On their recent annual summer visit to Glossop we were proud to welcome a party of the former evacuees to the station. The visit was part of a three day stay organised by the indefatigable Chris Brooks, secretary of the Lowestoft Evacuation Committee, accompanied by his wife Janet.

At the station the evacuees caused an understandable stir of emotion amongst travellers when it was realised who they were. A poignant moment. The group also looked at the new display about the Lowestoft evacuation, created by Paul Marsh, in the Waiting Room. A duplicate of this is now installed at Lowestoft Station. Photographs were duly taken and we are very grateful to David Jones at The Glossop Chronicle for publishing a story and feature. Also thanks to High Peak Radio and Emma for interviewing Chris.
The evacuees visited friends and places special to them whilst here including trips to Bakewell and Castleton. A memorable meal took place one evening at Wren Nest Carvery where the evacuees burst into song with renditions of many well known World War Two songs! Their singing went down so well that management asked if they could return for Christmas!
On their final day Sheila Webster of Glossop, widow of a former evacuee, presented the evacuees with original LED bottle lamps as mementos of their visit. We look forward to seeing our Lowestoft friends again soon!

GREATER ANGLIA TRAINS are now exhibiting a copy of our evacuees display in the booking hall at Lowestoft station. It is a duplicate of the permanent display which can be seen in the Waiting Room at Glossop. Our thanks go to Martin Halliday,  Partnership Officer for East Suffolk Community Rail Partnership, for making it possible and organising the various permissions required for the display. 
It is anticipated there will be a formal launch at Lowestoft of the display in the near future further cementing the link between our two stations. In the meantime, a small group of former Lowestoft evacuees will be visiting Glossop for three days next week as part of their annual reunion.

IN OTHER NEWS, FoGS has been shortlisted in two categories for the annual ACoRP awards. The nominations are in the It's Your Station category and one for our own Chairman, Neil Williams, in the Outstanding Volunteer category. The results will be announced on October 4th at the awards evening in Glasgow. 

LOTS OF TEDDIES and families were on the move last Saturday on the rescheduled Teddy Bears Picnic organised by the Friends groups at Glossop, Hadfield, Guide Bridge and Hattersley.
The main picnic was at Hattersley where Babs had an array of attractions including West Indian food, a bouncy castle, an RLNI stall, well-being tests and a tombola. The Mayor of Tameside formally visited Babs, helpers and visitors at 10.30. At each of the stations there was a Welcome Table with soft toys and sweets.
To encourage visitors to move between the stations Northern had kindly provided free train travel for the duration of the event. This proved a very popular offer and we were delighted that several children made their first trips by train on the day!! A royal-themed hunt the teddy on the Teddy Bear Trail, cleverly designed by Paul Marsh, saw teddies and children on the move.
We would like to say a big thank you to Northern for this support and in particular to Vicky Cropper for all her help and assistance. The colouring sheets proved popular. Also a big thank you to the drivers and guards for joining in the fun. Many an announcement saying "This is a teddy bears special" was heard! We also appreciated the visit from Rebecca, Northern's Train Crew Manager, who visited all the stations talking to the children and families on the trains.
Each of the Friends groups and Northern staff received some great feedback and comments as well as donations at all stations. Thank you to everyone for your support - it was a lot of fun!

We are pleased to announce that the new date for the recently postponed Teddy Bears Picnic on the Glossop Line involving the friends groups at Glossop, Hadfield, Hattersley and Guide Bridge stations will be on SATURDAY 4th AUGUST between 10 and 1.30pm. This time to be confirmed. There will be a Hunt the Teddy competition at each station and a variety of entertainment at Hattersley. We are just finalising the details and posters will display these soon on our website and at the stations. Free train travel for teddies and their families between participating stations courtesy of Northern will again be available. We look forward to welcoming you!

On Saturday June 2nd Neil visited Lowestoft as a guest of the Lowestoft Evacuation Committee for their special commemorative event at the Stella Marris Hall. Chris Brooks its long standing and much appreciated secretary had organised the event which brings together the surviving evacuees who left Lowestoft by train on 2nd June 1940 for homes in towns such as Glossop. Such is the continuing interest in this story that we now have a special page on our website about the evacuation and a new information display board at Glossop station in the waiting room created by Paul Marsh. Neil took a replica of this board to Lowestoft and presented it to the Chairman Brain Baxter and the former evacuees. He made them smile when he said that the board had done the same rail journey as themselves but in reverse as he had brought it with him on several trains from Glossop to Lowestoft! The occasion was a blend of music, photos, nostalgia and a buffet. Neil was made to feel very welcome and he would like to express his thanks for very kind hospitality.
Thanks to the efforts of Chris and Martin Halliday of East Suffolk CRP arrangements have now been made to display the Information Board inside the Booking Hall at Lowestoft Station - our thanks to Greater Anglia for their help with this. Having the same display board at both stations will be a poignant link between the people of the two towns The Glossop evacuees are making their annual trip to Glossop on August 13th, 14th and 15th. We look forward to welcoming them back!

