Barrow Hill Roundhouse's 150th anniversary gala set for summer 2022 after two-year-delay

The event will run from August 26 to 28, 2022 and include opportunities to view a special line-up of locomotives in the Roundhouse itself and in the yard which will be opened up to allow cab visits to resident and visiting locomotives.

In a sentimental nod to the past, the gala will be a celebration of the British Railways-era Open Days which took place at the Roundhouse in the 1970s and early 1980s.

There will be train rides from the Roundhouse Halt platform up to the Springwell branch line, children’s activities and historical enactments of Roundhouse characters, trade and railway society stalls, food and drink stands.

Commercial railway companies who have used the site since it reopened in 1998, as well as heritage railway organisations, have been invited to send exhibits to celebrate their respective organisations’ involvement in the Roundhouse story and enhance the gala’s open day theme.

Mervyn Allcock, general manager of Barrow Hill Roundhouse, said: “This is a unique opportunity to not only celebrate 150+2 years of the Roundhouse’s existence but also to celebrate the achievements since the building was saved from demolition in the 1990s and the site’s growth over the last 30 years. We are delighted that so many of our commercial and heritage partners in the incredible success story of the Roundhouse’s renaissance will be involved in this celebration.”

Details of visiting locomotives and ticket prices for the gala will be released in the coming weeks.

Built in 1870, Barrow Hill Roundhouse is the last surviving railway in the United Kingdom with an operational turntable. Dedicated volunteers have transformed it into a premier railways and events venue after saving it from the threat of demolition in 1991 when the site was closed by British Rail.

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