Hollycombe gets £ 1 million in double grant aid
HAMPSHIRE’S Hollycombe Working Steam Museum has been awarded £ 895,000 by the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage to ensure that it can safely reopen for its 50th anniversary year in 2021.
The venue at Iron Hill near Liphook, which has a quarter- mile standard gauge line, a 1 ½ - mile 2ft gauge Quarry Railway and a quarter- mile
7 ¼ in gauge line, will now be able to make structural changes to safely welcome both visitors and volunteers again.
Each autumn and winter, a team of around 40 volunteers take down the venue’s fairground and complete the maintenance and restoration of the collection. Without the much- needed income from the open season, Hollycombe faced the daunting prospect of not being able to fund the volunteering efforts required to allow it to reopen next year.
Hollycombe offers a wealth of volunteering opportunities throughout the year, including group and individual volunteering for students at Highbury College and Sparsholt College, Army Cadets and Scouts volunteering, Duke of Edinburgh volunteering placements and corporate volunteering opportunities, all of which have been suspended while the museum is closed.
Determination
The grant, which will support a return to varied volunteering opportunities, follows an earlier award of £ 105,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
“Determination is the driving force of our dedicated volunteers. This funding will allow them to overcome the challenges that Covid- 19 brings to a museum like ours.”
Another railway- themed beneficiary is Amberley Museum in West Sussex, which has been awarded £ 80,000, its third major cash injection this year. Director Valerie Mills told Heritage Railway: “The Culture Recovery Fund grant will play an essential part in our ability to survive the pandemic, particularly through the next few months.
“Although we reopened successfully in July, we are operating on limited numbers and are unable to run our usual events, so this grant will enable us to plan confidently and continue to welcome our many volunteers, members, supporters and visitors.”
The museum, which earlier this year received nearly £ 33,500 from Arts Council England and £ 50,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, has a half- mile 2ft gauge line that has three stations and is operated by both steam and diesel, a standard gauge demonstration line, and a locomotive collection on display of more than 30 engines in 13 gauges, from 1ft 6in to 5ft 3in.
Elsewhere, a brighter future for the 2ft gauge Wicksteed Park Railway, which had been running since 1931 in Grade II listed Wicksteed Park, near Kettering until lockdown forced its closure and operator Wicksteed Park Ltd into administration, will benefit from a £ 247,000 grant to Wicksteed Charitable Trust. A new company, Wicksteed Trading Ltd bought most of the park’s assets and saved it, and the park has also been boosted by more than £ 163,000, which has been raised by well- wishers in an ongoing fundraising campaign.
Support
The Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey, home of the 2ft 6in gauge Hidden Railway, and which is closed until at least February because of the pandemic, has been awarded £ 104,600.
The Rural Life Living Museum in Tilford, near Farnham, Surrey, which includes the 2ft gauge Old Kiln Light Railway has been allocated £ 70,200.