Brighton firm to work on Bluebell Railway

A Brighton construction company has won a contract to carry out major works at a station on the the Bluebell Railway line.
Morgan Ashurst, of Dyke Road Drive, Brighton, will restore historic buildings beside the platform at Sheffield Park Station to the east of Haywards Heath.
The company will also build a shed to house 17 railway carriages as part of Operation Undercover.
This is the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society’s project to ensure all its old engines and carriages can be protected from the elements when not being used.
Water from the shed roof will be used for the washout pit also being built by Morgan Ashurst.
Work is expected to start in the new year as the Bluebell Railway celebrates its 50th anniversary. It is due to be completed in the autumn.
The work is being part funded by a grant of almost £3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The fund has also awarded a grant of £545,000 to help turn Lewes Priory – a Grade I listed building – into a more attractive place for tourists to visit.
English Heritage and Lewes Town Council will put up most of the rest of the money for the £700,000 project at the site in Cockshut Road.
Controversially, the Heritage Lottery Fund withdrew a £14 million award to the the West Pier in Brighton in January 2004 after the two arson attacks in March and May 2003.