2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway (in September 1825, the first public railway to use steam locomotives was opened, between Stockton and Darlington). See the web-site Railway 200 for information about how this anniversary is being commemorated nationwide.

The Friends of Handforth Station have plans for this Railway 200 year … read on …

Read more: We’re Starting to Celebrate 200 Years of Modern Railways

We’re developing several events to help celebrate Railway 200. These include:

• An exhibition of rail-related poems, going on display now (mid March).
• A joint “Open Day” with the miniature railway in Handforth’s Meriton Road Park (run by Handforth Model Engineering Society), expected to be during the Easter holidays.
• A new stainless-steel “Railway 200 screen” to match the current “Millennium screen”, designed throughout the year.
• A “Rail Ale Trail”, planned (in conjunction with other Friends groups) to open in Summer.

All profits from all events will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Society, being the chosen charity of the Railway 200 organisation.

We at FoHS are starting to get the station looking festive for Christmas. Three of us have strung flashing lights around the ticket office’s canopy, and tested them – they’re due to be switched on to coincide with the Handforth Lights Switch-On on the late afternoon of Sat 30th November.

Read more: Handforth Station getting ready for Christmas

A Christmas Tree will soon be mounted inside the Ticket Office – as every year – and this year we plan to install a festive and seasonal display in our Art In A Box lockers (by early December).

Winners of a drawing competition run by the Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) were rewarded last Wednesday.

In early June, the FoHS ran a stall at the Handforth D-Day Commemoration event. The stall focussed on Handforth Station’s involvement in WWII, and served to publicise the work of the Friends group at the station. FoHS President Mike Bishop organised a drawing competition, inviting local residents to illustrate “What I Like to See out of the Train Window”.

The joint winners of the drawing competition were Athena and Shelley, both residents of Handforth. Shelley drew Minnie Mouse (whom she’s still hoping to see out of a train window) and Athena drew a pastoral countryside in full sunshine.

The winning entries were selected from over 20 submissions, by Mike Bishop, and he congratulated the winners in person during a brief ceremony at the station. 

Read more: Latest Prize Winners announced

Mike said “The Friends love being involved with the local community in this manner, and we were delighted with the imagination shown and the standard of the resulting pictures.”

He added “We shall be displaying the winning entries at the station for the local community to enjoy. They will complement the current exhibition in our ‘Art In A Box’ installation – we have a ‘Forest’ scene and a ‘Seashore’ scene – our famous collection of signs and our flourishing floral displays. Collectively, these features make our station a welcome and attractive place for its users. ”

Each of the two prizes was a family day rail pass generously provided by Northern Trains.