Christina Burgess from the Friends of Goostrey Station keeps us informed about the good work at Goostrey ….

The Friends of Goostrey Station are rightly proud of their achievements and it’s exciting when others approach us for help. The latest request came from a station adoption group in Lancashire.

 

 

Eight years ago, a group of volunteers adopted Silverdale station on the Furness Line, the railway that connects Barrow-in-Furness to Lancaster. Recently several Friends of Silverdale Station travelled by train (of course!) to Goostrey, seeking advice. Their members already tidy the platforms and plant flowerbeds, but now they are keen to restore the Victorian waiting room for community use.  

Our visitors were amazed at how much FoGS had achieved since 2012 – from displays of art and railway memorabilia and mapping changes in biodiversity to the rejuvenation of the station building as Goostrey Art Studio. They left with plenty of advice, and high hopes for the future of their group. 

 

Life continues to be busy for professional artist Debbie Goldsmith. During half term, she led a workshop at Crewe Heritage Centre. This was part of Operation Autumn, a series of family friendly arts and crafts events organised by Crewe Town Council.  The Council commissioned Debbie to create a huge lantern which would feature at the Christmas Lights switch-on on 25th November.  

In preparation, she built a frame at Goostrey Art Studio.  On the day, over 60 visitors helped transform it into an owl surrounded by stars. There was lots of positive feedback. One person said ‘Never done this before but I thoroughly enjoyed it’. Another added, ‘I’m gripped – must try this at home’. 

In November, Debbie had a selection of her own pantings and rugs on display at the Art Fringe Festival in Manchester. Over the course of four days, the Comme Ca Art Gallery at Hope Mill in Ancoats became a hub for artists working in different disciplines. Visitors were able to talk to the artists about their work and could commission an exclusive, bespoke piece. 

 

Friends of Goostrey Station are thrilled that Debbie is making such good use of her studio in the restored station building.

In late August the Crewe to Manchester Community Rail Partnership kindly gave the Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) a number of copies of “Arlos Adventures There and Back”.

This Rail Safety book is written by train driver Bessie Matthews, and is aimed at children aged 7-13 years old. The book’s story follows Arlo and his friends on a day out as they make safe choices around the railway, its trains, and its stations.

FoHS have now donated copies of the book to each of Handforth’s three primary schools and to the local library.

In September, FoHS president Mike Bishop presented St Benedict’s Roman Catholic Primary School with 70 copies of the Rail Safety book, to head teacher Hannah McGuire and Year teacher Sonny McCarthy. To conclude the assembly, the children sang a hymn accompanied on the piano by music teacher and FoHS member, Rosemary Thomason.

In October, Mike presented a Year 3 class assembly at the Wilmslow Academy with multiple copies of the “Arlo” book. After the presentation, Natalie Scappaticci, in charge of the assembly, said “We’re grateful to the Rail Partnership, and to FoHS, for helping us to keep our children safe.”

More recently, Mike presented more “Arlo” books to the local community. He attended a school assembly at Handforth Grange School and presented head teacher Andrea Booth with 90 copies of the “Arlo” book. Later that morning, Mike donated 30 copies to Debbie Wood, head librarian at Handforth Library. Debbie said “As Handforth’s children grow up and use the railway more and more independently, we hope they’ll remember the lessons in this great little book.”

Commenting on the four book donations, Mike Bishop said “We are very pleased to donate such a worthwhile book to our local primary schools and to the public library. We hope that youngsters will enjoy reading it and, more importantly, that they learn important lessons about how to travel safely on the railway.”

‘Amazing exhibition, very informative. And yes, there was a pond with goldfish on the south bound platform.’   This was written by a local resident after enjoying a display about transport in Goostrey 1800 to the present – from tractors and trains to bicycles and buses. The exhibition was organised by Goostrey Parish Archive as part of Goosfest’s Arts and Crafts weekend. 

 

Friends of Goostrey Station were proud to talk about the rejuvenation of the station building which Debbie Goldsmith has transformed into Goostrey Art Studio. Debbie displayed some of her paintings and rugs plus some of the plaques made by local adults and children to commemorate the coronation.  FoGS brought GIS maps to show how we record biodiversity. The three engraved glass trophies awarded by Community Rail were on show together with a host of photos. There was even information about astronomy (the favourite hobby of the chair of FoGS!) – a link to Jodrell Bank, a local world heritage site, and the possibilities of travel in the future.

In preparation for the exhibition, FoGS obtained photos from enthusiasts at Stockport station. These included fascinating views of the building that used to be on platform two. But it took local knowledge to know about the pond and the goldfish! Presumably this was a hobby of one of the railway employees.

A few days after the exhibition, Goostrey Beavers held another meeting at Goostrey Station. The hour passed so quickly!  But they all had time to work with Debbie Goldsmith and with Friends of Goostrey Station.  Inside Goostrey Art Studio each Beaver created their own headdress.  Outside they enthusiastically swept up fallen leaves.  By the end of the evening, the steps and car park looked so tidy!  And the children still had time to plant winter pansies in tubs and daffodil bulbs which will flower on the bank near the car park. 

 

But, for several Beavers, the most exciting event of the evening was the frogs which jumped out of the grass near the bug hotels!  Unexpected events are often the most memorable!