DEDICATED volunteers have made the first step in their bid to recreate Berkeley railway station.

Members of the Vale of Berkeley Railway group have begun working on digging out the foundations of the building which was closed in 1964 and demolished in 1984.

Tim Cambray, the group's buildings expert, is leading a team to try to find the foundations of Berkeley station. Work started earlier this month and good progress has already been made.

A team hopes to be on site every Wednesday until they have uncovered the whole outline of the building which is currently buried under about 18 inches of waste soil and rubble.

Tim said: “At the moment we really don't know quite what we have discovered.

“We have found brick courses of walls, some floors and one of the toilets next to the waiting room but it will take us a while before we have uncovered enough to know for sure.

“Anyone who has watched Timeteam will recognise the way we are approaching it.

“And, of course, the more help we have in digging through the soil and tree roots, the sooner we will know the size and layout and this will help us plan out the rebuilding project.”

Uncovering the footprint of the station building is the first step in establishing the station so that plans can be drawn up for its eventual rebuilding exactly as it was before closure, ready for steam trains to call at the facility once again.

Tim added: "What is amazing is that we have already had visits from several people who knew the station and they are proving very useful to us in helping us know what we are looking for."

“We really hope that this project will inspire Berkeley residents to want to come and join us in bringing back their station to life over the course of the next few years.”

Anyone interested in helping out should email Tim at: tim_cambray@hotmail.com