On 30 March 2026 representatives from the National Railway Heritage Awards travelled to Ebberston, between Pickering and Scarborough in North Yorkshire for the official unveiling of the Southeastern Commercial Restoration Award that was made to the station’s owners – Carol and Mark Benson – at the 2025 National Railway Heritage Awards.
The former North Eastern Railway station, which opened in 1882 and closed in June 1950, has been in private ownership since 1955. The current owners acquired the property in 1996 and, since then, have undertaken a considerable amount of work to restore it the condition it would have been in towards the end of its ownership by the LNER.
The most recent phase encompassed the reinstatement of the platform canopy. Although archive drawings were not available, photographs and elements of the previous canopy had survived so that an authentic restoration could be provided. This included a new, matching, stone corbel and replacement timber dentils.
The cast iron spars were taken down and removed from site for blast cleaning and painting. These were subsequently reinstated. In addition cast iron rainwater pipes were installed as was aluminium guttering to the original pattern. The small roof areas at each end of the canopy were re-roofed with new slate.
The quality of the completed work, allied to the earlier phases of restoration, saw the award announced at the NRHA’s ceremony held in London on 3 December 2025.
The unveiled plaque at Ebberston with, from left, Tim Hedley-Jones, Director of the Railway Heritage Trust, Andy Savage, Chairman of the NRHA, Mark and Carol Benson, owners of the station, Malcolm Wood, NRHA trustee, Robert Hayward, NRHA trustee, and John Ives, NRHA judge.
The restored station at Ebberston. The work undertaken on the project, culminating in the reinstatement of the platform canopy, resulted in the station’s owners – Carol and Mark Benson – being awarded the Southeastern Commercial Restoration Award at the National Railway Heritage Awards, that were announced in December 2025.