Following the long awaited easing of the third Covid-19 lockdown the volunteers from the Friends of Dronfield Station (FoDS) have resumed looking after the station garden. During the autumn, when FoDS were not allowed to work on the garden the weeds took hold and the flower beds and planters became increasingly unkempt with weeds threatening to overcome the spring bedding planted last autumn.  After a few hours work the beds are now looking a great deal smarter. The volunteers will carry on attacking the weeds over the next few weeks to get the garden ready for the summer bedding. Following the theft of the FoDS petrol lawnmower last year a new one was kindly donated by Drone Valley Brewery and now the station lawn has been scarified and given its first mowing of the year. The next job for FoDS will be cleaning the platforms and steps and painting the fences.

One couple who were pleased to see the volunteers tidying up the garden were Dronfield resident, retired railway signalman Roger Wild and his wife Pauline, who were taking a rest on the station garden bench during their regular walk around the town. Roger worked at Dronfield and Totley stations but changed career to become a policeman after the closure of many lines in stations following the Beeching report of the 1960s. Pauline said it was nice to see the station back in use and looking well looked after.