Rocks By Rail: The Living Ironstone Museum is based in Cottesmore, Rutland in the UK. It aims to recreate the experience of a 1950s and 1960s ironstone quarry and railway through the preservation of original machinery from the period.
The museum’s Ironstone Railway Exhibition Centre, which began construction in October last year, will be an insulated exhibition and conservation building housing three rail tracks for the quarry railway exhibits.
On the museum’s website, Rocks By Rail operations manager Steven Parker noted that moving the exhibits to a covered facility would mean visitors could view them all year round while also allowing preservation and restoration work to progress regardless of the weather.
Rocks By Rail volunteer and museum trustee Robin Bickers added, “The new building will provide secure accommodation for the exhibits, encourage more conservation work and training in old skills (thus enhancing opportunities for volunteering at the museum), as well as providing a focus for future educational visits where a younger generation can learn about their industrial past.”
The museum’s volunteers made an appeal to local building materials companies to assist in the centre’s construction and received what was described as a “terrific” response.
Hanson offered 20 tonnes of cement and aggregates to build concrete walkways between the rail tracks, Lafarge Tarmac donated a layer of limestone fill and 40 tonnes of granite chippings to create the rail track base, and Cemex provided the track itself, which had been left over from the company’s work on re-building the Barrington Light Railway.
Stewart Jones, the manager of Hanson Cement’s Ketton site, said, “We are delighted to be supporting the museum project, which recognises the work of extractive industries, with the supply of both cement and aggregates. We wish them every success.”
The project is expected to reach completion later this year.
More reading
Historic excavator cab to be restored