The FoHS run Work Parties at the station fairly regularly – the default is the last Saturday of each month. This page illustrates some of the work we do.
On a cold November day, attaching Christmas lights to the station canopy is cold work.
In this case the flag is the Red Ensign. This is flown at Handforth Station every Merchant Navy Day (3rd September every year). Even though Handforth is a long way from the sea, we recognise that the whole country should be very grateful for the courage and sacrifices made by civilian seafarers in the Merchant Navy during conflict and other times of danger.
Network Rail have kindly donated sleepers to FoHS, to be used in the Rotary Garden and elsewhere. Here you see several sleepers having just been delivered, awaiting mounting at the station to serve as a frame for displaying a 1950s BR running-in board.
Members of FoHS carefully mounting a BR 1950s running-on board as horizontally as possible
At the end of October, FoHS adorn the station with poppies. These are attached to existing poles, high up to avoid any temptation of interference. They must be angled parallel to the tracks, so that they don't get mistaken by train drivers for red warning signals. In 2024, all except those in the waiting shelters were re-sited away from the platform, as the rules imposed by Network Rail were tightened.
In April and May 2020, the country was under a lockdown, to inhibit the spread of Covid-19. Work outside in small groups was permitted; here you can see that FoHS still managed to adorn the station canopy with hanging baskets. The following year, the hanging baskets were replaced by larger "hanging troughs", to provide more space for a wider and more colourful selection of plants.
Handforth Station has an automated watering system, that feeds water to the hanging baskets/troughs for 2 minutes every night. This means that regular maintenance is limited to occasional dead-heading and removal of other dead material, to encourage new growth.
During the first Covid-19 lockdown, from March to June 2020, regulations permitted outside work in small groups and with suitable face-mask protection. Here, FoHS are installing a newly-made "Bug Train" and and filling it with bug bedding.
The work to prepare the mounting for the donated "Connolly running-in board" took many hours over a few days. Holes were dug, sleepers erected vertically and concrete poured, and battens were carefully attached - to make a strong yet flexible structure onto which the sign could be attached.
The FoHS have to be careful where we dig, because cables and conduits run parallel to the tracks. Here, Roger Small plants some new shrubs towards the end of the Crewe-bound platform in April 2019.
Ian Ball enjoying himself with a shrub on Monday 8 April 2019. This type of work is typical of a Work Party, and aims to make the station a more attractive and welcoming place.
FoHS Treasurer Ian Ball (left) and Chair Andrew Backhouse (right) cheerfully planting shrubs in the April sunshine. This is towards the southern end of the Crewe-bound platform, and is well positioned to welcome arriving passengers from the south and bid farewell to departing passengers heading south.
Pruning of the many bushes and shrubs - especially on the Crewe-bound platform - comprises a major task during Work Parties between March and November.
This shows a happy group clearing vegetation before Spring planting, in March 2019.
A substantial portion of each Work Party is litter-picking at the station. Here, Aled Brewerton and Mike Thompson show what they've collected from the Manchester-bound platform, on what looks like a cold Autumn day. Note the poppy on the lamppost in the background .
Christine Baker-Wilcox and her husband installing her artwork ("Reflections 2") into the Art In a Box lockers in November 2018.
Until 2024, it was common to install poppies at platform level, to commemorate Remembrance Sunday.
Some tired but happy blokes after a fulfilling Work Party in July 2018.
Andrew Backhouse, then Chair of the FoHS, hard at work in the shrubbery.
James Mander proudly installing the sign commemorating Handforth's twinning with Malahide station (Co Dublin, Ireland).
This photo, believed to be around 1997, shows a future Chair Andrew Backhouse helping to plant shrubbery behind the Manchester-bound platform.