Cheshire Best Kept Stations

John Hulme

Mid Cheshire Line Volunteers triumph at RHS Tatton

The Mid Cheshire Line Station Volunteers have triumphed with a Silver Gilt Award in the Long Borders section at RHS Tatton Flower Show.

Mid Cheshire CRP Director and volunteer at Plumley Station, Harry Allen, with his wife Penny is shown with the award.

This is a major achievement for an amateur group who have no previous experience of preparing a garden for show.

The group created their own design, which is themed around a station garden.

It includes a short stretch of track and a porter’s trolley and references to the Music Trains as well.

The group grew the plants themselves and set up the garden in just four busy days.

It looks colourful and amazing, especially considering the heavy rain that hit the night after it was finished.

After the Show closes, all the plants will transfer to Mid Cheshire Line stations.

Well done to the Mid Cheshire Line Volunteers!

Cheshire Best Kept Stations announce their 2024 Photographic Competition Award ….,

Cheshire Best Kept Stations are pleased to announce details of our new Photographic Competition for our 2024 Awards.

We want you to showcase the work that you are all doing on your stations, so get your cameras out.

The theme of the competition is ‘Brightening Up Our Station’ and we invite Station Friends and Community groups to submit up to three images of your work on your stations.

Photographs should have been taken this year. The filename of each image should include the name of your station, a title, and the name of the photographer.

Other essential requirements are:

  • A maximum of three photos per entry
  • Digital photos must be in JPEG format ONLY (high res)
  • Any photos that show health and safety contraventions on the railway or station will be disqualified

In submitting photos you confirm that:

  • All people within the photos have provided consent for them to be used in publicity including print, online and all social media channels
  • If the photos contain images of children under the age of 18 written consent must be secured from the parent or guardian, either directly or via their school/college
  • You are the owner of the image(s) and agree to it/them being used in publicity. Or, the image(s) is/are not your own but you have the relevant permissions/consent to submit on behalf of the owner, and they agree to them being used in publicity. In this case, you must state who you are submitting on behalf of

Your entries should be emailed to nominations@bestkeptstations.org.uk and we should receive them by 17.00 on Friday 13th September.

We are delighted to be working with Cheshire Life magazine on the competition.

Shortlisted entries will be featured in the December edition of the magazine to be published on 21st November 2024 and there will then be a public online vote via our website.

The winner will be announced at the 2024 Awards Evening when the Cheshire Life Photographic Award will be presented.- with the winner being featured in a subsequent edition of the magazine.

Click here for further details of our 2024 Awards including nominations for our Art Project, Community Engagement and Sustainability Awards which should also be submitted by 13th September.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News from the Friends of Goostrey Station …..

‘What a lovely day in our community!’ ‘A brilliant team effort!’

These comments were made by enthusiastic FOGS members who organised two stalls on the field during Rose Day. The team included Craig and Maggie Sidebotham, Debbie Goldsmith, Louise and Tim Willis, Megan Dingle, David Mason and Bill Macdonald.

One of our stalls displayed pictures of our work at Goostrey Station and our most recent award from the Cheshire’s Best Kept Station competition. In addition, children could win a soft toy by guessing the name of the engine (it was Salty) and take away a free book about safety on the railway. Debbie Goldsmith brought her badge making equipment to the other stall. This is one of the activities she uses during workshops at Goostrey Art Studio. As expected, she was kept busy all afternoon!

Rose Day was an opportunity to recruit new helpers and we were successful! But there’s room for more volunteers because there are many jobs to be done – from gardening and helping Debbie with craft workshops in Goostrey Art Studio to ‘behind the scenes’ administration.  We know that without more support from local people, we may not have be able to maintain tubs of flowering plants on the platforms or install extra facilities in the restored wooden building

The Friends of Handforth Station at Handforth’s D-Day Commemoration event ….

The Friends of Handforth Station took part in D-Day Commemorations on Saturday 1st June.

