A CRAFT shop and gallery to raise cash for a heritage railway line has had its official opening.

Crafts at the Crossing at Bedale Station, part of the Wensleydale Railway in North Yorkshire, opened on Tuesday with Bedale deputy mayor Councillor Christine Mollard and county councillor Carl Les.

Brian Whitehead, who runs the shop, said the idea was to help out local artists, craftspeople and suppliers from North Yorkshire and South Durham, while raising cash for the railway with a percentage from each sale going to the charity.

He said: “The shop is run entirely by volunteers from Wensleydale Railway and sells prints, engravings, glass, textiles and jewellery – all perfect Christmas gifts as they are handmade and unique.

“Although we launched officially on Tuesday we have been open for a couple of months, but the only people who have seen us are people using the railway so we want to let the wider public know we are here.”

The shop is open on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Mr Whitehead said the shop is in the old ticket office on the station but they were initially not sure what to do with it.

He said: “We decided to open a shop but had to make sure we did not compete with other shops on the Wensleydale Railway route at Leyburn and Leeming Bar.

“We thought a craft shop was a bit different and now we have had our official launch we hope people will hear about us and drop in – it is less than five minutes from Bedale town centre so it is very convenient.”

For information contact Mr Whitehead on brian.w@btinternet.com or 01677-451850.