We are delighted to report that Edward Album has been awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours list. He became the Friends' Legal Adviser in 1985 and has served the Settle to Carlisle Line ever since.
He was instrumental in setting up the Settle to Carlisle Trust which was formed initially to raise funds for the repair of Ribblehead Viaduct, cited by BR as the main reason for closing the Line in 1989. BR costed the repair as £10m : eventually it was repaired at a cost of only £2.5m, raised by the Trust, of which he was the first Chair.
During the campaign against closure of the Line in the 1980s, Edward Album, a corporate lawyer in the City of London, became the London end of the campaign, and had regular liaison with the Department of Transport and leading political figures of the day.
Allison Cosgrove, Chair of the Friends, said " Mr Album has served the Line with expertise and distinction for almost 40 years and has been active across a wide range of transactions. He instigated the purchases of some of the dilapidated station buildings at Kirkby Stephen and Ribblehead and these have now been completely refurbished. He also led the purchase of the Station House at Dent on behalf of the Friends only a few years ago.
Mr Album has been a highly valued and distinguished Committee member, and his service to the Line has been unparalleled".
