- 2 years ago
There are works scheduled to fix the outside of the Oswestry train station building that should see the scaffolding being removed. We take a look inside and find out about past uses and what future it has too.
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00:00So we're here with Peter Gilbertson at Oswestry train station, special pop-in event today and
00:05you're just going to explain to us what the big issues are with this building Peter.
00:09Yes well the project we've got on at the moment is to repair the outside of the building. So you
00:15see here the building has been clad with scaffolding for a couple of years and this
00:18was following a major storm that came through one autumn and you see these little corbels that sit
00:25under the roof. One of these fell off onto the pavement and caused a bit of a hazard so we've
00:29been looking into that and we've had these various structural reports have come back
00:34saying that these corbels have actually, they were actually stuck onto the building when it
00:41was being built just at the very end. They don't form any sort of structural purpose,
00:46they're purely ornamental and they're made out of portland cement which was at the time a modern
00:52building material, very brittle but very hard and what happened was some poor guy had to
00:59sort of climb up a ladder and then effectively attach these onto the wall and hammer it in with
01:05a couple of big iron nails now with cement at the back. Now that's lasted for about 150 years
01:13but now those metal pins have rusted, the little ledge that they were sitting on has become loose
01:21and those iron pins have rusted and the cement has lost its adhesion and so all these corbels
01:27are at risk of falling off and we've already seen one fall off two years ago. So unfortunately for
01:31the time being the scaffolding has to stay as a safety measure but what we're looking to do this
01:36winter, this autumn and if they're into the spring is reattach those corbels to the underlying
01:44underneath the roofing, replace that string of course that they're sitting on,
01:50reattach them with a permanent bond where necessary we might have to remould some of
01:55those corbels because some of them have been lost or shattered over the time and then also we're
02:00going to re-roof the building with Welsh slate. At the moment it's got a composite tile that's got
02:06asbestos in it that was put on about 40 years ago the last time the building had a major restoration
02:13and unfortunately that's not acceptable from a health and safety point of view. So we're looking
02:18to put Welsh slate back on that roof, replace those corbels and then repaint the outside of
02:25the building and that will mean that the outside of the building is safe, secure and watertight
02:29hopefully for the next 150 years. So we're hoping by March 2025 that that'll be done,
02:35scaffolding will be down, that'll be the yeah that'll be it. Once that work is done then the
02:39scaffolding can come down and then the outside of the building will be looking at its best
02:43and our efforts will then focus on supporting the trust and looking at the inside of the building.
02:48So that's what I was going to come to actually, so what would be, let's wave our magic wand, the
02:52outside of the building's looking grand, it's all done, what's the hope for the building to
02:57be used for to kind of make it viable and you know get a bit of money in the kitty sort of thing?
03:01Well that's right, well at the moment the ground floor where the old station was for Oshersea
03:06that's being, we've got that let to the Cambrian Heritage Railway and they've been doing a great
03:11job restoring the ground floor internals so that they've got a cafe open, they've got seating areas
03:18and they're running excursions during the summer months. Our aim would be to support them with
03:22that, there is some work we need to do on the inside, currently there's no insulation in the
03:27building, there's no heating in the building and so that can only happen at the moment during the
03:31summer months. So our aim would be to try and improve the insulation, get the building heated
03:36so that it can be used more all year round and an important part of that is trying to bring the
03:41first floor back into a productive use. If we can get some rental income from that then that will
03:46help fund the building going forward and that's that's going to be the next step which is our
03:50architects, in-store architects have been looking to help us with that. Is there quite a bit work
03:54left to do on the first floor before that would be kind of available to rent? There is, obviously the
04:00heating and the insulation but also the ground, the floor of that building isn't safe at the
04:05moment, so our structural engineer has seen it sagging and the building was converted into
04:12bedsits probably about 30 or 40 years ago, probably when that roof was put on and we suspect that
04:19a lot of the work to convert it involved cutting into the joists that support the floor, so we need
04:25to look at reinforcing that floor, fixing those safety problems so that the first floor can be
04:30brought back into safe use. So has there been a full assessment of that floor, do we kind of
04:36know what is needed? We've got the first structural service, looked at the whole building
04:41so the good news from that is the building is structurally sound, it's good brick work, good stone
04:46work, there's a little bit of work we need to do to strengthen the roof eaves where we've had some
04:51historic rot, we've talked about the corbels but there is some work we need to do with that first
04:57floor to strengthen it and also there's some cracking on the ground floor that we think is
05:03probably a consequence of age and the settlement of the building that needs a little bit of
05:06reinforcement, but other than that the building's generally sound but there will need to be some
05:10work going forward next year. And that work that'll be needed to kind of get the first floor ready for
05:15for a rental opportunity, is the funding for that, is that still kind of a process of trying to work
05:21out where that will be coming from? That will be next year's challenge. Yeah, got you. Great stuff, thank you sir.
