As the year draws to a close, we can look back on what we have achieved in 2013, but also look forward to some exciting developments in 2014.

This year we saw the completion of the long-overdue redevelopment of the toilet facilities at Oxenhope, which might not seem like a significant milestone to begin with, but when I tell you these cost more than £50,000, it helps put the scale of the work into perspective and the amount of fund-raising put in to generate cash for the project.

Looking forward to 2014, the focus on responding to passengers’ expectations continues, and we are looking to further develop the Oxenhope site during the year – more to follow in future reports!

The highlights of 2013 include the continued success of a number of our special events, with the ‘Haworth Haddock’ trains proving particularly popular, with passengers enjoying a trip on the railway in the evening with a ‘healthy’ portion of fish and chips.

The beer and music weekend was held at the end of October, and initial results suggest this was our most successful ever.

We are currently running our Santa Special trains, which operate weekends between now and Christmas, and which are already all but sold out (call the office on 01535 645214 to check for any final availability).

We were awarded the Heritage Railway Association’s award for our media and publicity during the year, recognising the efforts we put into our marketing and a publication on the history of our involvement with the making of the iconic film, The Railway Children.

More recently, we have provided the filming location for the BBC’s Peaky Blinders and forthcoming docu-drama remembering the impact of the Great Train Robbery.

All of these events, and the work involved in receiving such recognition, require a huge effort by our volunteers, and none of what we have achieved in 2013 would have been possible without them. I do hope you will consider joining our volunteer team in 2014, whatever area of our work might interest you, which includes engineering, operational, administrative, commercial and all aspects of maintenance.

We are running trains between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, so please do join us for a festive mince pie, and you can take the opportunity to thank the volunteer team directly for making such a contribution to Keighley and the Worth Valley!