Cheshire Best Kept Stations

News Item

Cheshire Best Kept Stations announce their 2026 Photographic Competition Award ….

Cheshire Best Kept Stations are pleased to announce details of our 2026 Photo Competition in collaboration with Cheshire Life Magazine.

We invite Station Friends groups and other Community Groups to showcase your stations and the work that you are all doing on them.

The theme is Our Station.

Show us what makes your station Special:

Is it the people, the gardens, the buildings, even the view from the platforms?

Colour, Composition and Lighting all help to make a great photo.

Time of day and even the season can make a difference.

So plan your photos carefully and take your time.

Modern phones can take excellent quality photos so don’t worry if you don’t have a high spec digital camera.

Essential requirements:

  • Photos must be high resolution and in JPEG or JPG format
  • 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
  • A maximum of three photos per station
  • Any photos that show health and safety contraventions on the railway or station will be disqualified
  • This competition is not open to professional photographers

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 Saturday 5th September.

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

Shortlisted entries will be featured in a subsequent edition of the magazine and there will then be a public online vote via our website.

The winner will be announced at the 2026 Awards Evening when the Cheshire Life Photographic Award will be presented.

Click here for further details of our 2026 Awards including nominations for our Art Project and Community Engagement which should also be submitted by 5th September.

Cheshire Best Kept Station Nominated Awards 2026 are announced …..

Cheshire Best Kept Stations are pleased to announce the launch of our 2026 Awards.

Nominations are invited for the following 2026 Nominated Categories by Saturday 5th September 2026 …..

Please 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 8th June and 22nd August 2026.

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 publicise what you do? 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, blogs, 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 October 2025 and 5th September 2026 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 October 2025 and 5th September 2026

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

Nominations should be submitted no later than 17.00 on Saturday 5th September 2026 by email to nominations@bestkeptstations.org.uk. Any queries how to compile a nomination may also be made to this email address

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. 

Click here for details of our 2026 Photographic Competition  which we are partnering with Cheshire Life magazine.

News from Friends of Goostrey Station ….

Friends of Goostrey Station were delighted to accept an invitation to speak at the annual meeting of Goostrey Parish Council. It was an excellent opportunity to publicise our work. Here’s an overview of the presentation.

Goostrey is fortunate to have a railway station on the mainline between Crewe and Manchester. FoGS are determined to ensure that our community enjoys using it.

Since forming in 2012 (at the request of the Parish Council), FoGS have improved the station environment, fostered links with our community and researched the history of the local railway. But our most significant achievement is the conversion of the dilapidated wooden building into Goostrey Art Studio. Debbie Goldsmith, our artist in residence, uses the space for her own work, and she also runs creative sessions for our community.

Our achievements have been recognised. Cheshire is unique in having a Best Kept Station competition and we are proud to have won 11 totems. We’ve also received 17 short-listings and 4 awards from Community Rail, the national organisation that oversees over 1000 station adoption groups and 75 Community Rail Partnerships.

In 2019 we were surprised to learn that Fiona Bruce MP had submitted an Early Day Motion in parliament which praised our volunteers. And last autumn we were even more surprised to find that we had been nominated for a King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

We are always looking for new members. You will be able to talk to us on 27th June at our stall on Rose Day. Or you could meet us on the second Sunday of the month at Goostrey Station. Alternatively, please contact Craig on 01477 544111 or look at our website which has a wealth of information.

At the moment, our local Community Rail Partnership is seeking help with a Rail Safety initiative for schools. In Goostrey, the major project is to install washing and toilet facilities for those working in the Art Studio. FoGS continue to work with teachers and pupils at Goostrey Primary School, and we’re excited to be developing links with Oak Cottage School. We also offer opportunities to Duke of Edinburgh award candidates, Beavers, Cubs and Rainbows.

 

A Welsh sign at Handforth Station ….

Observant train users may have noticed a new sign at Handforth Station. Since early May, the name Rhydymaen (a loose translation in Welsh indicating a ford of stone) has featured on a signpost alongside the southbound platform.

The new sign was generously donated by Transport for Wales, and adds to the many signs from different Train Operating Companies visible at the station. The Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) are renowned for this novel method of decorating the station, and were delighted by the donation from TfW.

James Nicholas, Communications Business Partner at Transport for Wales, travelled from Swansea to Handforth to present the sign to FoHS. He was accompanied by Lowri Joyce, the Welsh Language Strategy Lead at Transport for Wales, who said, “We are pleased to provide this totem to be a legacy for Railway 200 and join the other 20 multi-national signs at Handforth.”

After the presentation and photographs, James and Lowri spent some time with the members of FoHS to appreciate their work at Handforth and to discuss similar experiences at Welsh stations

Mike Bishop, the founder and currently President of FoHS, said, “We have been campaigning ceaselessly for lifts to be installed at Handforth Station. A major element of our campaign is to decorate the station forecourt and platforms, and make it as welcoming a place as possible. Until they complete the lift work, Network Rail limit how much improvement we can make to the station, so we welcome simple yet pleasing enhancements like this new station sign.”

Spring Concert ….

The Friends of Reddish South are promoting

A Spring Concert at

St Mary’s Church
Reddish Road, Reddish

On Sunday 3rd May 2026
At 3pm

With The Stockport Choral Society
Guest Singers Sarah Palfreyman & Susan Porter
Tickets only £5.00
Children under 14 free

Hope you can make it, the Choral group includes Friend Sue Chapman.