1st Handforth Beavers, Cubs and Scouts have helped Handforth Station to commemorate Remembrance Day. Every year, the Friends of Handforth Station adorn the platforms and ticket office with poppies to mark the occasion.

This year, many youngsters from Handforth joined in the tributes, encouraged by their Scouting Association leaders, by making more poppy-based artwork to grace the station.

The Remembrance Parade went past Handforth Station on its way to and back from the Church Service on Sunday 10^th November. Some of those who marched took time out to have their photographs taken in front of their work.

1st Handforth Beavers (aged 5 to 7) made displays with individually-painted poppies on it, which can now be viewed in the ticket office and in one half of the Friends of Handforth Station’s “Art In A Box” installation.

The Cubs (aged 8 to 10) created remembrance rocks and poppies out of upcycled plastic, which are attached to the fence on the Northbound platform. Scouts (aged 11 to 14) created an Avro Lancaster poppy display in the other half of “Art In A Box”.

Hugh Everett (Secretary, FoHS) said “We were delighted that the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts could help us with this important commemoration. We are very impressed by the efforts they’ve made, and it all helps make our station even more attractive and part of the community.”

The poppies displays will remain at the station for a short while. Friends of Handforth Station then plan to festoon the concourse and the ticket office with traditional Christmas decorations and lights towards the end of November.

 

On Saturday 19th October 2019, Handforth Station was the venue for the unveiling of a newly-installed 1950s era Running In board – a large sign showing the name of the railway station. Such signs are intended to inform passengers of their location when aboard a train entering the station, possibly while still moving at speed.

This piece of railway history was bought at auction by the Connolly family, who have kindly agreed to loan it to the Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) for display at its station of origin.

Andrew Backhouse (Chair, FoHS) welcoming the guests, said “One of our primary aims is to preserve railway history, and we’re very grateful to Brian and Nancy Connolly for loaning us this sign”. Hugh Everett (Secretary, FoHS) gave a safety briefing before the approximately 30 people descended the 35 steps to the Manchester-bound platform for the ceremony.

Highlights of the ceremony included the unveiling of a commemorative plaque by Nancy Connolly and brief addresses by Cheshire East’s Mayor Barry Burkhill, who said “I’ve been involved with Friends of Handforth Station personally for years and I know how much effort they put into many schemes like this”, Dan Coles of Network Rail who added “We’re delighted to have worked with the Friends of Handforth Station on this fantastic initiative. Network Rail are committed to working collaboratively with communities across the region to help transform station environments” and Brian Connolly who recalled his school days using the station. Following the ceremony on the station platform, refreshments were served at the nearby Railway Hotel.

When loaned to FoHS, the running in board was in a very fragile state and liable to break. Members of FoHS inserted a stiffening panel of plywood into the rear of the board and applied several types of anti-rust treatment. A timber frame was constructed in the form of a cradle so that the running-in board could be displayed without the need to drill further holes through the enameled metal. The whole assembly was then mounted on three reclaimed railway crossing sleepers – an exercise needing ingenious engineering and a lot of manual effort.

FoHS thank Network Rail for providing funds for the crossing sleepers and the Railway Heritage Trust for funding the renovation works. Thanks are also due to B&Q in Stanley Green for providing post-fixing cement and paint. Handforth residents, including Graham Howard, Peter Moore, Nick Quinn, and Paul Redwood are thanked for assistance with the erection of the three crossing sleepers and for assistance with the construction and transport of the sign and its timber frame.

The restoration and erection of this running in board provides a perfect example of the rail industry, local businesses and local residents working in partnership with the Friends of Handforth Station to see a challenging project through to completion for the benefit of rail passengers and the local community.

The twinning was marked this week by a handover of four station name boards, two in Irish and two in English. One of each is now displayed at Handforth station.

Following a visit to Handforth from John Reville, Passenger Service Manager, Irish Rail and Gerry Rafferty from Malahide, Mike Bishop, Chairman of Friends of Handforth Station, returned the visit and received a Malahide flag to fly at Handforth.

A Handforth flag depicting the Honford star and Handforth Hall will fly at Malahide Station.

Liam Sumpter, Central Regional Director for Northern and Jools Townsend, CEO of ACoRP were at the station to see the work that the Friends of Handforth Station had and continue to progress at the station since they, the first station Friends group in ACoRP were formed in 1996.

Liam Sumpter, Regional Director for Northern, said: “We’re really impressed with the excellent work carried out by Handforth Station in creating such valuable links with international stations. The group has continuously delivered excellent results for their community and Northern, and we are really proud to have the Malahide flag at Handforth station. I look forward to seeing what this outstanding group does next.”

Jools Townsend, chief executive, Association of Community Rail Partnerships, (ACoRP) says: “It’s wonderful to see such a long-running station friends group going from strength to strength – and now being twinned with Malahide Station in Ireland. We know from our work supporting hundreds of community rail groups across Britain how important these groups are to their communities. They not only make stations more welcoming, pleasant places, but also bring local people together, promote pride and understanding, and help more people to access sustainable travel by rail. The Friends of Handforth are exemplary in the fantastic range of work they carry out to engage the community. We look forward to continuing to work with them to share their good practice and ideas across the community rail network.”

Mike Bishop, founder of the Friends added “It is thanks to the continuing support of Northern, ACoRP, Irish Rail and all our Sponsors which enables us to make the station a unique welcoming gateway to the village.”

Andrew Backhouse, Chair of Friends of Handforth Station said “Twinning, we hope will bring some mutual exchanges of good ideas, occasional visits, and just a bit more ‘spice’ to life as friends of a station! Friends in Ireland now, where next for Handforth Station Friends?”

Speaking about other developments Andrew added “We can now say that there is progress on some other actions. Handforth will finally get its electronic display system this month and a half hourly service into the evening will start at last.

“These are some of the things we have campaigned about without much progress for a long time. Perhaps we will soon be able to tell everyone some progress on disabled access…..”