By DAVID COULTER

Last updated at 11:18, Friday, 30 July 2010

OPERATORS of the North Tyne’s premier museum are chuffed to bits at the prospect of turning the clock back half a century.

For if things go to plan, Bellingham’s former railway station yard could soon be home to a couple of veterans of the glorious age of steam for the first time since the 1950s.

The Heritage Centre at Bellingham has got through the first round of funding with the Heritage Lottery Fund to buy two 60-year-old railway carriages to put on show at the popular tourist attraction.

One will be used as a tea room, while the other will house artefacts and memorabilia from the Border Counties Railway line which ran through the village for over 100 years.

Both carriages, however, will have the flexibility to double up as a classroom, meeting room or workshop areas.

Chairman of trustees at the centre, Terry Bragg, said: “This is good news for the Heritage Centre, and good news for Bellingham and the North Tyne.

“Their support has now allowed us to engage professional help to develop our bid to the final stage.

“We recognise that, to make a change and attract significantly more visitors and school groups, then we need to provide more space and better facilities.

“We believe this to be a low cost and entirely appropriate solution which will add interest and enhance the appeal of the centre to a wide range of visitors.”

Mr Bragg said the project would bring wider benefits to the local economy.

He said: “We are looking to employ professional support in the form of a curator and an education officer who will support the trustees to enable them to make this a first class heritage destination attracting many more visitors to this beautiful but often forgotten part of Northumberland.”

Bellingham Heritage Centre is working hard on the second round application and hopes to compete it by September for a final decision in December.

Currently, the Heritage Centre at Bellingham has exhibitions covering all aspects of the area’s heritage including the Border Reivers, farming, blacksmiths and its industrial heritage.

An extensive display on the Borders Counties Railway is also on display at the museum.

First published at 09:43, Friday, 30 July 2010
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk