Community Rail Lancashire (CRL) are delighted to announce they have received funding from the Community Rail Network’s Community Rail Development Fund and Northern’s Seedcorn Fund for a new Geocache project.

The project (in conjunction with Trinity St Michael’s Church of England and Methodist VA Primary School of Croston) will see a Geocache Treasure Trail from Croston Station on the West of Lancashire Line.

A cache refers to items that are stored in a hidden place, and this is exactly what Year 4 and 5 pupils are going to create around their picturesque village.

The children will study their local area, visit the station and meet local groups. The pupils will then create a detailed Doodle Map of Croston, identifying the special places they want to select for hiding a cache as they learn about the history of the area. Once the locations have been agreed with the relevant organisations, the family friendly Geocache Adventure from Croston Station can finally be designed.

It is the aim that the first cache will improve the ambience to the entrance of the station, where the platforms are already looked after so brilliantly by the Friends of Croston Station.

The trail will be a free and fun way to explore the truly magical and friendly village of Croston. The pupils will be undertaking elements of their geography and history curriculum, whilst simultaneously learning confidence skills on the railway and encouraging people to come by the train to Croston.

Caroline Holden, community rail development officer with CRL, said: “It is fantastic to be working with the school, supporting an inspired project that two creative teachers – Miss Beck and Miss Boucher – have devised.”

Carolyn Watson, Director of Stakeholder and Community Engagement at Northern, said: “I’ve seen the excitement geocaches can create amongst this particular age group, and I so look forward to seeing the end results.”

The trail is planned to be ready to go for the summer holidays. Keep up to date with all CRL news and events here.