Cheshire Best Kept Stations

John Hulme

Cheshire Best Kept Stations are supporting Cheshire based charities

Cheshire Best Kept Stations are supporting Cheshire based charities.

The proceeds of a raffle held at the recent Annual Awards evening plus a further donation have been donated to The Railway Children based in Sandbach who help street children around the world and The Samaritans in Cheshire, who work closely with the railway industry to reach out to people contemplating taking their lives on the railway.

The photograph shows CBKS Chair Mark Barker presenting a £200 cheque to Railway Children staff.

Pictured left to right are : Kate Brindle, Mark Barker, Pauline Medovnikov and Matt Zeqiri.

A double celebration for FOGS members

On Sunday 8 March, between sunshine and showers, FOGS members took time out of their regular monthly working party at Goostrey Station to celebrate two events.

First, Bill MacDonald mounted the 2019 Campaigns Award from the Cheshire Best Kept Station competition on the wall of the road bridge beside the Manchester platform.

This Award recognises the negotiations over a number of years which resulted in the repair of the Victorian wooden building.  It’s now displayed alongside four Awards from previous years.

Later that morning a plaque in memory of the late Cyril Caulkin was unveiled by his son Andrew.  It was fitting that Cyril’s brother Keith, two of his grandchildren and several friends were able to be there as well. The plaque reads :

In memory of Cyril Caulkin, founder member of the Friends of Goostrey Station
whose vision initiated the restoration of the old ticket office.

Just before the unveiling, Cyril’s friend Peter Godfrey made a short speech on behalf of FOGS members.

He explained that:

‘As Parish councillors, Cyril and I started Friends of Goostrey Station in 2012.

From then until his untimely death, Cyril was the Chair.

But he was in fact much more than Chair; he was ‘Cyril ’, a larger than life figure, with an infectious smile and a twinkle in his eye, who made every FOGS volunteer feel appreciated and valued. During our Action Days at the station, he would move around from volunteer to volunteer having a chat and a laugh with everyone who had turned up.

After a few words from Cyril, the work seemed easier and the day seemed brighter!

Although some members said that Cyril only did it to get out of the heavy digging which took so much time in those early Action Days, they completely missed the point.  He was the glue that held the group together!’

Peter (pictured with Cyril on the left above) added that:

‘Cyril would have loved to see this station building so beautifully restored.  And he would be delighted that we are still working to improve our station.’

New volunteers are always welcome at our working parties; they take place on the second Sunday from 10am.

As well as gardening and sweeping, FOGS members are involved in planning the future use of the station building, the installation of cycle racks in the car park and the improvement of passenger safety on the bridge.

For more information, please contact Dave Roberts (Vice Chair) on sharp-shooter@talktalk.net

Greek Restaurant donates sign to Friends of Handforth Station

Handforth Station now boasts another place-name sign on its richly-decorated platforms – and this one is in Greek !

The Hellas Taverna in Handforth has become a regular for several members of the volunteer group Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS). When the restaurant team heard of Handforth station’s collection of “foreign station signs”, they were delighted to sponsor one in Greek.

The new sign transliterates the name of the station from English letters into corresponding Greek ones. As a result, passengers arriving at the station are now greeted with Χαντφορθ on the Manchester-bound platform.

Sofia and Stathis, from the Hellas Taverna, said “We were intrigued when we first saw the collection of signs that the Friends of Handforth Station have installed on their platforms. We suggested that they could do with one in Greek script, and they welcomed what we have donated to them.”

Jenny Barnes, the Arts Coordinator for FoHS, said “My family and I visit the Hellas regularly and Dylan (now 7) has been going since he was in a highchair. Stathis is a nutritionist and the food there is delicious and nutritious. I was delighted when the team from Hellas joined our Friends group at the latest Handforth Paddock Christmas Fair, bringing some wonderful Mavrodfani wine from Sofia’s home village near Patras, along with some melomakarona and baklava.

“We have many place-name signs on our platforms, mainly from rail companies like Netherlands Railways, Ireland’s LUAS, the London Underground and Hong Kong’s Metro. The idea is to make our station stand out from many others and keep us in the public eye; this was a major contributor towards us being awarded over £2M funding from the UK Department of Transport in April 2019 to install step-free access.

“This lovely new Greek sign is very welcome because it has been donated by friends of ours; it illustrates the strength of the relationships between Friends of Handforth Station and the local community in Handforth.

“If you’d like to join us and help make Handforth Station an even better place, please see our web-site www.handforthstation.org.uk.”

What the Media Says

Cheshire Best Kept Stations Winners 2019

Cheshire Best Kept Stations are proud that our local, regional and national media takes a keen interest in the work of the station volunteers and staff at our Cheshire stations and our Best Kept Stations Awards.

Click here to read some of the recent media reports …..

 

 

 

 

Sally Buttifant MBE

 

On presenting Sally with a framed print of Elizabeth Gaskell, one of the Amazing Women in Sally’s project Amazing Women by Rail, Mark Barker, Chair of Cheshire Best Kept Stations said:

“Sally became Community Rail Officer for the Mid Cheshire Line in 2009, an event I well remember as I sat on the interviewing panel together with Michael Ross who is also here tonight.

“One of the best decisions we ever made, I think Mike!

“Sally served in that role for 10 years before moving to a new role with Cheshire West & Chester Council last year.

“The Mid Cheshire Line at that time had lost some of its earlier momentum, but Sally introduced her own style of Creative Partnership Working, developing a network of support and involvement with communities, colleges, volunteers along the line and with the rail industry.

“With colleagues in the CRP and MCRUA, the Mid Cheshire Line was creatively marketed under the ‘Marvellous Days Out’ banner.

“Sally’s skill lay in spotting a potential collaborator and then having the ideas and imagination to work with them to develop an idea into a resounding success.

“The highlight of Sally’s work for me was the Over By Christmas musical commemoration of WW1 in September 2014 in partnership with Theatre in The Quarter.

“400 volunteers including singers and actors in period dress put on 47 live performances at 25 stations not only across Cheshire but also at Manchester Piccadilly and London’s St.Pancras International.

“This unique and breathtaking project reached over 20,000 people.

“In 2015 Mid Cheshire CRP became the first individual CRP to take the Overall Winner Award at ACoRP’s Community Rail Awards.

“Sally has been an influential figure across the community rail movement, serving on the ACoRP Board and helping to found Women in Community Rail.

“Last year she was awarded the MBE for her services to Community Rail and tonight I would like make a presentation to Sally to express our thanks for her work and achievements and her efforts in helping Cheshire Best Kept Stations over the last few years.”