We are likely to be taking over ownership of Midford early in 2010. With this in mind I paid a visit today.
The site as always is breathtaking, especially the approach from Hinton Charterhouse with the line hugging the hillside. The station site and the trackbed to the southern arch of the Long Arch Bridge (the section we will be buying) is very well kept, the platform at Midford is particularly well preserved.
One issue that will have to be addressed early on is our relationship with the Hope and Anchor. They own the station car park and, understandably, don't want visitors' cars filling up their car park at busy times. Workers at the site will no doubt be able to park vehicles either on the old trackbed or on the platform itself, but obviously we'll need to sort out visitor parking at an early date. This will probably involve some cost to us, either through buying permits or buying or renting part of the car park, or at the very least restricting parking at busy times for the pub. But obviously this new visitor attraction will bring MANY new customers to the pub, and the station will be even more important to the pub when the oil starts getting too expensive for people to drive.
This sort of situation will no doubt occur at every location we purchase, but it will always be our intention to work with local established businesses. That's really what we're about - keeping the local economy going through difficult times.
In the event of a visitor parking solution not being found then Midford will simply be preserved within our Land Bank until it is. Expect more news soon!
