Booking is now closed for this year’s Community Rail Awards, being held in Manchester on October 6. Congratulations again to all nominees.
There are also various activities being delivered in support of the awards, thanks to our headline sponsors Transport for Greater Manchester and Northern. The details are as follows:
Thursday Oct 6 – The Transport for Greater Manchester and Northern Trains teams look forward to welcoming you all at Manchester Piccadilly Station between 10:00 – 13:00, where they will be on hand to provide free transport passes for your stay and offer directions to hotels, as well as any information or travel advice you may require.
Welcome Event – Transport for Greater Manchester, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester. 12:00 – 13:30
TFGM and Northern will host a short event to welcome the UK-wide community rail family to Manchester. There will be a short presentation demonstrating TFGM’s and Northern’s partnership working supporting community rail within Greater Manchester, and local community rail partnerships and station friends’ groups will also showcase some of their work.
Whilst this event will be informal it will however be strictly ticket only and places must be booked via Eventbrite. Only pre-booked attendees will be allowed entrance as there are strict security procedures in place. The link for bookings is here.
Friday Oct 7
Visit to Bolton Station – hosted by South East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership (SELCRP)
SELCRP aims to engage people with their railways, and to promote social inclusion and community cohesion, with a strong focus on arts-related activities.
The partnership was established in June 2019, growing out of the work of Bolton Station Community Development Partnership. It aims to take a more strategic approach, to build on the successful work of the station partnership, particularly in the area of arts and social inclusion.
The visit will include a tour of the station buildings and newly refurbished platform rooms, which have been turned into an art gallery and offices. Paul Salveson will present a talk and a short film will be shown in the gallery.
Visit to Hindley Station – hosted by Friends of Hindley Station
A multi community award-winning station, two stations down from Bolton and easily reachable by train. Join Sheila and the team who will give a short tour of the station and its gardens and the work that the group tirelessly carry out there with local schools and charitable organisations, including THRIVE.
There are stories aplenty to tell, as Sheila guides your imagination from past to present into why this little town in Wigan is so unique. Please note: this station is not currently fully accessible.
The booking link for the Bolton and Hindley visits is here.
Visit to Irlam Station – hosted by Friends of Irlam Station
Come and spend a few hours with Friends of Irlam Station, on a trip back in time, for a tour of a manual signal box. Discover how they were used in a pre-digital age, to direct a railway, using tokens, levers, bells and whistles.
This will be followed by a short walk, past a historical steam engine, that tells its own story of the area, through The Shire and into the Hobbit Garden. Then feel free to enjoy the delights on offer at the station café.
The booking link for the Irlam visit is here.
A visit to the National Trust Castlefield Viaduct* – details and booking link here.
*PLEASE NOTE, THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT. YOUR NAME WILL BE ADDED TO THE WAITING LIST*
Booking for the above event/visits: All places are limited and will be on a first-come-first-served basis. The booking system is being directly managed and administered by TfGM and Northern Trains, so any queries/issues with bookings are to be made directly with them, we are unable to answer any queries about bookings or the itinerary itself.