05:27So Vicky, how are you? I'm all right, thank you. Oswestry Girl and there's a picture of a gentleman there
05:32that once owns the railway building, had it as a DIY centre and you know him because he's your dad.
05:39Yeah he is, yeah. What's your dad's name? Dennis. So he bought it, what year are we thinking roughly?
05:4579. I was just chatting to your mum on the phone, he had it till roughly 92, 93
05:52and so he had it, was it DIY garden centre? Yeah, DIY garden centre and just yeah, do it yourself,
06:00like timber, shed, all sorts of things. And it was while he had it that the flats came on board,
06:08is that right? Yes, there was flats above as well, ten flats. Yeah, and you've got memories of when you were a young girl
06:15cleaning the flats out? Yeah, cleaning the flats and the counter of the shop, doing the nails and paints and all sorts of things.
06:24So did you just think as a young girl, this is a pain in the bum, I've got to clean these flats
06:29or did you ever think, this is really cool, my dad owns an old railway station? No, it was
06:33quite cool at times, yeah it was, yeah. That's cool. Do you kind of ever think back, you know,
06:40our family still own that? Yeah, because we live in Alder Street, you very often drive past it,
06:46well every day we drive past it, you think that's my dad's. Yeah, so I guess it must be, you know,
06:51when you see the building kind of, the scaffolding going up and here, about bits dropping off it,
06:56it must be kind of quite sad really, you know what I mean? Yeah, it needs to be looked at,
07:04so you take a bit of comfort and a bit of happiness knowing that work is in place and
07:09yeah, great stuff, thank you. So we're here at the magnificent Ostrich's train station, as was,
07:16and Cambrian Heritage Railways, that's who you guys represent? We do, we do indeed. Just fill us
07:22in on what's happening with it then, we've had a chat with the man from the council, he's said
07:27about the outside work and what's going to be going on with the top of the building and
07:31scaffolding, but in terms of the Heritage Railways, what's kind of the future looking
07:36like for you guys in the building? Very good, we're delivering two projects, so one is a Heritage
07:42Railway, tourist railway project from Ostrich South, first phase opened two years ago to Western
07:48Wharf, eventually that'll extend still further, we're also promoting a community rail scheme
07:54linking Ostrich back to Gobowen, but in terms of use of the building, we've had a tendency at will
07:59with Shropshire Council for two years now, so we've been making use of the ground stairs, ground
08:05floor of the building for tourist use, basically as a shop, small cafe, sales face, ticket office
08:12and events and functions. And will that continue, you'll be still there with the cafe and everything?
08:18That'll continue and there's huge potential actually to grow the range of use
08:24within the building, from educational uses to other community-based activities as well, so
08:30it's a very multi-faceted project. And the gentleman from the council was saying that
08:34they've sorted where the money's coming from for this external work, but then next
08:39year's project will be money for the internal work, getting the floor ready so they could start
08:44making that upstairs space, you know, a money source of revenue. I hope you've got the train
08:50coming in as we speak. So what happens with the fundraising, do Cambrian Heritage Railway
08:56play a part in the fundraising for that next project as well? So no, the project is Shropshire
09:01Council's with the building, so they own it, but obviously we're a key stakeholder being the user
09:06of the ground floor, and obviously with the tourist potential we have for Oxford Street,
09:11we play a vital part in that. So really, you're station master aren't you? I am. It must be
09:18quite nice to be part of, you know, interlacing yourself with this interesting building's history.
09:24It is, and as you can see we're midweek, we're very, very busy. Trains are going hourly.
09:31I've huge interest. So yeah, people can come down here, they can jump on a train and go to?
09:36Weston Wharf. Weston Wharf, yeah. Grand. And so that's where some of the trains will be running
09:41from today as well? Yes, two are from Weston Wharf. Yeah, and is that just like a summer season thing?
