Community Rail Cumbria has celebrated Whitehaven’s rich maritime history with the creation of an iconic planter.
Whitehaven Station has benefited from significant investment in recent years – including a refurbished booking office and toilet facility, new shelters, resurfaced carpark and promotional panels on the platform – but Community Rail Cumbria wanted to do even more to enhance the station environment.
Having previously worked with the staff and apprentices at Gen2 to design and produce a bespoke train planter for Maryport Station, the CRP embarked on a similar project for Whitehaven.
Over the last 12 months, Gen2’s apprentices worked tirelessly under the supervision of Simon Farrer (Welding & Fabrication Trainer/Assessor) to design and create the bespoke ship planter, which now sits proudly on the bidirectional platform.
LEL Nuclear, who work closely with Gen2, supported the project, providing resource and transport to move the model from the workshop to the station. Hensingham Day Services / Grassroots provided expertise to ensure the correct flowers and plants were selected for the autumn and winter months, which provided an enjoyable and invaluable therapeutic outlet for the people who use these services.
Key partners came together on Thursday 9 October to celebrate the official launch of the planter, named ‘HMS Ruby Voyager’ in memory of the late Andy Murray. The iconic ship planter will be looked after by Workington Transport Heritage Trust and Northern’s booking office staff.
Warren Birch, Community Rail Cumbria officer, said: “It was wonderful to work with a number of different organisations within West Cumbria, but in particular Gen2 again, to deliver this iconic ship planter. We hope this vibrant display will brighten up the platform for passengers passing through Whitehaven Station”.
Jane Murray, Northern station manager, said: “I have been privileged to be part of this project. The initial design has changed a few times to suit the location on Whitehaven’s platform, and it has been a pleasure to see how an initial idea turned into this amazing design. I was pleased to see the final construction take place and then the installation for all to enjoy over the coming years, filled with seasonal flowers and plants.”
Simon Farrar from Gen2 said: “The ship build was an extension task for the apprentices studying at Gen2, enabling them to develop new skills in design and manufacturing. They were shown old fabrication skills which were relevant to what had to be made. All this was done on top of their general learning while in the centre. All the students involved with the project enjoyed working on it. The finished project will hopefully be around for a long time in its new home”.
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