The Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) are about to celebrate their 25^th Anniversary. This was the very first “Friends of a Station” group in the whole of the UK, formed in 1996 by local campaigners Mike Bishop and Steve Nash.

The FoHS recently showcased their first 25 years of activity, when teams from Network Rail, Northern Trains and the country-wide Community Rail Partnership visited Handforth for a tour of the station and its many unique features.

Jenny Barnes, Chair of FoHS, said “We also spent much time with our visitors over lunch, discussing our strategies for the future. Our special thanks go to the team at The Railway Pub for being super hosts, and for sourcing a delicious meal from Artos (the new Greek bakery in Handforth).”

Mike Bishop, the current President, said “In the early 1990s, our station deteriorated badly. The old station building was replaced by an ugly portacabin, passenger numbers were falling, and investment was not available – for a few months it even looked like the station might be shut.

“We founded this first ‘Friends of a Station’ group, with the express aim of campaigning to keep the station open and to make it more welcome and more accessible for passengers. Our first major success was making sure that the station remained open, and our most recent victory has been to secure over £2 Million funding for improved Access For All at the station.”

There are now over 1,000 Friends’ groups country-wide, each of which connects their community with the governing bodies of the rail industry. Rail travel is one of the most environmentally friendly way to travel, and the Friends of Handforth Station are now deep into defining their Vision for the next 25 years.

You will be able to see a display of the FoHS work over the “First 25 Years”, and their “Vision for the Next 25 Years”, at the Handforth Christmas Market on Saturday 27^th November. The FoHS will be selling their own FoHS cards, and will also be fundraising for the Seashell Trust by selling some of their beautiful ceramic toadstools (currently on display at the station).

The Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) have received a swell of support from the community, to make this year’s Remembrance display at Handforth as bold as possible for everyone using the station.

Local knitting legend Sue Clarke-Berry runs the Knit and Natter group at Gwyneth Morley Court. She is well-known for having created knitted caricatures of shop-keepers around Handforth, as well as of the England Football World Cup team of 2006. Sue has set a high knitting target this year with a record 130 poppies for FoHS alone.

Lynne Haynes, another Handforth resident, also added many weaved poppies for Handforth Station; she introduced the white and purple poppies to the display. “White poppies are a sign of peace, and purple poppies commemorate all the animals that have been killed in war,” said Lynne.

In addition, the flame-moulded bottle-base poppies that the Handforth Cubs created in 2019 have come out of storage, and can be seen at the Station in two “pillars of poppies”.

Jenny Barnes, the Chair of FoHS, said “Along with the supply of large red poppies that Handforth Town Council provides for us each year, we’re now displaying more poppies than ever before. If any of your readers would like to visit Handforth Station to count them and let us know exactly how many we have, we’d be delighted !

“We wish everyone peace and well-being this Remembrance Day,” she added.

Alderley Edge Station Volunteer Group have been busy setting up a book exchange in the waiting room and renovating flower beds on  the Station approach.

Esther McVey, the MP for the Tatton Constituency opened the new book exchange on Friday and admired the flower beds including a Remembrance Poppy display.

Anyone can take a book, swop a book or leave a book at the exchange. Second hand books can be reused time and again for everyone’s enjoyment. A train journey can be a great time to sit back, relax and read a book.

Station group volunteer Kelvin Briggs commented:
“Reading can be a wonderful escape from the stress of everyday life. Reading on a train can be a great way of passing the journey time. A great alternative to scrolling your phone! Simply pick up a book at the station and bring it back when you have finished reading it.”

There are books for both adults and children along with a selection of magazines. Children from the Ryleys School in Alderley Edge attended the launch and donated books.

Esther McVey said:
“I was pleased to visit Alderley Edge station and see the innovative use the waiting room has been put to. It is also great to see the station, as a whole, being cared for and that is a huge credit to the hardworking ‘Alderley Edge Station Volunteer Group’ ”

Alderley Edge Station Volunteer group are responsible for the all year round planting and artwork displays at the station. The group aim is to make the station a more welcoming place with more art work to follow soon.

Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern said:
“This is a fantastic initiative that our volunteers have created that will make the station even more welcoming for our customers. Our community partners are the heartbeat of the railway and we’re extremely proud to work closely with them to deliver such a wide-ranging positive impact for the north of England.”

Remembering Chris Dale who was Secretary of Cheshire Best Kept Stations ….

A commemorative bench has been installed at Macclesfield station to remember Chris Dale – a key figure in the North West’s transport community, who died suddenly in June 2020.

Funded through friends, family, colleagues, Avanti West Coast, industry partners and the community, the bench provides a permanent memorial to Chris, where he was often seen, and a nod to one of his greatest passions – the railway.

Chris, who had a keen interest in rail from a young age, was involved in public transport campaigning for over 30 years. He was chair of passenger watchdog, TravelWatch NorthWest for 12 years and chaired the Crewe to Manchester Community Rail Partnership.

