BRICKET Wood station, between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey has emerged from an extensive restoration, with the added attraction of a tearoom.
The 1903 LNWR station building became a bricked up shell after a fire in the 1970s destroyed much of the interior. However, the Bricket Wood Station Heritage Trust had the vision to restore the building with the aim of creating a heritage-themed tearoom to provide future income. A 99-year lease was agreed with Network Rail at a peppercorn rent.
The trust has worked with a number of organisations, including West Midlands Trains, the Railway Heritage Trust, the Abbey Line Community Rail Partnership, Network Rail and the Abbey Flyer Users’ Group, to restore the interior and exterior, create the tearoom and make the station an asset for the local community. On the walls of the tearoom are maps, photos, information and artefacts detailing the history of the station and the surrounding area, as well as the restoration of the building.
Formal reopening was on October 22, the ribbon being cut by Henry Holland-Hibbert, chairman of the Hertfordshire Community Foundation, and whose grandfather was an employee of the LNWR.