We are delighted to welcome Anne Harrey as our new artist in the Station Waiting Room Art Gallery. Anne is from Glossop and she enjoys painting in a wide range of mediums. She belongs to three local Art groups and regularly attends workshops.

















Anne has eleven pictures on display reflecting the diversity of her work. Paintings include summer landscapes of Dovedale, seascapes and a very appealing orang utan! Anne's pictures have already attracted praise and have cheerfully brought Spring to the Waiting Room!
There is information about the paintings and Anne available in the waiting room. Anne's pictures may be purchased.

Contact: anneharrey@gmail.com    phone: 07903 107823

 As from May 20th there will be significant changes to train times to and from Glossop. These are part of the improvements planned by Northern to local train services. As these are still being worked on we offer this information only as a guide.
 Off peak weekday trains will leave at 18 minutes past and 48 minutes to the hour. Return trains from Manchester Piccadilly at 29 and 59. All peak trains recast with a new early morning departure at 05.53. Late evening extra return services at 20.29 20.59 21.28 21.58 22.29 23.27. A new slightly earlier Sunday departure from Glossop at 09.55.
 Go to National Rail Enquiries nationalrail.co.uk (phone 03457484950) for more detailed information. New printed timetables available from 1st June.
 Please also note there will be NO Trains to/from Glossop on SATURDAY APRIL 21ST DUE TO ENGINEERING WORKS. A bus replacement service will operate.

A NEW permanent display is now on view in the Waiting Room.
An abbreviated version of our Poetry Platform display from last year, it tells the story of the part Glossop played in the Lowestoft Evacuation of June 1940 and celebrates the continuing links between the two towns.
Several of the evacuees and their families unveiled a commemorative plaque on the station when they visited us from Lowestoft in June last year.
The new display, which includes some first hand accounts, is a reminder of those events from the second World War.

IN SUNNY but very cold weather the formal launch of the new historical display boards took place at Glossop, Dinting and Hadfield stations today. At Glossop Kulvinder Bassi Team Leader Community Rail at The Department for Transport in London did the honours and at Dinting, Derbyshire and High Peak Borough Councillors George and Jean Wharmby did the unveiling. George is the current Chair of the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership. At Hadfield renowned railway author EM Johnson unveiled the board there. Joy Hallsworth - Friends of Hadfield Station - and Neil gave speeches of welcome at their respective stations. In turn our principal guests also gave speeches preceding the unveilings.
Other welcome guests included Andrew Walker from the HPHVCRP, Vicky Cropper Community and Sustainability Manager from Northern, Simon Brooks Station Manger ( we thank Simon and Carillion staff for all the snow clearing of platforms and car parks preceding the launch!), Anne Michaelides the designer from naturesigndesign who has such done an excellent job with the boards, Mike Brown from Glossop Heritage Trust, Andy Griffin from Network Rail and Steve Forde from SEMCRP. Making his first visit as ACoRP representative was Ian Davies who had made an early start from West Yorkshire to join us. Other fellow friends from station groups also joined us.  Their support was much appreciated following the wintry weather of the weekend!
Paul Abell, former editor of Today's Railways, and his wife Shirley were made welcome too. Paul is involved in Phase Two of the boards and has been a diligent advisor of the English used in the three launched today!
Refreshments including home made soup and cake were served in the warm community rooms of Hadfield Hall from 12.30 onwards. Joy and her team had organised these in a very efficient manner. Tasty sandwiches were kindly donated by Mike Ball from TWIG cafe whose ongoing support remains staunch.
The boards are the culmination of a three year project by the Friends of Glossop and The Friends of Hadfield Stations. They have been funded by the HPHVCRP in conjunction with Northern. We are very grateful for Andrew Walker's ongoing commitment to the project. We thank too Mike Brown, Margaret Buxton-Doyle and other local sources for permissions to use archive photographs.
A phase two for similar boards at other Glossop line stations is underway. We see these boards as not only celebrating the rich historical legacies of the stations but as springboards to marketing and tourism initiatives currently under development with our community rail partnerships and Northern.
We hope you enjoy viewing them!