Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Heritage signal box to stage open day
Hebden Bridge's Grade II-listed signal box, now safely looked after in community ownership, is throwing its doors open to the public on Sunday, 8 March.
Photo: HebWeb, October 2018
Calder Valley Community Land Trust, the member-led local charity, has obtained the lease of the building (empty since resignalling took place eight years ago) from Network Rail and has successfully raised over £100,000 in grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Railway Heritage Trust.
The grants will enable the first floor of the building, which still has the original nineteenth-century signal frame in place, to become a heritage centre and exhibition space.
The downstairs will be converted into quirky overnight accommodation in order to generate the revenue needed for the ongoing maintenance of the building.
See photo above from October 2025 - Volunteers have already cleared briars, weeds and saplings from around the signal box, and the building work necessary to create the heritage centre and downstairs accommodation is expected to be undertaken this Spring.
Karin Lowson, Trustee of Calder Valley Community Land Trust, said, "We already have a very active heritage group working on the plans for the signal box centre, which will include displays and a computer simulation of how traditional railway signalling worked. Once the builders have left, we're planning a proper public celebration at the box, which we're hoping to arrange for the Summer. But we know some people can't wait till then. The Open Day on Sunday, 8 March will offer a chance to see the signal box as is was left, after the last signal operator left in 2018."
The signal box will be open on 8 March from 10am – 1pm. The organisers advise that, because of the limited space inside, a queuing system may need to be in operation. They also advise that, because the access to the signal box is up a flight of steps, wheelchair access is unfortunately not possible although volunteers will be able to explain to visitors with disabilities how a virtual tour of the building is being planned as part of the heritage centre website.
Calder Valley Community Land Trust was established in 2014 to hold houses, buildings and land in trust for the local community. As well as Hebden Bridge Signal Box, it is the owner of the Fielden Hall community centre in Todmorden, is developing an enterprise centre for local businesses also in Todmorden, and is a social landlord for tenants in houses and bungalows in the upper Calder valley. Its acquisition of the signal box, initially on a 21 year lease, follows several years of negotiation with Network Rail.