Train line in The Railway Children among sites protected with funding

LONDON: A train line which featured in The Railway Children film is among a number of “cherished” UK institutions such as pubs, museums and sports clubs to be protected with funding.

The Government is spending more than £12.3m to secure 45 treasured spaces in villages, towns and cities across the country.A railway bridge which carries the train line over Bridgehouse Beck between Keighley and Oxenhope in Yorkshire, will be rebuilt with £1 million from the Community Ownership Fund.

The original bridge, built in 1867, is on the train line featured in dozens of films and television shows, including the 1970 adaptation of Edith Nesbit’s book.David Pearson, of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society, said: “(The funding) means that the long term survival of train services on the railway is ensured and means everything to our railway, our villages and our people.”

The Community Ownership Fund helps people living in towns and cities across the UK create and restore treasured institutions such as museums, pubs and sports clubs.

A new aerospace discovery centre in Kinross, Scotland, and the Vale of Aeron pub in Ystrad Aeron, Wales, frequented by poet Dylan Thomas, have both been given £300,000. Jacob Young, a levelling up minister, said: “Our priority is to support communities and deliver opportunities right across the country, which is why we’re investing £12.3m to secure the future of cherished community institutions.

“These places – from pubs to historic railway lines – are the golden thread which run through our social fabric, and keeping them going is vital for supporting communities.”The Community Ownership Fund, which has now given £49.3 million to 195 projects across the UK, is currently open again for bids and will close on October 11.