THE BOVEY Tracey Heritage Trust has won its four-year fight to renovate the town's old railway station, with the news that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded it a grant of £48,600. This completes the £100,000 target needed.
The dilapidated Grade II listed building, on Monks Way opposite the fire station, will become the trust's Heritage Centre, housing a permanent exhibition of Bovey's history. Building work is scheduled to start next month, and is due to be completed in September.
Future plans include a railway museum with static displays of steam engines and carriages.
The grant will enable the trust to move the Heritage Centre from its current temporary location at the Old Bakery, situated off Station Road, which it has occupied since 1997.
The battle to save the Victorian station started in 1999 when developers wanted to build houses on the site. The trust's alternative proposal won the support of Bovey Tracey Town Council, resulting in the building and land being donated to the council for future lease to the trust.
The station, which opened in 1866, was an important intermediate stop on the Great Western Railway's Newton Abbot-Moretonhampstead branch line. It closed to passenger traffic in 1959 and finally to goods traffic in 1970. In the 1980s the Bovey by-pass was built on the old track bed from Pottery Road to Hole Bridge.
In its heyday, the railway was used by industry, including farming and mining, and by the local population for market trips to Newton Abbot, holidays and excursions and travelling to school. It was also responsible for bringing many of the large country-house residences to Lustleigh and the Wrey Valley.
The trust is keen to start an oral-history project recording people's memories of the line.
Nick Harman, chairman of the trust, said: 'The grant gives us a marvellous opportunity to create a heritage centre that could become a major tourist attraction for Bovey Tracey. The town needs a boost to its economy, especially after losing three retail premises in the last year.
'We are indebted to the town council for its support and imaginative ideas and to the many people who have been working behind the scenes, especially on the funding application.'
If you are interested in helping the trust in any way with its plans, please contact Nick Harman at Cottage Bookshop on 01626 835757.