Former railway signal box near Morecambe gets new lease of life as classroom
A former railway signal box overlooking Morecambe Bay is opening its doors to schools
Schools across Lancashire are being invited to take lessons in a former railway signal box on the West Coast Main Line.
The building at Hest Bank, near Morecambe, has been turned into a STEM education centre, where children can learn about science, technology, engineering and maths.
It sits just 30 metres from the shore of Morecambe Bay, with trains passing by on the West Coast Main Line.
The signal box was built in 1958 and closed in 2013, when its signalling controls were moved to Preston.
It then stood empty for more than a decade.
In 2023, Network Rail approached the Leeds to Morecambe Community Rail Partnership about giving the building a new use, rather than demolishing it.
The upper floor has now been turned into the ‘Box on the Bay’ classroom.
The lower floor is still used for the equipment that operates the nearby level crossing.
What will children learn?
The £14,000 project has taken three years to finish and is being run by the Leeds to Morecambe Community Rail Partnership.
There are more than 60 schools within five miles of the signal box, and the centre is now available for schools to book.
Lessons can cover things like railway safety and history, timetables, bridges and viaducts, as well as the wildlife, weather and environment around Morecambe Bay.
The first pupils to use the classroom were ten Year 5 children from Heysham Saint Peter’s Church of England Primary School over the summer.
The project was funded with support from Network Rail, the Leeds to Morecambe Community Rail Partnership, Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express and Northern.
Bringing the railway into the classroom
Amelia Routledge, from Network Rail, said: "It's brilliant to see a bright future for this signal box when the alternative was demolition and this piece of railway heritage being lost."
Brian Haworth, from the Leeds to Morecambe Community Rail Partnership, said: “This now opens us up to a totally different way of engaging young people, where rather than going into schools to teach we can bring them to the railway itself.
"You can actually see level crossings work, you can see the sequence that they have to go through and we can explain how you have to use them and stay safe."
The ‘Box on the Bay’ officially opened in July and is now taking bookings from schools.