Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company commissions a drama to celebrate 150 years of passenger service on the line

To celebrate 150 years of passenger travel on their line, the Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company has commissioned a new play about the internationally famous railway.

Playwright Joan Barnard, based in Ravenstonedale, near Kirkby Stephen, has been researching, visiting places along the 72 miles of scenic railway before she started work on the new production – Lives Along the Line.

The play will be performed by Ravenstonedale-based community-focused theatre group, The Vagabonds. The productions will also be recorded to make a film which will be shared with schools along the line, for use in their railway projects, which form part of the National Curriculum.

Joan is a founder member of the group, and has been writing and producing plays since 2013, usually for Christmas, most recently ‘Oliver with a Twist’, but also to mark national events - the Platinum Jubilee, the Coronation - and more locally, ‘1925 and All That ' to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Newbiggin-on-Lune Public Hall.

Joan said: “It is clear from my research that the story of the Settle Carlisle Railway is full of drama, from its construction, through its long service in the days of steam, to the ultimately successful battle to save it from closure.

“We hope that ‘Lives Along the Line’ will do justice to these achievements, and particularly to the many who made them possible.”

Chair of Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company, Pete Myers said: “This is a very special railway line, which has 150 years of dramatic history. Commissioning a play that captures the spirit of the Settle Carlisle line in our 150th anniversary year is a great way of celebrating and remembering.

“Whilst Lives Along the Line celebrates our history, it is also about our future as the film of the play becomes a resource for generations to come. We will be making this freely available to all the schools the line connects, for them to use as part of their railway projects.”

The premier will be held at Appleby Public Hall on Saturday, July 4, and the second performance will be at Victoria Hall, Settle, on Sunday, July 5. Both will be matinee performances, so theatregoers will be able to travel to and from the performances by train, from either the Carlisle or the Leeds end of the line.