A September weekend in 1942 came alive as a heritage railway relived its wartime heyday.

Visitors in 1940s utility-style dress got into the spirit of the occasion at Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam railway, which in the 1940s bustled with troops and civilians.

It was believed to be the site for secret meetings between Allied leaders Winston Churchill and Dwight D Eisenhower.

"This wartime weekend event is very appropriate because there was a military camp at Bolton Abbey during the war and a munitions dump," said press officer Stephen Walker.

There was an air-raid shelter to protect King George VI from potential air attacks. He was a regular visitor to Bolton Abbey, where he stayed with his friend the Duke of Devonshire on his nearby estate.

The weekend featured a group which specialises in re-creating 1940s civilian life in Britain and a similar group which recreates army life.

Visitors in appropriate costume got free rides on the steam trains along the four mile track between Embsay and Bolton Abbey.

The new station building was completed 12 months ago following an EU £300,000 grant.

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