A former railway signal box beside Morecambe Bay has been converted into a classroom where schoolchildren can study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through the railway and coastal environment.
The building at Hest Bank, on the West Coast Main Line, has been named the ‘Box on the Bay’. The Leeds to Morecambe Community Rail Partnership will run educational sessions for schools across Lancashire and is now accepting term-time bookings.
From signalling facility to community space
The London Midland Type 15 signal box was built by British Railways and opened in December 1958. It closed in 2013 after signalling control was transferred to Preston Power Signal Box, and had remained empty since then.
Network Rail, its community rail and train operator partners secured £14,000 to convert the building. The project forms part of a three-year effort to restore the structure and preserve a piece of railway heritage on the only section of the West Coast Main Line where the tracks run directly alongside the sea.
The first session was held over the summer for 10 Year 5 pupils from Heysham Saint Peter’s Church of England Primary School.
Lessons beside the railway
Amelia Routledge, Network Rail’s infrastructure maintenance delivery manager, said: “It’s brilliant to see a bright future for this signal box when the alternative was demolition and this piece of railway heritage being lost. The fact it is now inspiring the next generation of future engineers and getting them engaged and excited about about STEM subjects is even better.
“This project has been a huge collaboration across the industry with Network Rail, the Community partnerships, the Leeds to Morecambe Community Group, Avanti West Coast, Transpennine Express, and Northern all involved – either through funding, support or ideas – and working together to make it happen.”
Brian Haworth, officer at the Leeds to Morecambe Community Rail Partnership, said the facility would allow lessons to take place alongside live railway infrastructure.
“This now opens us up to a totally different way of engaging young people, where rather than going into schools to teach we can bring them to the railway itself. You can actually see level crossings work, you can see the sequence that they have to go through and we can explain how you have to use them and stay safe. And when you see a train coming past the window every few minutes at a hundred miles an hour, it’s the perfect safety lesson, right where it’s actually happening!”