A heritage education programme at Wensleydale Railway of school visits has been researched and developed for Key Skills Two and invited children from 10 local primary schools to visit Scruton Station and village during June and July 2016.
The school children arrive by vintage train, where they’re met by a team of volunteers in period costume, each of whom are based on real individuals from the village and locality 100 years ago.
Against the backdrop of the restored Victorian station, set-dressed, as it would have looked in 1916, the visits include interactive play about life on a country station 100 years ago during the First World War.
Children take part in a series of six interactive activities, which explore different aspects of the railways from weighing parcels on a set of original scales to working out timetables, writing period postcards and investigating railway artefacts.
“After months of research and planning we are delighted to now be delivering the programme at Scruton. There has been an excellent reaction from the children and both teachers and parents are pleased with the outcomes.” comments, Virginia Arrowsmith, coordinator of the project for the Wensleydale Railway.
With a grant of just under £40k from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the initiative contributes to the Wensleydale Railway’s community role and follows the recent National Railway Heritage Award for Scruton Station’s restoration.