A HUGE book containing the Midland Railway’s original 1870s drawings for the now closed Garsdale-Hawes branch line has been restored.
“The Book of Bridges” – as it is known – is more than two feet high and a yard wide. The pages have been cleaned one at a time and a full restoration carried out by paper conservators Stephen and Pamela Allen from Durham.
Mr Allen gave an illustrated talk last month about the project at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes, where the book is kept.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund gave £1000 to the project, roughly a third of the total needed, with the remainder coming from a public appeal and parish council donations.
Appeal Organiser Ruth Annison said: “These are the original drawings for the Garsdale to Hawes branch line and we are very privileged that they have survived. It’s nice to see an old book looking good again."
This year is the 140th anniversary of the opening – in 1878 – of the six-mile Garsdale to Hawes line.
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