Old station just one hour from Cheltenham transformed into 'train-spotter paradise'
Summary
A couple have created a train-spotter paradise after spending over £50,000 transforming an abandoned 19th-century railway station near Cheltenham into a luxury retreat. Cecilia Chavez-Brandon and her husband, Paul Kirwan, bought Rowden Mill Station in 2017 after a year-long search for their dream renovation project.
Details
Passenger services ceased in the 1950s as more people travelled by car, and the station fell into disrepair. The couple paid £395,000 for the 2.7-acre site in Bromyard, North Herefordshire, which included a section of track and the original buildings.
Following years of renovation, visitors can now step back in time, just an hour from Cheltenham, and experience the views that greeted passengers more than half a century ago. Cecilia, originally from Mexico, trained initially as an architect but says the couple have had to become train enthusiasts since opening to visitors.
Cecilia, 57, said: “We were house hunting for a whole year but in mind that we wanted a business. “The station came on the market, we put an offer in and three hours later it was accepted. “The station itself closed in 1952.
Most of the traffic was moving injured soldiers to field hospitals during the war, or by farmers moving cattle with a cattle dock. “We have a parcel office with a studio for two on the main platform.
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For anyone staying here, it’s like waking up in a railway station from the 1950s and 60s.” The station was originally renovated by the previous owners before the couple moved in, but they updated the building and added more of their unique touches to complete the ‘time capsule’ experience. They bought a run-down 18ft-long saloon railway coach and gave the interior a vintage twist, fitting it out with 1960s furniture.
After the renovation, the old station was finally opened for holidaymakers in July 2022. Cecilia said: “It was not until the 1980s that the former owners found the station and bought it from the farmers. “They built the rail track back.
We arrived after they had been here 32 years and helped modernise it. “They restored the station building and the parcel office and converted it into accommodation rather than a station. “The booking office is now the kitchen, the waiting room is now the lounge.
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Cecilia, 57, said: “We were house hunting for a whole year but in mind that we wanted a business. “The station came on the market, we put an offer in and three hours later it was accepted. “The station itself closed in 1952.
After the renovation, the old station was finally opened for holidaymakers in July 2022. Cecilia said: “It was not until the 1980s that the former owners found the station and bought it from the farmers. “They built the rail track back.