The Friends of Glossop Station - who are we?
The
friends is a group of volunteers who give of their time in various ways
to enhance the environment of Glossop Station. FoGS also hold two Community
Events a year at the station. They work closely with Northern Rail, Network
Rail, High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail
Partnership, Derbyshire County Council, High Peak Borough Council, TfGM, ACoRP,
Derbyshire Police and British Transport Police.
Origins
Formed in 2006 following the creation of a station garden in the winter of 2005/2006 as part of a Glossop Environmental Trust project, the group was the vision of Linda Newman. A blue commemorative plaque, unveiled by the Railway Heritage Trust, now marks the site of the garden and the early beginnings of the group.
Origins
Formed in 2006 following the creation of a station garden in the winter of 2005/2006 as part of a Glossop Environmental Trust project, the group was the vision of Linda Newman. A blue commemorative plaque, unveiled by the Railway Heritage Trust, now marks the site of the garden and the early beginnings of the group.
Infrastructure improvements
These include . . .
Community Events
FoGS holds two Community Events a year at the station. These include Father Christmas arriving by train to mark the start of the festive season and in the summer we have hosted Teddy Bears’ Picnics and had a storytelling train. These bring children to a happy station environment. We also welcome school visits and have provided talks and with Northern Rail’s assistance, local free travel on the trains.
We actively promote the monthly folk trains and the local guided walks’ programme. We provide talks to localoand national organisations such as U3A about FoGS’ work. Please get in touch if you would like a talk!
Friends of friends
We work closely with neighbouring friends’ groups on the Glossop line at Broadbottom, Hadfield and Hattersley and Guide Bridge. We share ideas and events with our friends at Buxton, Whaley Bridge, Chapel en le Frith, Rose Hill, Heaton Chapel, Handforth, Marple and Walkden too.
Awards
FoGS has achieved successes in various national awards. In 2009 the group was awarded 1st prize by ACoRP in the Best Station Friends group category. In 2010 Chris Strogen was awarded 3rd prize in the ACoRP Railway Photographs competition. In the 2012 ACoRP awards the station received Ist place in the Station Development category. Neil Williams was placed third in the Outstanding Volunteer section. In the 2012 Railway Heritage Trust awards the Station received a Highly Commended in the Conservation section. These accolades have been warmly welcomed and they have marked the genuine team work that has taken place at the station to bring about significant improvements. In 2014 The Station's embankment garden was shortlisted for an ACoRP award as was Project Earth's Ceramics project at Dinting station with which FOGS was heavily involved. In September 2015 we were delighted to be awarded a Highly Commended as the Best Small Station in the UK category in the National Rail Awards.In September 2016 we received 3 ACoRP Awards - a bronze for our Embankment Garden, a third for our vintage replica lighting and a shared second with Hadfield, Hattersley and Guide Bridge for out Teddy Bears Birthday party event marking The Queen's 90th Birthday. We were delighted with these accolades! Also in November we marked our 10th anniversary at the station with a thank you event and invited guests. The year concluded in December with a very busy Father Christmas event! Details and photos of the above events can be found on our Home Page news section.
Meetings
The group meets formally four times a year at the station to plan and review its progress. Work parties also meet weekly usually early on a Sunday morning for maintenance and improvement work. If you would like to help in any way then please get in touch. There is no charge to belong to FoGS - all we ask is your commitment to our visions.
Future Plans
FoGS continues to maintain its current areas of infrastructure work and local community involvement. In particular it seeks, with partners, to develop the restoration of other historic parts of the station. A recent success in 2014 was the replacement of historic perimeter railings along Howard Street by Network Rail. Liaising and helping our newly established friends’ groups on the Glossop line – we are proud that we now have 4 adjoining friends’ groups - is a priority too. We also hope to promote discussions as and when the new franchise is announced. This process, in March 2015, is now underway with Abellio, Arriva and Govia as short listed bidders. Arriva was selected as the preferred operator by the Government and will begin its franchise from April 1st 2016.
We have now worked for over a year (June 2017) with Arriva Rail North and its new management team headed by Liam Sumpter Regional Director Central, ( Liam was our guest at Christmas 2016 event at Glossop Station) Vicky Cropper, Community and Sustainability Manager and Simon Brooks, our Line Manager based at Guide Bridge. We are enjoying developing new professional relationships with this team. We said a very fond farewell to Theo McLauchlan, our former line manager, in March 2017. Theo is now managing lines to Rochdale and Clitheroe and we wish him every success in his new role.
