The Woodsmoor Owls are celebrating Eurovision as The Beat Owls!
This time with their Greatest Hits:
Owl My Loving
EleanOwl Rigby
A Hard Days Hoot
Love Me Whoo
Owl You Need Is Love
4000 Owls In Blackburn Lancashire
Twit And Shout
She Loves Whoo
YellOwl Submarine
Owl-bla-di, Owl-bla-da
Twit-tet To Ride
ROwl Over Bee-twhoo-ven
Which one do you think will win?
Some more owls have appeared at Woodsmoor Station celebrating Superhero Day ….
A new photographic exhibition at Nantwich Museum celebrates the design, character and heritage of Nantwich railway station’s Victorian footbridge.
Nantwich Museum is set to host ‘Across the Tracks: The Art of Nantwich Station Footbridge’, a temporary photographic exhibition running from 9th June to 20th June 2026 in the Museum’s Community Gallery.
Click here to read more about the Exhibition
Click here to read more about the Nantwich Museum and when it is open
Two rabbits, a hedgehog plus numerous snowdrops and daffodils – we’ve seen them all this spring at Goostrey station. During the last working party, we heard a dozen different bird species including goldfinches, blackbirds, robins and wrens.
We also enjoyed the artwork by children from Goostrey School. The current display has pictures and poems inspired by the sight and sound of railway engines as they travel through our village station.
Earlier this year, FoGS members Craig Sidebotham and Christina Burgess were thrilled to attend the 21st Community Rail Awards. The venue was the Arena in Derby, a city that reflects both the proud heritage and the exciting future of Britain’’s railways.
Community Rail oversees about 75 community rail partnerships and 1300 station adopter groups. The chief executive, Jools Townsend, explained that the awards are a national celebration of the exceptional work taking place across England, Scotland and Wales to strengthen the relationship between railways and the communities they serve. Projects this year included building travel confidence, promoting greener journeys, transforming stations and championing diversity. You can find out more details on the Community Rail website communityrail.org.uk/hall-of-fame/2026/
With more than 300 entries to 14 award categories, we were delighted to receive a certificate of excellence for It’s Your Station. FoGS was one of only 4 station adopters to score so many points that they were placed in the platinum group in this category. In addition, we were shortlisted for the Railway 200 legacy award.
FoGS has achieved a lot, but there’s still work to be done. As well as improving planting and working with local young people, we’re trying to install toilet and washing facilities in the restored station building.
This year is the bicentenary of modern railways and Friends of Goostrey Station marked the milestone by organising an event on 27th September during Goosfest. But unexpectedly we received a request to record the story of a former rail employee as part of a national project called Great Rail Tales.
In 2024 Lynn Gerber contacted Friends of Goostrey Station because she thought that we might be interested in a photo of her grandfather Joseph Harrop. Lynn provided FoGS with a precious glimpse into the life of someone who worked for half a century on our local railway.
In the picture, Joseph is wearing his porter’s uniform and is seated on a platform bench at Goostrey station. At that time, the station had been open for 20 years. It was a busy place with extensive sidings, a goods yard, a weigh-bridge and a crane. Later Joseph trained a a signalman and was employed at several stations on the Crewe-Manchester line. In WW1 he served as a Royal Marine and in WW2 he was an active member of the Home Guard.
Joseph Harrop’s granddaughter described him as a lovely man who was well respected. He was an active member of the Labour party and, as a keen gardener, he was also secretary of the Allotment Association and the Gooseberry Society. She added that ’it’s a really nice feeling to know that my grandfather’s story is still being remembered’.
Friends of Goostrey Station agreed with Lynn and so we made the recording.
The 4 minute podcast can be heard on Railway 200’s website https://railway200.co.uk/stories/great-rail-tales/
Other recordings include one by the driver of one of the first trains through the recently completed Channel Tunnel and one about the significance of the iconic British Rail logo.