His love for the railway also saw him support the work of Cheshire Best Kept Stations as their Secretary – recognising good practice at stations and encouraging community involvement in the towns and cities they serve.

A friendly face to the Avanti West Coast team at Macclesfield, Chris would often be seen at the station sitting on platform 1 while waiting for the train. The commemorative bench is in the spot where Chris would sit, so those who knew him can enjoy one of his favourite places.

Joanna Buckley, Community Manager at Avanti West Coast, said:

“We wanted to come together with industry colleagues to celebrate Chris and all he did for passengers and communities in the North West over three decades. Rail was at the heart of his working life.

“Avanti West Coast colleagues across the business, including the team at Macclesfield have many fond memories of Chris at his stomping ground and at engagements local to the West Coast Main Line. 

“The commemorative bench provides a fitting tribute to him at his home station of Macclesfield, ensuring he’s remembered by the railway family, local community and many people he made smile with his endearing personality.”

 

Community Rail Partnerships in Cheshire have joined other community partnerships and volunteer groups across Britain to spearhead a national campaign highlighting sustainable travel as a key factor in tackling the climate crisis, in the build up to COP26.

Community Rail Week, organised by Community Rail Network and sponsored by Rail Delivery Group, is the first event of its kind in the UK and will see hundreds of local partnership projects and volunteers getting involved to promote green travel by train during 18 – 24 October.

Many activities during the week will be focused on youth engagement, as a new survey shows that seven in ten young people support greater use of trains in the future.

With greener transport now recognised as a fundamental part of the solution to climate change, Community Rail Week, with the tagline ‘Go Green by Train’, looks to drive change at a community level through the efforts of 74 community rail partnerships and over 1,000 station friends’ groups across Britain.

Transport has a huge role to play if the UK is to reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100% of 1990 levels, or ‘net zero’, by 2050. Figures show that:

• Transport is now the largest emitting sector in the UK, making up 27% of domestic emissions in 2019
• Rail accounted for just 1% of domestic transport emissions in 2019, despite representing 10% of the total distance travelled, and is the greenest form of transport after walking and cycling
• One train can remove up to 500 cars off our roads
• For a 30-mile journey, travelling by train instead of by car can reduce emissions by up to 86%.

There will be an open day event at Manchester Piccadilly on Monday 18th October from 9:30am to 3.30pm. The event will bring together Community Rail Partnerships from across the region to promote the benefits of rail travel.

Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern, said:
“Our vision is to make a positive impact for the North, and there is no better way for us to do that than by encouraging more people to travel by rail.

“The more people travel by train, the more cars are left at home, which, in turn, means less pollution and a greener environment for all.”

Chris added: “We’re proud to work alongside the fantastic community groups in Cheshire to make our stations and wider rail network as welcoming as possible. “We’ve invested millions in new trains, refurbished trains and station improvements to give our customers the best possible journeys and to give them the confidence to use the railway to go do their thing.”

As part of the week, Community Rail Network has released results of a survey of 1,000 16–24-year-olds, detailing their current travel habits and attitudes to green travel:

• Seven in ten (70%) young people are keen to see more people using trains in the future, with the vast majority (90%) saying the environment and climate emergency is an important issue to them;
• Around half (48%) travel by train at least once a month, but one in six (17%) have rarely or never been on a train, or can’t remember when they last did;
• While 94% have a station near enough for them to use, most (67%) admit there are factors getting in the way of them using trains, including practicalities with walking, cycling, or getting a bus to the station, being worried about cost, or driving or getting lifts being more convenient.

Jools Townsend, Chief Executive of Community Rail Network, said:
“As we approach the international climate talks in Glasgow, Britain’s community rail movement is coming together to highlight the great importance of green travel at a local and global level. Transport is now the biggest contributor of UK greenhouse emissions, so we face a pressing challenge to decarbonise the way we get around, for the sake of future generations – plus our communities can benefit now from reduced traffic and pollution. Rail, combined with buses, walking, cycling, and shared mobility, provides a huge part of the solution: shifting as many journeys as we can onto these modes, and reducing private car use, can help us forge a more sustainable, healthy, inclusive future.

“We’re excited to launch our first Community Rail Week with events and activities in communities across Britain, raising awareness and exploring how we can enable and empower more people to feel confident and able to go green by train.”

Andy Bagnall, Director General at the Rail Delivery Group, said:
“Trains are inherently green so when people go by rail it’s more than a journey – it’s literally helping to save the planet!

“In future, we want trains to be the backbone of a decarbonised transport network so, as well as supporting initiatives like Community Rail Week, we want to work with government to reform ticketing and fares – if it’s easier for people to find and buy a good value ticket, more people will use rail as a green alternative to other ways of travelling.”