These include . . .
- Renovating the external railings
- Hanging baskets and window boxes inside the station – these are changed four times a year to mirror the seasons
- Hanging baskets outside the station
- Regular cleaning of the interior
- Historic feature displays inside the waiting rooms
- A small art gallery featuring local artists
- Painting the lampposts, girders and alcoves
- A Poetry Platform display featuring famous and local poets
- With Network Rail assistance, the establishment of a garden on the Embankment opposite the platform
- Seasonal Christmas Decorations including a tree
Community Events
FoGS holds two Community Events a year at the station. These include Father Christmas arriving by train to mark the start of the festive season and in the summer we have hosted Teddy Bears’ Picnics and had a storytelling train. These bring children to a happy station environment. We also welcome school visits and have provided talks and with Northern Rail’s assistance, local free travel on the trains.
We actively promote the monthly folk trains and the local guided walks’ programme. We provide talks to localoand national organisations such as U3A about FoGS’ work. Please get in touch if you would like a talk!
Friends of friends
We work closely with neighbouring friends’ groups on the Glossop line at Broadbottom, Hadfield and Hattersley and Guide Bridge. We share ideas and events with our friends at Buxton, Whaley Bridge, Chapel en le Frith, Rose Hill, Heaton Chapel, Handforth, Marple and Walkden too.
Awards
FoGS has achieved successes in various national awards. In 2009 the group was awarded 1st prize by ACoRP in the Best Station Friends group category. In 2010 Chris Strogen was awarded 3rd prize in the ACoRP Railway Photographs competition. In the 2012 ACoRP awards the station received Ist place in the Station Development category. Neil Williams was placed third in the Outstanding Volunteer section. In the 2012 Railway Heritage Trust awards the Station received a Highly Commended in the Conservation section. These accolades have been warmly welcomed and they have marked the genuine team work that has taken place at the station to bring about significant improvements. In 2014 The Station's embankment garden was shortlisted for an ACoRP award as was Project Earth's Ceramics project at Dinting station with which FOGS was heavily involved. In September 2015 we were delighted to be awarded a Highly Commended as the Best Small Station in the UK category in the National Rail Awards.In September 2016 we received 3 ACoRP Awards - a bronze for our Embankment Garden, a third for our vintage replica lighting and a shared second with Hadfield, Hattersley and Guide Bridge for out Teddy Bears Birthday party event marking The Queen's 90th Birthday. We were delighted with these accolades! Also in November we marked our 10th anniversary at the station with a thank you event and invited guests. The year concluded in December with a very busy Father Christmas event! Details and photos of the above events can be found on our Home Page news section.
Meetings
The group meets formally four times a year at the station to plan and review its progress. Work parties also meet weekly usually early on a Sunday morning for maintenance and improvement work. If you would like to help in any way then please get in touch. There is no charge to belong to FoGS - all we ask is your commitment to our visions.
Future Plans
FoGS continues to maintain its current areas of infrastructure work and local community involvement. In particular it seeks, with partners, to develop the restoration of other historic parts of the station. A recent success in 2014 was the replacement of historic perimeter railings along Howard Street by Network Rail. Liaising and helping our newly established friends’ groups on the Glossop line – we are proud that we now have 4 adjoining friends’ groups - is a priority too. We also hope to promote discussions as and when the new franchise is announced. This process, in March 2015, is now underway with Abellio, Arriva and Govia as short listed bidders. Arriva was selected as the preferred operator by the Government and will begin its franchise from April 1st 2016.
We have now worked for over a year (June 2017) with Arriva Rail North and its new management team headed by Liam Sumpter Regional Director Central, ( Liam was our guest at Christmas 2016 event at Glossop Station) Vicky Cropper, Community and Sustainability Manager and Simon Brooks, our Line Manager based at Guide Bridge. We are enjoying developing new professional relationships with this team. We said a very fond farewell to Theo McLauchlan, our former line manager, in March 2017. Theo is now managing lines to Rochdale and Clitheroe and we wish him every success in his new role.