09:48Yeah, so that's every weekend pretty much between Easter and September,
09:52a mix of heritage, diesel, DMU and steam in high season. So here in Oxford Street we've got our
10:00ticket office, our cafe, our shop, we've got our railway museum as well, we've got the restored
10:04signal box open on selected days, and down at Weston Wharf we've again got a visitor interpretation
10:10centre, small cafe serving light refreshments, children's activity trail picnic area, and of
10:17course it's right next door to Stonehouse Brewery. Fancy something Scrompton? That sounds good. I'm
10:22on board, where do I get my ticket? Hello Paul, how you doing? Hello. Just bringing back a few memories for
10:27you then, you used to live here? I lived here for 18 years. Yeah, and so that would be when it was the
10:33hardware shop below? That's right, yeah. And you were saying you had a couple of different, you
10:38had a bed sit on the back first, well on the front first end? Bed sit on the front and then
10:43I upgraded to a one-bedroom flat which overlooked the land at the back here. Yeah, and not really
10:49much in the way of trains coming and going then, you said you'd see the old quarry train, is that
10:52right? Saw the quarry train two or three times, yeah, in the early 80s. And so what happened in
10:59the end then? Did they just kind of, did they ask everyone to leave? Did the flats just become in
11:03kind of just a dilapidated state? What was the story with it? It was a car parts place towards
11:10the end and I think Tesco was trying to buy the place, but it all fell through for legal reasons,
11:19and it sort of got dilapidated after a while. Yeah, and were you one of the last ones to move
11:26out then? I think I was the second to last, a guy called Kim Tanadine was the last one.
11:33So does it make you kind of sad when you sit, you know, you come round, you were saying this is one
11:37of the first buildings you see isn't it, when you come to the town from this way? When you come into
11:41Oswestry, yes, it's one of the first major buildings that you see and it's a shame to see it like this,
11:45it does need tidying up and looking after. Yeah, and once they have sorted the top floor out,
11:50I presume it'll probably end up being offices, I should think that's the long-term plan, but who
11:55knows. Would you ever, if there were some fancy Swiss flats they'd just put up there, would you
11:59quite like the idea of living up there again? Yeah, I think it would, I think it would adapt
12:05nicely to that again. Yeah, especially with the Heritage Railways now running into things. Yeah,
12:09of course the flats we had before didn't have central heating and things, so if you put central
12:15heating in and made them really nice, I see no reason why not, it overlooks a nice piece of land.
12:19But how did you cope in the winter then, what did you do to keep warm? I invested in a lot of
12:24electric centres, electric heaters. But of course electric wasn't so dear then was it, you know, so
12:30yeah. But happy memories though? Yes, a lot of really, really good times and seeing it now it's
12:39it's, I still see the ghosts of times past, yeah.
12:45So Paul, we've just got exclusive access, this used to be your flat then? Yeah.
12:51Quite a high ceilings, isn't it? No, they weren't, the ceilings were at
12:57that height. Got you, yeah. And it sloped up,
13:07it sloped up to allow access for the windows, but yeah, the ceilings were right down there. Yeah,
13:13no way. So these, these curves on the wall, do you remember these or were they kind of blocked in?
13:19Yeah. No, they were all still there. So how did you, how was your layout then, where was your
13:24where was your bed and all that? Right, you walked, you walked, as you walked in. Yeah. This was a
13:30corridor. Yeah. Door here into the lounge. Got you.
13:38TV. Yeah. Sofa, kitchen area. Yeah. Back out into the hall, you went down here,
13:49this was the bedroom. Yeah. This was the bathroom. No way, how about that. So it took a bit of work
13:56getting us set up them stairs, wouldn't it, that we've just come up? Yeah, I was quite young then.
14:03Is it quite interesting to, like you say, it brings back ghosts, I should imagine, people
14:07that used to, you know, old neighbours and stuff. Yeah, it does, we had a few parties in this room.
14:13Yeah, oh wow. And you were, we were having a little chat and you were saying you'd like to
14:18see it go back to residential really, more so than offices. I think it lends itself more for
14:24residential use. Yeah. And it would be really nice to see it taken back to that. And of course,
14:31the view at the back here, it's absolutely brilliant. Yeah, that's one thing you don't
14:35really get to appreciate when you're kind of down there. No, we're in the middle of
14:40Ulster Street, but looking out over this wooded area, it's really nice. Cool.
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