IF you fancy a part time acting career then a heritage railway is offering opportunities to journey back to 1925.

Although Wensleydale Railway is not running at present, work continues in preparation for when things are given the green light to reopen later this year.

After receiving a £368,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant to restore Leeming Bar’s Victorian station building, the project’s initial phase of planned improvements and exterior repairs is nearing completion.

Following a previous appeals in the D&S Times for help with decoration, several readers stepped forward and are now working with the railway’s pool of existing volunteers. The appeal also gave the planned education centre a boost with donations of pre-war trunks, suitcases and books.

Wensleydale Railway now hopes to attract individuals who would relish dressing up in 1920s costume – station uniforms, suits and waistcoats, dropped waist tea dresses and cloche hats – to give visitors a real life sense of stepping back in time.

The line’s volunteer coordinator, Carrie Scott Hall said: “We also need people to help us source and sew these costumes so anyone who's handy with a pattern and a sewing machine would be very welcome indeed.”

Additionally there is an intention to create a living record of any memories people have of Leeming Bar Station House. These may be long memories stretching back many decades or something perhaps only 20 or 30 years old.

Station House at Leeming Bar

Station House at Leeming Bar

Ms Scott Hall said: “It’s all about capturing how people saw the station house and its presence in their lives. The memories may be recorded on video or hard copy. They'll all be kept to give us real snapshots of the station house down the years, even after the line closed.”

For further information see the website, ring 01677 425805 or email w.burnham@wensleydalerailway.com/