The Friends of Handforth Station and Northern have helped the reception class of St Benedict’s Catholic Primary School to go on their first ever train journey and learn more about the 200th anniversary of the modern passenger railway.
Rosemary Thomason, chair of the station volunteer group, visited the four and five-year old children at their school, teaching them a little about railways and trains. She included the history behind Railway 200 and Handforth’s role in railways over the two centuries, as well as leading them in exercises to develop their knowledge of rail safety at stations and on board trains.
The next day, teachers from St Benedict’s walked the 25 children from the school to Handforth Station, where they took the train to Alderley Edge. After some time playing in the park, they visited St Philip and St James Church for a quick singalong with Reverend Pye, then took the return train back to Handforth and their school.
Rosemary Thomason, chair of the Friends of Handforth Station, said: “It was wonderful to see such excitement and joy from the children as I prepared them for their visit to Handforth Station. Our Friends group loves inspiring children – and others – to use our railways. We look forward to welcoming the next group in a couple of weeks’ time.”
Jo Everett, assistant teacher, said: “Many thanks to the Friends of Handforth Station and to Northern for providing our train tickets. Some of our children hadn’t been to a station before, let alone on a train, so it was a valuable opportunity for them to experience something new.”
Keep up to date with future news, projects and events from the Friends of Handforth Station via their website.
Learn more about Northern’s work in the community here.
