THERE could be a glimmer of hope for the future of George Stephenson’s Birthplace, after business students put their heads together to try and save the cottage.

The miner’s cottage in Wylam, where the famous “Father of the Railways” was born and lived for eight years, was closed unexpectedly in January after 68 years as a National Trust attraction.

The move was met with fierce opposition, and a petition set up against the closure which gained 2,429 signatures was presented to the National Trust in March.

The National Trust told residents the move was a “pause for thought”, which had been taken because of a drop in visitor numbers and was needed to save jobs.

But it is now hoping that business-minded students can come to the rescue, and has teamed up with students at Northumbria University’s Business Clinic initiative.

The scheme involves groups of business students forming their own “consultancy firm” to provide free advice to businesses.

“Holly Consultancy”, a team made up of Jake Ostrovskis, Callum Howes, Matthew Haley and Greg Clarke, were provided with the challenge of exploring ways to restore financial viability to the George Stephenson site and protect its future.

Andrew Poad, general manager of Hadrian’s Wall and Tyne Valley for the National Trust, said he was impressed with the students’ input.

“They were in regular contact throughout the process and completed some really interesting research, particularly on our users, which is probably one of the biggest benefits we’ve gained from this,” he said.

“The team presented and evaluated several ideas, some we’d had in the past as we expected, but they also came up with the idea of creating a mobile app that visitors could download to their phone to guide them through Stephenson’s birthplace.

“This is something we’d not considered before and we’re now looking into possible sources of funding to get this off the ground.”

Andrew said he wants to take forward some of their recommendations and consider them alongside other sustainable steps to take the heritage site forward.

John Stewart, who spearheaded the petition to prevent the closure of the cottage, said: “I think this is a massive movement in the right direction for the birthplace of George Stephenson’s Cottage, and, for the person who originally set up the online petition, shows that it was a massive part of local history and one which must be kept alive on our doorstep.”