Disused station now back on track with renovation

A DISUSED station is to be given a new lease of life by an enthusiast who has saved it from dilapidation.

Newhaven Station on Craighall Road is one of only a few timber-boarded station buildings in Scotland, and is Grade-C listed, but its condition has deteriorated badly after standing empty for many years.

It is now being renovated by Newhaven resident Richard Arnot, who spent eight years persuading the city council, which owns the building, to let him work on it.

The retired firefighter said: "The station's state of dilapidation was bothering me. I was actually in the community council at the time this started, and planning was one of my remits. I had to find out who owned it and tracked it down to the council.

"They boarded it up and made it secure but nothing was getting done about it in the long term, so I spent eight years persuading them to sell it to me. I have done the renovation of quite a few properties now and I thought if they're not going to do anything about it, I should do something myself."

The council has granted Mr Arnot a 150-year lease on the building, and he began the renovations by placing an eye-catching bright blue "Newhaven Station" sign on the roof, based on the design of the original, taken from old photos.

Opened in January 1879, the station originally served the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Branches of the Caledonian Line. Since it closed in 1962 it has been empty, apart from a spell as a workshop.

There were few relics left to be uncovered from the building's original use, but Mr Arnot said: "We did find a piece of wood with the signatures of joiners and the companies they worked for, dated 1931.

"The only other exciting thing I've found was the original ticket hatch or opening, partially glass with an opening to put your tickets through."

He said there had been some hopes locally that the building might become the new home of the Newhaven Museum, which shut in 2006 when its Fishmarket home was closed by owner Forth Ports for a commercial revamp.

Mr Arnot said he was not sure if the museum would be a viable use for the building, but added: "No building can stay without earning its keep, so I'm wondering what to do with it.

"What I want to do is rent out desk space, in the hope that I can attract people that perhaps work from home and find it very difficult to do so, but can't afford to rent an office."

Leith, Harbour & Newhaven Community Council Community Council secretary Owen Scott said: "I think it's great, it looks a lot better, and it's going to be put to hopefully a good use."