge Heritage Centre Trust (LHCT) is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year!
With a backdrop of hard work, endeavour and a team of knowledgeable volunteers, the Trust has created a heritage centre that has become a busy, community hub and educational resource.
The fascinating history behind the centre goes back to the 1960s when the former Longridge station closed to all railway traffic in 1968.
“The station building was semi-derelict,” says Trust secretary Andy White. “It was owned by Longridge Town Council and they, along with many people in the town, thought it had potential – we knew it could be made into something so much better.”
John Earnshaw of Longridge Heritage Committee came up with the idea that the Victorian station building could be used as a heritage centre to create public interest around the history of Longridge. This would be done by collecting and preserving significant artefacts and documents, maintaining an up to date on-line photographic archive along with staging exhibitions.
Fast forward 10 years and all this – and more – has been successfully achieved: “We now have a team of 18 volunteers and we are always looking for more,” says the Trust’s original chair, Jean Hill.
“There was never really a focus for Longridge so when the old station building was renovated it really created a busy focal point in the centre of the town.”
Today the volunteers stage exhibitions every six weeks focusing on different topics – in the past they have highlighted the town’s quarries, railway and its four mills.
“Before the centre opened the people of Longridge didn’t have much evidence of the town’s history so we produced an A-Z guide to the town,” adds Andy.
Longridge Heritage Centre houses an extensive collection of historic photographs on permanent loan from Longridge & District Local History Society which has since been digitalised: “There are over 3,500! They are held in leather-bound albums and one of our main objectives was to create an online archive.”
Rewinding to the year 2000, when the Longridge Heritage Committee was formed, the refurbishment of the railway building was the key objective.
Following the award of Heritage Lottery funding and grants from other public sector bodies, conversion work began on the building in 2009. Longridge Heritage Centre was established and the finished building officially opened in 2011. The centre also became a charitable trust in 2014.
Since then numerous exhibitions and many commemorative topics have been covered including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the WW1 centenary and cycling’s Tour of Britain.
The centre has also become a Ribble Valley Visitor Information Point stocking free community and tourism leaflets. The volunteers manning the centre have acquired extensive knowledge of the town’s history as well as present-day points of interest that they pass on to visitors.
“Our volunteers are incredible,” says Andy. “They have so much experience in different fields.”
An extension in sympathy with the original station building now houses a busy café, the centre also has a meeting room, gardens and outdoor spaces, while the long wide corridor running through the centre was the original station platform. The old station building is still owned and run by Longridge Town Council which has its office and meetings there.
“The centre is very well used,” says current chair Anna Crouch, who adds that the building still reflects its railway heritage. “We have retained as many of the original features as possible including some of the wrought iron.”
Over the years the team has created a wonderful collection of artefacts that have been donated to the centre including maps, books, shuttles, personal heirlooms, a brick from an old Longridge mill and a 19th century wheeltapper.
A tiara, which is a dazzling reminder of British industrial history, is also among the donated artefacts. Although not made of precious jewels, it was once worn by the country’s last reigning Cotton Queen. Elsie Kearsley, who was crowned in 1939 and worked at Whittles Stone Bridge Mill in Longridge, had her reign cut short by the outbreak of WWII. However she kept the tiara, which her family donated to Longridge Heritage Centre, which lent out the piece to Leeds Industrial Museum for their Queens of Industry Exhibition in 2017.
Over the years the centre has hosted school visits, regular ‘Train Days’ and has participated in the Heritage Open Days scheme with events including a history walk around the town and an interactive pop-up museum celebrating the people, places and industries of Longridge.
Longridge: from Romans to Railways which will celebrate the routes, networks and connections that have played a part in the history and development of the town will take place on Saturday 7th September 2024.
To celebrate its 10th anniversary LHCT will be holding an event for friends and supporters of the Heritage Centre on Sunday 8th September.
If you would like to find out more about LHCT or becoming a volunteer, feel free to drop in, or go to the website and fill in the contact form.
heritageopendays.org.uk
lhct.org.uk
