La'al Ratty museum to expand with £1m grant

A railway museum in south-west Cumbria has been given the go-ahead to expand after getting grants of more than £1million.

Network Rail has given the Ravenglass museum permission to build at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's station site.

A new train shed is planned to allow the museum's rolling stock to be displayed indoors.

The 150-year-old railway line, known as the La'al Ratty, was the first narrow-gauge public railway in England.

The project is being paid for with £488,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as matching funding from Cumbria Community Foundation.

The money will also be used creating new displays and restoring a 3ft gauge saloon coach from 1875 - one of the oldest surviving narrow-gauge coaches in England.

The museum will reopen next June.