Rail enthusiasts are getting the chance to step back in time and compare the Settle to Carlisle railway line to how it looks now.

In a new documentary, produced by 1st Take, they have put together a stunning film to show how it looks from the same vantage point they were first filmed in.

Rail enthusiast Bill May documented the line for many years and asked if the team would be able to transfer his footage to DVD so he would be able to enjoy them – and the 1st Take team were amazed at the footage.

Dave Rogers said: “When we watched the footage we knew we had to do something more. We approached Bill and asked if we would be able to use the footage. He agreed and we set about filming from the same vantage points from where he had originally shot the film.

“We have managed to put together the film with the new and old footage and explained to story of the line.”

The team filmed this during the brief moments lockdown was lifted last year – and Dave admitted they only just managed to complete it.

The original footage was filmed 40 years ago and will will now sit alongside the new footage.

The line itself has had a turbulent history, once facing closure, but with help from new friends in high places the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle helped save it.

The group is the largest rail user and support group in the country, with more than 3,000 members, and transformed themselves from a campaigning group to a rail support group when the line was reprieved in 1989. Upon reprieving the line, then-transport minister Michael Portillo wrote to the Friends challenging them to maintain the line.

That has been the situation for some years – during which the organisation has committed many volunteer hours and committed financially to the upkeep of stations and other causes through member’s subscriptions and legacies.