The old railway signal box at Hest Bank Station has been transformed into a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classroom.

The project, delivered by the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership (CRP), includes displays showing train movements that the pupils can follow live.

The London Midland Region Type 15 Box was built by British Railways and opened in December 1958. It helped to operate part of the West Coast Main Line for 55 years before being decommissioned in 2013, when control was passed to the Power Box at Preston.

At a special event on Friday 10 July, the CRP brought together representatives from Network Rail, Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, Northern, CrossCountry and Community Rail Network to officially open the ‘Box on the Bay’.

The most important guests were pupils and staff from St. Peter’s Church of England Primary School in Heysham, who thoroughly enjoyed the first educational sessions to be delivered in the box, which included activities on rail safety and bridge construction.

Click here to watch a short video about the event.

Gerald Townson, chair of the Leeds-Morecambe CRP, said: “It has been a genuine pleasure to work together with Network Rail North West and Central to create this unique space for education about the railway and Morecambe Bay.

“I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the train operators Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, Northern and CrossCountry for creating a community funding pot and for offering in-kind support for the project.”

Amelia Routledge, infrastructure maintenance delivery manager at Network Rail, said: “This is a first-of-its-kind project. It’s so exciting to see the decommissioned signal box turn into an educational centre that the communities can use and benefit from.”

Brian Haworth, Leeds-Morecambe CRP officer, said: “This location is absolutely brilliant. A core subject for bringing the children here is rail safety, which is soon to be part of the National Curriculum, and I can’t emphasise enough how you won’t find a better location for talking and learning about it.”

Any school interested in visiting the ‘Box on the Bay’ should contact the Leeds-Morecambe CRP via the.bentham.line@gmail.com or 01524 298 940.

Keep up to date with future news, projects and events from Leeds Morecambe CRP via their website.