A HERITAGE centre at a railway station has been saved from closure as a new steering group takes over operations and formulates future plans.
Carnforth Heritage Centre looked set to close on Saturday, October 12. The station trust, which owned the centre, blamed this on a poor recovery after Covid.
The management of the centre was handed from the trust to a new steering group this month.
In a statement on the centre's website, it said that negotiations are 'ongoing' with the landlord, volunteers and other interested parties.
The Brief Encounter Bistro and Bar, which operates in the station, is an independent franchise and will continue to run as normal.
David Koller, one of the members of the steering group, said that management of the centre is 'a work in progress.' "There's a lot of hard work been put in, it's very positive," he added.
Talking about the centre's role in the town, he said: "In my view it is an asset to Carnforth. The heritage centre is an asset to Lancashire and south Cumbria."
The station was made famous by the 1945 David Lean film Brief Encounter, which the heritage centre draws upon.
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Mr Koller said: "There is massive, massive global support for this film."
The group has hired a solicitor and is looking at how to re-structure the centre to make all funds available. Mr Koller said that the group has been holding meetings with Carnforth Town Council to put together plans.
On October 2, the council released a statement that read: "The news of the closure of the Visitor Centre at Carnforth Station by the Station Trust has come as a shock to the whole town.
"Whatever the reasons for the closure, Carnforth Town Council will play an active part in trying to find a positive outcome to the situation, but we wish to make it clear that the town council does not have the financial resources nor the management capacity to take over the running of the centre."
Carnforth Station Heritage Centre won small visitor attraction of the year at the 2019 Lancashire Tourism Awards.
In the age of steam Carnforth was a much busier station before the West Coast Main Line platforms closed in 1970.
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