New information boards have been installed at Guide Bridge Station detailing the history of the local area and its links to the railway.

The unveiling marked the successful completion of a four-year project to erect heritage boards at all 12 stations on the Glossop Line. Each board has a consistent style and design but contains content specific to each station and the surrounding area.

The event, hosted by the Friends of Glossop Station and the Friends of Guide Bridge Station, took place in the recently restored rooms on platform two at Guide Bridge, soon to become home of the new Woodhead Railway Museum.

Neil Williams, chair of the Friends of Glossop Station, said: “The contents of most boards have been created by fellow station friends’ groups, and the event was an opportunity to meet and share the finished results. It is hoped the boards will foster leisure and tourist opportunities for travellers on the Glossop Line.”

Neil gave thanks to many people who had made significant contributions to the project, including Anne Michaelides from naturesigndesign.co.uk, who designed and manufactured the boards, and the railway author EM Johnson, who had allowed historic photographs from his four books on the Woodhead route to be used as part of the displays. He also paid tribute to the late Paul Abell, former editor of Today’s Railways UK, who had created the contents of the boards for Ashburys and Gorton Stations as he had once lived in the area. In agreement with Paul’s family and with the support of Northern, a plaque in memory of Paul is to be erected at Ashburys Station later this year.

Neil also thanked Steve Forde, community rail officer for the Mid-Cheshire Line Community Rail Partnership, for his staunch support of the project, and invited Steve to cut a ribbon marking the installation of the final five sets of boards along the line, at Broadbottom, Godley, Newton for Hyde, Flowery Field, and Guide Bridge.

The boards in Derbyshire were funded by the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Partnership, and those in Greater Manchester by South East Manchester Community Rail Partnership. Installation costs were funded by TfGM and Northern, and the project was also supported by Community Rail Network.

A new tourist leaflet, Visit the Glossop Line by Train, created and produced by the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership, can be obtained from www.peakdistrictbytrain.org.