Great Central Railway opens brand new cafe at Quorn and Woodhouse

One hundred and forty thousand pound private investment creates new jobs and provides brand new family facilities.

The next arrival at Quorn and Woodhouse railway station is a brand new family café! It will be officially opened on Saturday July 23rd by TV antiques expert Paul Atterbury. The one hundred and forty thousand pound project to create a forty six seater family friendly facility plus a brand new toilet block has now been completed. The café has created 10 new jobs for the local community. The building has been carefully designed in Great Central house style to blend in with the adjacent grade two listed station. There will also be a picnic area to give visitors a grandstand view of the passing trains. Project Manager for the Great Central Railway, Tony Sparks said, "With an ever growing number of events taking place at Quorn station, like our wartime weekend, bonfire night and steam galas, the new café will allow us to cater for the thousands of people who visit us. It's just one of a number of developments planned for the site."

A significant amount of the money for the new development was provided by the Leicester Railway Society. Their president, Horace Gamble will assist Mr Atterbury at the opening ceremony. The rest of the project capital has been raised privately.

Bill Ford, president of the Great Central Railway said, "I'd like to thank Leicester Railway Society for a warm hearted gesture to the GCR. They've ensured our visitors will receive a warm welcome at Quorn and Woodhouse station in future. The new café will be a tremendous asset to the railway and will operate in addition to the atmospheric war time tea room on the station platform."

The new café has been named Butler-Henderson, after the locomotive which ran on the line in the 1920s. It is the only surviving Great Central Railway passenger locomotive and is currently on display at the National Railway Museum. The locomotive was named after the Butler-Henderson family, one of whom was a member of the board of the Great Central Railway. The opening ceremony will take place during the railway's annual mail by rail gala featuring the famous non-stop mail drop, which also takes place at Quorn station.