New Café opens on Gloucestershire Heritage Railway

Two additional ‘halts' have been-added to the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway. ‘The Cotswold Halt' and ‘The Halt Bar' have become the latest editions to the catering facilities at Toddington Station.

The new café is now run by the railway and has replaced the former ‘Flag and Whistle' tea room, which was run by an external catering outlet until its contract expired late last year.

During the off-peak season at the start of the year, volunteers have worked non-stop to turn ‘The Cotswold Halt' into an 80-seat café ready for the start of the new running season.

A new menu has also been created to offer customers a taste of the local produce, to the same outline as other catering outlets in the local area of the railway. There will also be a selection of ‘Cotswold Collection' gifts available to buy from the café later in the year.

The new bar ‘The Halt Bar' will be open on special event days and will sell beers, ciders, wines, spirits etc, from local suppliers, as well as a few guest beverages during the real ale festival in June.

Seeing this new venue completed is a huge thrill and I'm certain that it will have a broad appeal not just to those travelling on our trains, but other passing visitors too. It's one more reason to make sure that our passengers ensure they pause a while at Toddington station, where the railway's locomotive workshops are also located.”

Mike Robinson, the railway's human resources director and volunteer

I'm thrilled to be managing this exciting new facility for the railway which is already one of the leading attractions in the Cotswolds. Visitors can be assured of a very warm welcome and I'm looking forward to helping to build an outstanding reputation for ‘The Cotswold Halt'.”

Tracy Jaggers the new Manager of ‘The Cotswold Halt'

The catering facilities opened specially for the Cheltenham Festival and will also be open in time for the Easter Holidays, with the Café being open from 9 am – 4 pm, closed on Mondays (except on Bank Holidays).

The railway is also aiming to run over Stanway Viaduct between Toddington and Broadway after completion of Phase One of its re-waterproofing. The Viaduct had suffered deck failure of the 120-year-old brickwork, which meant it was closed for a period of time.