Peak Rail receives Government’s Culture Recovery Fund
Peak Rail plc to receive £114,000 from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund
- Peak Rail plc is among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund
- This award covering the period from April to June 2021 will help enable Peak Rail plc with the costs it faces as its starts to welcome back visitors and volunteers and makes the transition towards a full re-opening.
- This project is funded by the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. The Culture Recovery Fund is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England, using funds provided by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Peak Rail plc in Derbyshire has received a grant of £114,000 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and reopen.
Nearly £400 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including Peak Rail in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.
Peak Rail is a heritage railway, operating both nostalgic steam and diesel trains through the Derbyshire countryside from Rowsley South to Matlock Platform 2. The railway is mostly operated by a loyal and dedicated band of volunteers and is home to various railway groups who help and support the railway.
This award will help sustain the railway over the coming months until we can run at our full capacity.
Over £800 million in grants and loans has already been awarded to support almost 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
This brings the Government’s total investment across grants, capital and repayable finance from the Culture Recovery Fund so far to more than £1.2 billion across over 5,000 individual cultural and heritage organisations and sites.
The second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.
Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:
“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.
Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”
Jackie Statham, Managing Director of Peak Rail plc said:
“We are delighted to have been awarded this grant, which means we will be able to reopen the railway after a 12 month period of closure. Peak Rail is a valuable local heritage venue which attracts visitors and volunteers of all ages and this grant will enable us to continue offering those experiences as well as preserving our site for future generations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the Peak Railway Association and Derwent and Wye Valley Trust for their valuable input in helping us achieve this grant, together with the various groups and shareholders for their kind letters of support.”
Ros Kerslake, CEO of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:
“Spring is definitely here, bringing not only sunshine but that sense of optimism and hope for the future. We are all looking forward to heritage places and other visitor attractions reopening and I am very pleased that we have been able to support DCMS in delivering this vital funding to ensure the UK’s heritage sector can rebuild and thrive, boosting local economies, creating jobs and supporting personal wellbeing.”
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said:
“The value of our heritage sites and the people who run them has been amply demonstrated, as they have provided an anchor for so many of us through the dark days of the last year. Vital grants from the Culture Recovery Fund have helped them survive and will now help them recover, as the places we all cherish start to reopen in the months ahead.”
The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England as well as the British Film Institute and Arts Council England
PRA Meetings Postponed
PRA meetings have been postponed:
- Chesterfield Branch – Tuesday 17 March – Ken Horan
- Derwent Valley Branch – Tuesday 24 March – Ken Grainger
- Sheffield Branch – Mon 6 April – Paul Shackcloth
- Buxton Branch – Thursday 9 April – Gavin Lake
Britain’s Lost Railways
First episode of “Britain’s Lost railways” Series 2 will be on Channel 5 at 8p.m. on Sunday 9th February. The first episode is on Derbyshire and some of it was filmed on Peak Rail.
Peak Rail Association – Raffle 2019
Winners of the Peak Rail Association Raffle 2019
September Shunters
Mixed Traffic and Weather
Amazing Mazda Event
Black Five Booked for 2020
We are sorry to say that Black Five “The Sherwood Forester” is unable to get the routed clearance to attend our Mixed Traffic Gala on 10th/11th August, 2019, but there is some good news, the engine has been booked for our Gala in 2020.
PRA Buxton Branch News
Lotus Swarm at Peak Rail
Brilliant Beer and Bus Weekend
No. 72 to Star in Channel 5 Documentary
On the 4th June – a film crew joined Peak Rail to film a series for a Channel 5 series called, “Walking Britain’s Lost Railways” which will be shown in the autumn, with the date still to be announced.
Party Play Bus to visit Peak Rail
We are delighted to announce that the Party Play Bus will be joining the line up of buses at the Peak Park Preserved Bus Gathering, which will be taking place on the 16th June. Continue reading
A Damp Ducati Day doesn’t Dampen Spirits
Although the weather was a little unkind to our Ducati visitors, it didn’t dampen the spirits of our visitors.
It was great to see all the motorbikes gather and to see them go off on a tour of the Derbyshire Dales. Continue reading
Andrew Wilson Heritage Shunters Gala
The late May Bank Holiday weekend, 25th and 26th, saw one of our special events take place at the shunters yard at Rowsley South. The event was our first Shunters Gala of the year and was held in memory of the charismatic Andrew Wilson who we sadly lost in 2019.
The event was well attended and there were many shunters on display as well as a few operating on the track ferrying visitors back and forth. A ticket into the event meant visitors could ride all day, take a look at the shunters in the two sheds owned by the Heritage Shunters Trust, and view the many shunters still laying dorment in the yard, awaiting one day to be repaired and renovated.
Tea and refreshments were on offer all day.
On the other side of the level crossing Peak Rail were running a normal operating service, meaning visitors to the Gala could also take a ride on our train, fronted by our steam locomotive at one end and our diesel locomotive at the other, down to Matlock, where the fair had come to town and there was the Matlock CAMRA beer festival been held at the Matlock Town Football Ground.
At Rowsley South refreshments were on offer as always, and the shops at Rowsley and Matlock were open for visitors.
The Heritage Shunters Trust run two galas each year, so don’t worry if you missed out on your opportunity to see the shunters in action this time, you could always make a date for this year’s other Heritage Shunters Gala to be held on the 7th and 8th September 2019.
