The Friends of Handforth Station were saddened to hear the news of the death of founder member Barry Burkhill last weekend.
Barry helped to found FoHS in 1996 and was a FoHS committee member for many of the years since then. He was a dedicated supporter of Handforth Station, most noticeably campaigning for improved access to the platforms and widened footpaths.
Barry attended many FoHS events in his full Cheshire Mayor Regalia (including joining in one of their Folk Trains). He represented us at local rail-based and community meetings, and was also a regular attendee at the annual national Community Rail Network conferences.
Barry worked on many of our monthly Work Parties at the station, insisting on using his own ancient lopping shears instead of the more modern ones proffered by the rest of our group.
We have lowered our FoHS flag at the station to half-mast, to commemorate Barry’s work on behalf of his local station.