A RAILWAY sign has finally been replaced at the entrance to Settle Railway Station after a lorry knocked it over more than a year ago.

Mark Rand, who lives at the old water tower adjacent to the station, has been documenting the lack of signage ever since the incident in May last year.

“Network Rail took it away but there was no ‘sign’ of a replacement for many weeks, dragging on into months. In the meantime, visiting motorists were seen daily dithering at the station drive, then driving on.

“Friends of Settle Carlisle Line took up the matter which seemed to have fallen into an administrative black-hole between train operator Northern and Network Rail.

“In the lead-up to the anniversary of the sign’s demise we took to social media with daily shaming updates.

“On the actual anniversary we gave it both barrels which caused panic activity and the attendance of orange army representatives, diverted from a job at Whitby.

“Northern had declared they had a ‘team’ working on it and that the original sign had been destroyed so a complete replacement would be needed.

“Time went by and D-Day was in the news. It transpired that D-Day in 1944 had taken less time to plan than the replacement of the Settle station sign in 2018/19.

“Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy and Northern MD David Brown, social media followers both, were taking an interest.”

Mr Rand said it was a red letter day when on June 12, the new sign was installed.

He said the original sign was recovered, intact but tatty from a Network Rail facility somewhere in England.

It is now an exhibit in the Settle-Carlisle room at Settle’s Folly Museum.

Both Network Rail and Northern were contacted for a comment.