Mother buys local train ticket office to transform it into a home
Nostalgic mother, 66, rekindles her childhood memories of train journeys to the seaside by buying her local ticket office with dreams to transform it into a three-bedroom home
- Susan Harris took the train at Llandaff station, Cardiff to go on holiday as a child
- The ticket office stopped being used in the 1980s and later fell into disrepair
- The mother, 66, wants to transform the property into a three-bedroom home
- She hopes the building will appeal to a keen trainspotter when she later sells it
A mother will buy her local train ticket office and attempt to turn it into a three-bedroom home.
Susan Harris, 66, caught the train from Llandaff station, Cardiff, for days out as a child but the station office stopped being used in the 1980s and later fell into disrepair.
The ticket office has a partially collapsed roof and is covered in debris, but Mrs Harris will attempt to tackle the challenging project.
Susan Harris, 66, will buy her local train ticket office and attempt to turn it into a three-bedroom home. She caught the train from Llandaff station, Cardiff, for days out as a child
She said: ‘We used to come here to collect our tickets to go to Barry Island on the train during the summer holidays with my mum.
‘That’s how I knew the ticket office so when I saw it come up for sale I was like ‘I know that building from somewhere’ and then I did a little bit of research and oh my Lord it was the ticket office.
‘I just fell in love with it. It’s a quaint building, I’ll kid you not.’
Mrs Harris hopes the ticket office, pictured above next to the railway platform, will appeal to a keen trainspotter when she comes to selling it. The office stopped being used in the 1980s
The building is still in the process of being converted. Graffiti is pictured scrawled on the derelict Victorian ticket office which later fell into disrepair
Debris is pictured scattered around the building. It has a partially collapsed roof and is covered in debris, but Mrs Harris will attempt to tackle the challenging project
Mrs Harris, whose family runs a construction company, said: ‘The neighbours been very supportive and they really love it. They are pleased that we are doing something with the building.
‘It was an eyesore for a long time but when you look at it now, it’s coming back to life and they love it. The local interest has been phenomenal.’
The Victorian building sits between the suburbs of Llandaff North and Whitchurch, and was a key part of Isambard Kindom Brunel’s Taff Vale Railway.
She added: ‘It’s a quirky little property; I could live here. It would be cruel to carve it up into two properties as was once planned; splitting it in half – for me it didn’t lend itself to that. It had to be a house.’
The building is still in the process of being converted. Mrs Harris hopes the ticket office will appeal to a keen trainspotter when she comes to selling it.
She added: ‘I think the eventual buyer will be someone who falls in love with it, as I did.’
The Victorian building sits between the suburbs of Llandaff North and Whitchurch, and was a key part of Isambard Kindom Brunel’s Taff Vale Railway. A room is pictured being renovated, above
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