The call has gone out for more volunteers to help pass the stories of the Midland Railway Workshops onto a new generation. Volunteers are needed to help staff the workshops Interpretive Centre, which was opened last month and offers visitors an audio-visual insight into the social history of the site. The centre is open every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday between 10 am and 3 pm. A volunteer-run heritage walk trail has also started recently that takes visitors around 11 stations exploring the history behind original workshops buildings such as the powerhouse and foundry. Penny O’Leary, who has lived locally for the past 58 years, has a day job but recently decided to volunteer at the workshops every Sunday.

Volunteers, Di McAtee and Penny O’Leary, prepare to pass on the history of the Midland Railway Workshops. They are pictured next to the site’s Workers’ Wall. - Echo Newspaper

She was quick to recall memories of the site’s whistle blowing each day, and said the workshops had always been a part of her life and the heart of Midland.

“It’s great to know the workshops and the history here is not just going to die,” she said.
Mrs O’Leary said the volunteer work gave her the opportunity to meet many different people such as a recent visitor who had lived next door to a railway workshops in Manchester, England.

Fellow volunteer, Di McAtee, from Kalamunda, said it was not a scary thing to volunteer and that the experience could give people a chance to become “a part of living history”. Interpretive Centre Co-ordinator, Ric McCracken, said he was particularly looking for local people to volunteer, with training provided as part of an initiation process.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can call Mr McCracken on 9250 3895.

Click here to register City of Swan Volunteers.

 

Article by Echo Newspaper