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Group hopes to turn railway shed into community hub

John Devine,in Marchand
Aimee Dexter
News imageJohn Devine/BBC Hayley Dolbear has long brown hair and is wearing a black jacket. She is standing in front of a derelict building which has its windows bordered up and a green shed attached on the right side.John Devine/BBC
Hayley Dolbear said the plan was to turn the old goods shed into a community cafe

A volunteer group said it hoped to turn a former railway goods shed into a community space.

Hayley Dolbear, the secretary of Friends of Rings End Nature Reserve in March, Cambridgeshire, said the group had been looking to purchase the goods shed on Twenty Foot Road and turn it into a community cafe.

The derelict building, which is located next to the nature reserve, was used by the railway industry to import and export produce into and from the Fenland town.

"We really want to bring the history [of the building] back into March," Dolbear said.

News imageJohn Devine/BBC A large bricked building has several windows that are boarded up. It has a large wooden entrance on the left and a green tin shed on the right. There is a large bush which runs alongside the front of the building.John Devine/BBC
The building was owned by a local farmer and had been derelict for several years

In the 1980s, the trains were lifted from the building after the site was decommissioned, said Dolbear.

She said the town had the "second biggest marshalling yard in Europe" - where incoming freight trains were uncoupled and sorted - "with 41 tracks going upline and 42 downline".

"We have had the March Model Railway [Club] come out as they are doing a layout for us on how it used to look before it was decommissioned," she added.

"They found in the walls some bricks that are missing where there was cage footing... which must have meant there was something quite valuable coming through."

News imageHAYLEY DOLBEAR The inside of a building which is made from brick. There is a bricked platform on the left which leaders towards a boarded up window which has a small square of light coming through.HAYLEY DOLBEAR
The original platform in the building is still in good condition, said Dolbear

The group has been discussing its plans for the site and looking at ways to fund the project.

Dolbear said the building would be used to create a cafe, alongside three outdoor pods that could be used by community groups.

"Inside, the original platform still stands and is in really good condition... and we will use that for the cafe... and a carriage for people to sit in," she added.

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