A derelict railway station in Gedling can now be turned into a new youth centre after the charity behind the plans managed to secure almost a quarter of a million pounds in funding.
Eight years ago a number of volunteers came together to draw up a plan for the Gedling and Carton Station, in Shearing Hill, to refurbish and reopen it as a youth and community hub.
The station, which was on the Great Northern Railway (GNR), first opened in 1874, while passenger services began to use the station two years later.
It was used frequently upon the opening of Gedling Colliery in 1898, when it was utilised to transport coal and mineworkers.
However the line was shut in April 1960 due to the poor condition of Mapperley Tunnel, which was prone to collapse from mining in the area.
Seven years after its closure the station was converted into a youth club, which served the area’s children and young people for more than four decades until its closure in 2005 amid declining funding and youth workers.
The building was closed in 2012 due to its poor state of repair.
Today the site is held in trust of the people of Gedling, having avoided being sold off, and the new scheme is being carried out by the Gedling Youth and Community Hub charity.
The charity has now secured just over £248,000 in funding to transform the derelict building into a new youth and community centre.
Chairman of the Gedling Youth Club Management Committee, Francis Rodrigues said:
“It just shows if you persevere, it pays off,” Mr Rodrigues, 75, said.
“We’ve got the final pieces in the jigsaw. It has been eight years in the making.
“Over the years funding for youth work was withdrawn and the building fell into disrepair.
“It is a community project that has been supported all the way along.”
In total £173,286 is coming from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, alongside £75,000 from Gedling Borough Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
The charity also receives monthly donations from the Gedling Lotto.
The CIL funding was approved at Gedling Borough Council’s cabinet on July 10, following a public consultation in January this year.
Cllr John Clarke (Lab), the leader of the council, said: “It is a sensible use of this money.
“There are people like Francis Rodrigues who have really driven the Gedling hub, and I have got to state and praise him for that because it was just run-down and full of pigeons, rats and everything else.
“But now, coupling this up with the lottery funding, that is significant, so this will make a massive difference and also bring a building back into use that was virtually derelict.”
The station building is also home to a plaque commemorating a noteable visit by JRR Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, to his aunt, who lived near Gedling Station.
It was during this visit that he wrote a poem called The Voyage of Éarendel the Evening Star.
The plaque says the poem led to the creation of The Lord of the Rings and its mythology.
Mr Rodrigues says planning permission for the scheme was granted in 2023, and work will take place in three phases, subject to a start date being agreed.
The new youth hub’s designs were created by students from Nottingham Trent University, and have been brought to life by Nottingham-based architect Simon Middlecote.
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