This spring, daffodils and tulips have been in flower along the road near Cheshire’s Goostrey Station and beside the path down to the Crewe platform. It’s a reminder that, even though Friends of Goostrey Station are still unable to hold their monthly working parties, much has been done by this small group of volunteers over the past seven years to improve the area for the benefit of our local community.

Some jobs have to be done by railway employees, so FoGS members alert the relevant personnel when work is needed. The group are waiting for a litter bin to be installed near the Manchester perspex shelter to replace the one removed from the wooden station building during restoration.  But recently it was a pleasant surprise to find that, at last, the fence at the entrance to the path down to the Crewe platform and the gate at the top of the steps from the car park to the road have been repaired and repainted.

Blue tits are nesting in one of the new boxes at Goostrey station and young grey squirrels are foraging. Since June 2019, vice chair Craig Sidebotham has recorded the various species and habitats around the station using a Geographical Information System (GIS) which has software to create maps.  These can be seen on the FoGS website.

As part of their ongoing biodiversity project, FoGS members now have access to a waterproof trail camera and Craig is learning how to use it by taking photos of birds in his garden. The camera can record in high and ultra high resolution to a range of 37 metres.  As an animal enters the camera’s sensor range, video or still images are captured.  An infra red sensor operates in the dark, allowing night time recording for animals such as badgers.  Photo quality can be set between 4mp and 20mp and the 32mb SD card is able to store large amounts of information. Date and time are recorded and time lapse delays range from 5 to 30 seconds. All images captured at the station will be included in the FoGS GIS wildlife project.