We are delighted to announce that in the 2020 Community Rail Awards, organised by the Community Rail Network we have been shortlisted for a PLATINUM level award in the " It's Your Station " category. This category looks at all aspects of voluntary work at a station such as cleaning, gardening, information provision, community links/ events....... Our entry into the competition was in May. This year, due to coronavirus restrictions, online judging of each station took place.

There are four levels of Award in this category - bronze, silver, gold and platinum. 

The Awards' Event was to have been held in Southampton in December. However due to coronavirus restrictions it will now be held online.

We are very appreciative of the ongoing support that we receive. We would like to thank Becky Styles, Community and Sustainability Manager at Northern, for all her help in getting us back to work at the station in recent weeks!

We are pleased to pass on the news that TWIG cafe at Glossop station has reopened to customers!
Currently operating as a takeaway the cafe and making use of the original listed booking office window to take orders.
Opening hours at present are 07.30 to 16.30 but these may change as and when the train timetable next changes.
We wish Mike and his team well!

On Saturday 20th June a small group of representatives from the Friends groups at Buxton and Glossop stations, the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership and the Peak Park set off on a socially distanced walk with Rhodri Green Regional Organiser of The Bumblebee Trust (full risk assessment in place) to explore the Lightwood area of Buxton for bumblebees. The idea was to assess the possibility of a bumblebee safari walk from Buxton station when restrictions permit this. The outing was a real success and there were several sightings of the rare bilberry bumblebee! The walk is part of the Buzzing Stations project recently initiated by the Friends groups at Glossop, Buxton and Hadfield stations. Bumbleebee safari walks led by volunteers from The Bumblebee Conservation Trust have already taken place ( before Lockdown ) in Glossop and it is hoped these will resume when conditions permit taking in new routes originating from Glossop and Hadfield stations. All the participants really enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to taking part in a Zoom Bumblebee identification course soon! Friends of Buxton station are hoping to install a bee friendly planter at the front of their station in the near future.

Buzzing Stations is a new collaboration between the Friends of Stations groups at Buxton, Glossop, Hadfield and other, selected, stations on the Hope Valley line and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Bumblebees are nature’s key workers and we hope to raise awareness of the species found near our High Peak stations Click here for more information

 The train service from Glossop has been changed with some extra trains from 18th May. Details below. The official government advice is that they are to be used only by workers who cannot access work in any other way.

FROM GLOSSOP TO MANCHESTER PICCADILLY Mondays to Saturdays

6.11 7.14 7.44 6.44 9.14 10.14 10.44 11.44 12.14 13.14 13.44 14.44 15.14 16.14 16.44 17.44 18.44 19.14 20.44 21.14 22.14 22.45

Sunday service
9.47 10.43 11.45 then every hour until 20.45 final train 21.44

FROM MANCHESTER PICCADILLY TO GLOSSOP Mondays to Saturdays

5.32 6.30 7.03 8.03 8.33 9.33 10.03 11.03 11.33 12.33 13.03 14.03 14.33 15.03 16.03 17.03 17.33 18.32 19.03 20.03 21.33 22.00

Sunday service
9.09 11.03 12.01 13.03 hourly to 20.03 final train 21.02

PLEASE CHECK TIMES BEFORE TRAVELLING. ALL SERVICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
enquiries@northernrailway.co.uk

 A MESSAGE FROM ROBERT LARGAN, MP for High Peak
During the lockdown, there have been significantly reduced train services. From Monday 18th May, there will be a new timetable with additional services, to help those who can't work from home and need to use public transport to go to work.
Manchester - Hadfield/Glossop: Improvement to mix of hourly and half hourly  (Glossop)
Manchester - Buxton: Remains hourly with some additional peak services (Buxton)
Manchester - Sheffield (via New Mills): Hourly to Sheffield and every two hours to New Mills (New Mills)
More details can be found at Northern Rail.
Following my lobbying efforts, Northern have also confirmed that they will be running full length trains, which will help with social distancing.
Remember, if you can work from home, please continue to do so. If you can't work from home, please only use public transport if you're unable to walk/cycle/drive to work.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do drop me an email or visit my Facebook page @RobertLargan4HighPeak

We hope everyone is well.

Buzzing Stations is a new collaborative project involving Friends of Glossop Station, Friends of Hadfield Station, Friends of Buxton Station, The High Peak and the Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership and The Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
In January Rhodri Green Regional Organiser for the Trust gave an inspiring talk for the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust at Bradbury House in Glossop. Rhodri also introduced Darcey Gillie a local volunteer to the audience. The Trust has been actively working with the Peak Park since 2018 on a project called Pollinating the Peak. Rhodri said how fortunate we are living in this area because on our doorsteps is the rare but iconic bilberry bumblebee (below). This gave Neil and Mary who were at the meeting the idea for some joint work. Darcey runs and organises bee safaris in and around Glossop. She is keen to develop this work and sees Glossop station and the work achieved by FOGS as an ideal environmental match to the concepts of Buzzing Comunities, Buzzing Schools, Buzzing Gardens and Buzzing Tourism that the Trust already promotes. We could see the potential for some effective joint working - FOGS has considerable experience in community events especially those involving children. We approached Rhodri and Darcey at the end of the meeting who said enthusiastically let's see what we can do!
The following day we got in touch with Dave at Buxton and Joy at Hadfield. Both said FOBS and FOHS would most definitely like to be involved. We then discussed our ideas with Andrew and Catherine at HPHVCRP and Becky at Northern. All gave Buzzing Stations their support!

On Friday 8th May a 90 minute online meeting took place with participants from FOGS, FOHS and FOBS with Catherine from HPHVCRP and Rhodri and Darcey from the Trust. The Peak Park will be involved too. There was much enthusiasm to get Buzzing Stations off the ground!! Catherine, pulling ideas together, suggested a three strand approach for a pilot project: Art/Education at Glossop/Hadfield, a new bumbleebee friendly planter at Buxton and the involvement of a Hope Valley line station so that all three lines in the partnership are involved. So Buzzing Stations has begun!

Clearly a number of station based activities will not be able to take place whilst current Corona virus restrictions exist. But in the meantime we can plan and develop our programme. Please get in touch with any ideas you may have!

Click here to read more about The Bumblebee Conservation Trust

These are very stressful times for everyone and, with that in mind, our latest Poetry Platform has some thoughts for contemplation.
Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Wordsworth it has poems chosen by Penny Greenwood in another attractive display by Paul Marsh.
Unfortunately, the current restrictions mean that we are not able to display the new selection. You can however, view an online version on our dedicated Poetry Platform page. With its thoughts of daffodils, so symbolic of Spring, we hope it brings a little cheer.
There will be hard copies of the leaflet freely available at the station when this becomes possible.
As part of the display the following lines from Wordsworth's poem "Michael" are highlighted, particularly apt for life at at the moment:
    "There is a comfort in the strength of love;
     'Twill make a thing endurable, which else
     would overset the brain, or break the heart."

Northern's new CAF built Class 331 electric trains have been seen on test on the Glossop line in recent days. Four-coach unit 331 111 was seen at Glossop on Saturday 28th March.
It is not clear as yet whether Northern intends using these trains in service alongside the regular Class 323 trains.