Annual Report 2025
Derwent Valley Light Railway Society
As always, the calendar year starts with the necessary preparations for the running season and 2025 was no different. The off season through the winter is key to our ability to run through the rest of the year, as we work our way through maintenance and fitness to run tests.
Maintenance
There is a never-ending list of railway repairs, and we’re grateful to everyone who gets involved in the work that is needed. Through the year, we repaired and painted 3 PWay trolleys, replaced 9 timbers in the 6A turnout, new doors were made for the banana van ready to be fitted in 2026 and the station benches were repainted.
We also did lifting equipment checks, FTRs, fire extinguisher testing, legionnaires and portable appliance testing through the year, alongside the regular garden works.
Rolling Stock
As we all know, maintaining heritage rolling stock is a never ending list of work.
Sylvia needed the south side repairing and repainting and the MK1 35405 south side was also painted.
The Tuesday working group were busy. They fitted the exhauster into Drewry DC2164 and had the loco ready for passenger service. They continued work on the restoration of the Coles Crane. They were working on the restoration of Churchill and fitted the vacuum system. Restoration work on the Kerr Stuart was also in progress.
03079 had buffer beam and rods repainted, in yellow
Work continued on the North Eastern coach led by Mike Sugden and his team.
And we welcomed Carpenter to the railway, bought and being restored by one of our members bringing our loco count to 13.
Training
In addition to our regular cycle of training, PTS training, driver, guard and signal training and assessments, we held 1[st] aider training in April, thank you to everyone who has volunteered to take on this role around the railway.
Events
Events have become a bigger part of our year. 2025 was a busy year for visits to the railway. Through the year we had visits from the White Rose machinery group, Inside Track holidays, and a night shoot photo event organised by DVLR member Chris Gee. All of these events bring in much needed income for the railway. We also supported the YMF with their Home Front event in August
Running Evening was held on 25[th] July and was a special evening. There were over 160 attendees, including Ken Cooke whose 100[th] birthday was celebrated as part of the evening. The evening was also the launch event for the newly restored Drewry, now regularly pulling passenger trains and a very popular addition to the railway.
August saw something a little different. The railway hosted Paul Merton at Murton as he filmed for his Channel 4 series ‘ Driving Amazing Trains ‘. Paul had wanted to experience a pump trolley ride and as we know, we are one of the few locations where this is possible. Paul was hosted by Allan Briggs, who appeared in the show explaining about the DVLR and the pump trolley.
As always the year ends with the Christmas at Murton event and again we were joined on the railway by Fladam, this year as the Reindeer Detectives.
Yorkshire Museum of Farming
The YMF introduced charging for train rides (£1 per ride, £5 for a whole day family ticket). The change in approach has secured income for the railway, via the YMF railway account that is used to purchase diesel, oil and ground works.
Passenger Numbers
We had 54 running days in 2025 which was slightly down on 2024, and with the fewer running days carried less passengers, 14527 down from 16543 in 2024. The season started in March, with a quiet Easter period but numbers improved through the year.
Our driver experiences proved popular – with 14 silver experiences through the year raising £1800 in income.
People
Our membership numbers remained fairly consistent through the year, at 200 members.
Trevor Humbey stepped down as roster clerk during the year. Trevor had held this role for many years, and made a complex role look easy. We must at this point thank Trevor for the time and commitment to this role. Mike Wilcox stepped up to take on the role, and we’re very grateful to him for picking up this tricky role within the railway.
Very sadly, on the 26[th] June 2025, railway archivist, guard and true gentleman, Jonathan Stockwell passed away. Jonathan was such a key figure at the railway. Author of the famous DVLR Blue Book, keeper of our archive and all-round well-loved friend and colleague, Jonathan is hugely missed by all of us. A plaque was installed on the station building in Jonathan’s memory at the running evening, when we were joined by Jonathan’s family to pay tribute to him and his huge contribution to our society.
Then in August we had more sad news, when we learnt of the sudden death of Kevin Wood. Kevin volunteered with us in the signal box and was well known for cooking up breakfast on the signal box stove.
In summary, the Trustees are pleased with the progress during 2025. We continued to keep a strong financial position whilst investing in progress around the railway. Our events are increasingly popular and the changes to funding with the YMF have supported our stable position. We are hugely grateful to all the volunteers who give up their time to support the railway in so many different ways.
We know that 2026 is bringing more positive developments that will help us to maintain our heritage railway, attract and entertain our visitors and create a safer working environment for our working volunteers.
Profit and Loss Statement - Detailed
Year 2025
| INCOMES Donation Donations Gift Aid Interests (received) Interests Earned Membership Membership Subscription Other Incomes Other Incomes Running Days payments Thomas Income Sales Classroom hire Driver Experience Sales Total: EXPENSES Bank charges Bank Charges Classroom Classroom events Events Training Courses Fuel Fuel General Business Expenses Advertising Books & Subscriptions Miscellaneous Expenses Supplies Tool Acquisitions Insurance Insurance IT IT Services Kerr Stuart Kerr Stuart Loco repairs Rolling stock repairs Mileage Money Loco Mileage Miniature railway Miniature Railway Newsletter Newsletter Postage Postage Repair & Gen. Maintenance Building Repair & Maint. Other Repair & Gen. Maint Shop Stock |
+£8,596.97 31.44% +£7,026.83 25.70% +£1,570.14 5.74% +£1,175.56 4.30% +£1,175.56 4.30% +£2,760.00 10.09% +£2,760.00 10.09% +£7,073.00 25.87% +£4,410.00 16.13% +£1,880.00 6.88% +£783.00 2.86% +£7,736.15 28.29% +£100.00 0.37% +£1,845.00 6.75% +£5,791.15 21.18% |
|---|---|
| +£27,341.68 -£246.07 1.14% -£246.07 1.14% -£14.00 0.06% -£14.00 0.06% -£1,893.83 8.77% -£1,053.83 4.88% -£840.00 3.89% -£20.01 0.09% -£20.01 0.09% -£1,142.57 5.29% -£75.44 0.35% -£219.60 1.02% -£428.98 1.99% -£84.59 0.39% -£333.96 1.55% -£480.40 2.22% -£480.40 2.22% -£1,436.80 6.65% -£1,436.80 6.65% -£49.13 0.23% -£49.13 0.23% -£6,397.29 29.61% -£6,397.29 29.61% -£550.00 2.55% -£550.00 2.55% -£1,927.42 8.92% -£1,927.42 8.92% -£1,018.00 4.71% -£1,018.00 4.71% -£141.98 0.66% -£141.98 0.66% -£2,745.72 12.71% -£1,765.97 8.17% -£979.75 4.54% -£2,383.31 11.03% |
December 2025 - Page 1
| Shop Stock Tools Equipment Tools Total: Proft/loss: |
-£2,383.31 11.03% -£1,157.12 5.36% -£680.19 3.15% -£476.93 2.21% |
|---|---|
| -£21,603.65 | |
| +£5,738.03 |
December 2025 - Page 2
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