The Handforth D-Day Commemoration event was run by NAAFI Break Handforth, and featured stalls (from the FoHS and others), music, dancing and food&drink, at the Community Centre between lunchtime and evening.

Handforth was heavily involved in World War 2.

Quite apart from many men and women directly involved in the services, the RAF established a Maintenance Unit (RAF 61MU) in what were fields at the edge of the village, and the Army built a tank repair depot alongside the River Dean.

Both of those enterprises relied on the railways, and extensive extra tracks, junctions, sidings and more were built in Handforth to cope with them.

These works were dismantled by the mid 1980s, but traces of their presence still exist … if you know where to look.

The display shown by FoHS on 1st June illustrated Handforth Station’s involvement in WWII, as well as publicising the work of the Friends group at the station.

A drawing competition was also run, inviting local children to illustrate “What I Like to See out of the Train Window” – the top two prizes each being a family day rail pass generously provided by Northern Trains.

Mike Bishop, the President of FoHS, said “the FoHS love being involved with the local community in this manner, and were delighted to be able to share some of the history of our station and local railways.”

He thanked the NAAFI Break organisation for giving FoHS the opportunity to be involved.

Cheshire Best Kept Station Nominated Awards 2024 are announced …..

Nominations are invited for the following 2024 Nominated Categories by Friday 13th September 2024 …..

Note, you do not have to nominate your station in our regular station award categories.
Our team of judges will be out judging Cheshire’s Best Kept Stations for these awards between 10th June and 10th August 2024.

Community Engagement Award
How are you engaging with your members, the travelling public, the local community (including other local community groups of all types including local schools)?

How do you keep in touch with each other? How do you encourage others to get involved with the station? Does what you do encourage more people to take an interest in the station as well as rail travel generally? How does what you do promote mental wellbeing?

What use do you make of emails, phone calls, websites, face to face meetings and activities, zoom meetings etc? What sort of activities do you engage in? Do you get involved/work with other groups locally away from your station? How do you hope to expand your community engagement in the future?

This nomination covers anything that you have undertaken between 1st September 2023 and 31st August 2024 inclusive as well as your plans for the future as mentioned above. 

Art Projects Award
Tell us about any art project(s) that you have delivered in the last year

How was the project chosen and what consultation within the community took place? Who was involved in the delivery of the project and how was the project funded? What was the impact of the art-work and how has it improved the station?

Art projects are not simply confined to pictures but can include anything of an artistic nature as well as the written word (such as sculptures, carvings, poetry displays, posters promoting the station or community, inclusivity, booklets etc.).

This nomination includes anything that you have undertaken between 1st September 2023 and 31st August 2024.

Sustainability Award
This is a wide-ranging category that covers anything which improves or promotes any type of sustainability at the station. What are you doing to improve the sustainability of your station activities? How are you resourcing your work?  How does your work benefit all types of wildlife in and around the station?  Do you have managed wild flower areas? Possible features could include rainwater harvesting, solar power, composting, use of recycled materials, planting to encourage pollinators, choice of drought resistant and low maintenance plants, the provision of bird and bat boxes, bug hotels, research into wildlife etc. plus working with specialist and other groups that promote sustainability.

Have you undertaken projects and activities to promote walking and cycling to and from the station or in and around your station? Do you provide walks booklets/leaflets?  Do you offer any practical help to others?  Have you organised and led walks that involve the use of rail (or other forms of public transport) in part?

This nomination is for any activities undertaken between 1st September 2023 and 31st August  2024. 

Nominations in all of the above three categories should consist of up to two sides of A4 plus up to six images, videos, links to YouTube etc or other documents which should be submitted as separate files.


Nominations should be submitted no later than 17.00 on Friday 13th September 2024 by email to nominations@bestkeptstations.org.uk

Nominations can be submitted by Friends Groups, other Community Groups, Community Rail Partnerships, Train Operating Companies, Local Authorities (including Town and Parish councils) or any other interested stakeholder. 

*** Since this post, we have announced our 2024 Photographic Award  where we are partnering Cheshire Life.