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Busy Times at Willaston's Hadlow Road Station

The latest update on what's been happening at Hadlow Road Station, from Hilary Booth.

Real Skills' apprentices have laid a considerable amount of railway sleepers and track and it is looking good and progressing well. However it is at a much slower pace than we envisaged, which probably reflects the complexity and safety of railway track laying! We are so pleased to have identified this rail track training company based in Liverpool and being able to provide these apprentices with practical track laying experience.

The top of the signal has been removed thanks to Liam from http:safeclimb.co.uk so that refurbishment work can commence on this part whilst at ground level, which will be much easier and safer to do. In addition painting the signal stem will now be a lot easier too. However, these jobs are very much dependent on the weather now that winter has officially arrived.

Repaired and reinstated - signs at Hadlow Road Station.

The Ticket Office and Waiting Room signs have been repaired/refurbished and we are pleased to say that both now hang on the wall as it was in the 1970s. The East section of the South platform looks splendid with the flagged top and the planting on the rear slope, with some replacement hornbeam planted to replace those that didn't survive, but also to fill in some planting gaps.

Sarah Shannon and Chris Hampshire were guests on Radio Merseyside's live early morning breakfast show on Friday 9th November to promote the village's WW1 weekend celebrations, including the afternoon event on 11th November at Hadlow Road Station. We were blessed with sunshine on the Sunday afternoon, although the gazebos were put up in rain in the morning.

Theatre in the Quarter alongide a 'there but not there' silhouette, at Hadlow Road Station on 11.11.18.

Nearly 330 teas, coffees and pieces of cake were served, and all profit from this event will be donated to the British Legion Poppy Appeal. Very positive feedback was received after this WW1 event at Hadlow Road Station whilst Erik Fritz (Mayor of Sickenhausen Germany) and his wife Helga, our German dignitaries, enjoyed this event very much.

For those of who stayed to listen to the closing ceremony, and hear Erik Fritz read a letter from a relative in the war, a young man writing to his father, and Cllr Myles Hogg reading of a young English soldier's story of the same war, both feeling fear, pain, heartbreak, and destruction, you will ask yourself, what is the point of war. They do not want to kill or be killed. Hopefully the leaders of the world will one day realise this.

Cllr Myles Hogg and Mayor Erik Fritz from Germany

Tickets for Santa's Grotto on the 9th December in the signal box at Hadlow Road Station are selling well, and childrens' "present wrapping sessions" are underway with a group of wrapping volunteers meeting regularly.

Even if all the children's tickets are sold you can still pay for an adult ticket that includes refreshments of mulled wine and mince pie or tea/coffee. This will be a happy event with entertainment including "tiger" painted children's faces, a balloon man, and traction engine rides around the car park, that will be closed for the day of the event.

The October community pop-up café was exceptionally well attended as it was great for sitting outside at the tables on the platform but unfortunately despite sending out for extra supplies twice we ran out of bacon, batch, teacakes and cake so apologies if you came late and couldn't get any food. We have learned and will order more for future community pop-up café openings!

We have now gone onto monthly community pop-up-cafe openings for winter. The next pop-up café opening dates are Sunday January 27th and Sunday February 24th from 10.30am to 1.30pm with NO pop-up café opening in December.

We hope to see you all there if you are brave enough to face whatever weather we have by then. The heating in the Waiting Room will be on if you're happy to share a table!

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