A HOUSEBUIILDER has donated £600 to a railway to sponsor a bench at a new train station.

CALA Homes, the developer behind Carmel Meadows in Wallingford, has donated the money to The Cholsey and Wallingford Railway to sponsor a bench at Wallingford Station.

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The Cholsey and Wallingford heritage train line was opened in 1866, running through South Oxfordshire and linking the historic riverside towns of Wallingford and Cholsey.

The railway is currently in the process of creating a branchline station in Wallingford.

Tony Stead, chairman at The Cholsey and Wallingford Heritage Railway, said: “We are exceptionally grateful to CALA Homes for their kind donation of £600 to support the development of our new branchline station in Wallingford.

“We want to create a lovely new station at Wallingford, to extend and improve the existing platform and ultimately play a greater part in the local community, offering more opportunities for local people to enjoy the heritage railway.

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"The coronavirus pandemic really has hit us hard so when local businesses like CALA are able to support us, it really is so warmly received. Before Covid-19, we had completed the new Victorian Maidenhead Canopy, but we still need funds to support the re-development of the rest of the station.”

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