‘We transformed disused UK station into a luxury retreat’

A couple have created a trainspotters’ paradise after investing more than £50,000 transforming a derelict 19th century railway station into a luxury retreat. Cecilia Chavez-Brandon and her husband Paul Kirwan purchased Rowden Mill Station in 2017 following a year-long search for their dream renovation project.

Passenger services came to an end in the 1950s as motor travel became increasingly popular, leaving the station to deteriorate over the decades. The couple paid £395,000 for the 2.7-acre site in Bromyard, North Herefordshire, which featured a section of track alongside the original buildings.

After years of painstaking restoration, guests can now travel back in time and enjoy the vistas that welcomed passengers more than half a century ago. Cecilia, who hails from Mexico, originally trained as an architect, but revealed the couple have had to become railway enthusiasts since welcoming visitors.

Cecilia, 57, said: “We were house hunting for a whole year, but in mind that we wanted a business. The station came on the market, we put an offer in and three hours later it was accepted.

“The station itself closed in 1952. Most of the traffic was moving injured soldiers to field hospitals during the war, or by farmers moving cattle with a cattle dock.

“We have a parcel office with a studio for two on the main platform. For anyone staying here, it’s like waking up in a railway station from the 1950s and 60s.”

The station had already undergone renovation by its previous owners before the couple took up residence, though they set about updating the building and adding their own distinctive touches to complete the ‘time capsule’ experience. They purchased a dilapidated 18ft long saloon railway coach and gave the interior a vintage makeover, furnishing it with 1960s pieces. Following the renovation, the former station finally opened its doors to holidaymakers in July 2022.

Cecilia said: “It was not until the 1980s that the former owners found the station and bought it from the farmers. They built the rail track back. We arrived after they had been here 32 years and helped modernise it.

“They restored the station building and the parcel office and converted it into accommodation rather than a station. The booking office is now the kitchen, the waiting room is now the lounge. The gentleman’s toilet is now a full bathroom.

“The parcel office is a separate building and we converted it and put central heating in and new carpets. We turned that into a full studio with an ensuite.”

Visitors now pay upwards of £260 per night for the most lavish room, which boasts sweeping views across rolling countryside — a far cry from the average 15p fare of the 1950s. Also on offer is the main station building at £430 for two nights and The Parcel Office studio at £220 for two nights. Despite being forced to shut their doors during the 2020 Covid pandemic, the couple wasted no time renovating further carriages and maintaining the 250 metres of track.

Cecilia said: “In 2020 we acquired an inspection saloon coach. It’s a very famous inspection saloon coach from 1962, it’s coated in a British Railway livery.

“It turned out to be our pandemic project, focusing on the conversion into accommodation. We also maintain over 250 metres of disused railway track, which is where our main vehicles are kept.”

During the transformation of the carriages and waiting rooms into guest accommodation, the pair have taken great care to preserve the station’s historic character. The structure retains its original canopy roof, and visitors enter through what was once the booking office – exactly as passengers would have done more than half a century ago.

What was formerly the ladies’ waiting area has been converted into a principal bedroom, with a bunk room situated to one side. The couple now welcome a constant flow of visitors eager to experience the novelty of waking up inside a train carriage from a different age.

Cecilia added: “It’s become a full-time job for us. We didn’t really start out as railway buffs, but you obviously become one. It’s like going down a rabbit hole.

“You end up being a whole network of railway people and it’s really something amazing. The very first guest arrived in September 2017 and they came with books and were clear railway buffs and knew more about the branch line than we did at the time.

“In terms of guests we obviously have the railway buffs, even children with technical knowledge. We have station masters and train drivers – we get quite a range of fans.

“The whole site is great. It’s so peaceful, with gorgeous views and our other passion is nature. We’ve got our own meadows, hedgerows and wildlife ponds.”

In 2018, the couple purchased an original 20-tonne brake van, which they transformed into upscale accommodation.

Cecilia added: “The brake van was in a very bad state. A lot of locomotives had good wagons with no brakes.

“This was very bashed after its life on the railway, it needed a lot of structural work. It wasn’t until April 2024 that the conversion of the van started.

“It was pretty much all done on site and it was incredibly tricky because of the shape. Now we’ve got a perfect addition to the station. All of the furniture is antique and ideally period correct.

“Since we launched the brake van a week ago, we already have nine bookings, so we are delighted it is taking off. We are a railway experience in nature, if you like, overlooking the Wall Hills in north Herefordshire. There is nowhere else quite like it.”