Wednesday 5th October saw the unveiling of a piece of colourful artwork on the Clitheroe bound platform on Whalley station.

The art work consisting of six panels depicts the village of Whalley in the style of Austrian artist Hundertwasser. The children of Junior 4 from Whalley C of E Primary School designed the boards following a walk through the village to look at which buildings and places of interest should be included.

Back in class the children, assisted by local artist Angela Baptie, painted the panels using acrylic paint. The boards were then protected by four coats of clear varnish and then put in place on the fence at the station.

To see the full press release about the event please click HERE.

This is only part of the project that the school are carrying out in partnership with the Clitheroe Line Community Rail Partnership and the second piece of work is a self guide walk leaflet that will start at the station and talk the walker via the places of interest around the village and also allow those with smart phones to use QR Codes to find out more about the particular place.

The Clitheroe Line CRP has been successful in bidding to the Designated Line Community Rail Development Fund (CRDF) for a grant to help with the design and printing  of the leaflet, which should be available at the end of the month.

 

The Designated Line Community Rail Development Fund is sponsored by the Department of Transport, Network Rail and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) and helps provide funding for development of community rail lines that have been designated as part of the Government’s Community Rail Strategy.

From 12th December 2011 students travelling to Burnley College will be able to get to college in time for a 09.00 start!

The DfT has given Northern Rail derogation to retime the 08.50 (Monday to Friday) departure from Colne to leave at 08.40 with an arrival time of 08.53 at Burnley Central. The train will stand at Burnley and depart at its normal booked time for the remainder of the journey.

To see full details about this story click HERE.

Accrington has recently witnessed the completion of several significant developments in the town centre that include the development of a new Tesco superstore on Eagle Street, completion of  the new Accrington Eco stationm on the adjacent site and the renovation and renovation of the magnificant Victorian Market Hall, a Grade 11 Listed Building. 

Hyndburn Borough Council submitted an entry to the The Royal Town Planning Institute North West (RTPI NW) and White Young Green (WTG) Planning Awards 2011 nominating these developments. We are pleased to say that the Panel agreed that these schemes were exceptional and that Hyndburn’s entry has been awarded the following:

Winner – Demonstrating best practise in developement management in the delivery of exellent town centre development and conservation, and;

Joint Winner – Overall RTPI NW and WYG Planning Award for 2011 (shared with ‘Bury but Better’)

Simon Prideaux, Chief Planning & Transportation Officer, Hyndburn Borough Council, writes; ‘I would like to thank Lancashire County Council for the commitment it has shown to achieving a quality scheme in Accrington, one that we can be very proud of. I would also like to thank Richard Watts for the time and enthusiasm that he has put into this project (Accrington Eco station) from its conception until he recently showed the Panel of Judges around the station’.

Accrington Eco Station was part funded through the Interreg IVB SusStations Project

Brian the Bull, the eponymous cartoon character featured in the East Lancs CRP’s latest DVD Greening the East Lancashire Line, has won again! The DVD was awarded first place in the category of Involving Young People at the 7th Annual National Community Rail Awards held last night in a glittering ceremony in the Ballroom at Sheffield City Hall. Community Rail Development Officers Brian Haworth and Simon Clarke were on hand the accept the award on Brian the Bull’s behalf.

Accrington Eco Station was also in the limelight again when it picked up second place in the Station Development category. Richard Watts, LCC’s Rail Projects Manager and Gary Seed from SBS Architects picked up the certificate.

Northern Rail’s Community Ambassador Scheme was also acknowledged with a third place in the Passengers Matter category.

                                     

The winning DVD and Accrington Eco Station were both part funded through the Interreg IVB SusStations Project and the Northern Rail Community Ambassadors Scheme is part funded by a grant from the Designated Line Community Rail Development Fund (CRDF). 

The Designated Line Community Rail Development Fund is sponsored by the Department of Transport, Network Rail and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) and helps provide funding for development of community rail lines that have been designated as part of the Government’s Community Rail Strategy.       

To see a full list of the winners click the link here - http://www.acorp.uk.com/2011%20Awards%20winners.html

The Lancashire CRPs have scored a hat trick with three recent bids for CRDF funding in the last few days! The West of Lancs CRP is the third to get approval for a bid to fund publicity for the newly designated Preston to Ormskirk Line. The £1000 grant will enable WoLCRP to work with Northern Rail to publicise the line and in particular the changes to the timetable taking place shortly.

The Designated Line Community Rail Development Fund is sponsored by the Department of Transport, Network Rail and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) and helps provide funding for development of community rail lines that have been designated as part of the Government’s Community Rail Strategy.       

 

The designation of the Preston to Ormskirk Line under the Government’s Community Rail Strategy has been given official approval. Rail Minister, Theresa Villiers has approved the designation and the formal announcement is likely to be made at the National Community Rail Awards being held in Sheffield on Friday 23rd September.

The designation of the Preston to Ormskirk line is the fourth of Lancashire’s community rail lines to gain this official status. The others are the East Lancashire Line (Preston to Colne), the Clitheroe Line (Clitheroe to Manchester Victoria) and the South Fylde Line (Preston to Blackpool South).

The Rail Minister said: ‘I am delighted to be able to make this announcement on the day of the national ‘Community Rail Awards’ which aim to reward excellence and promote best practice in community rail development work.  Designation means that local communities can become even more involved in how these services run and encourage train companies to provide the services local people want.’

To see the full press release regarding the designation please click HERE.

A recent bid for funding to the Designated Lines Community Rail Development Fund (CRDF) for works to be carried out at Lytham station as part of the Lytham St. Annes 2020 Vision Document has been successful.

The £5000 grant will go towards the works being developed to link the station and the town centre more effectively. The works will be carried out prior to the start of the 2012 Open Golf Tournament being held at the Royal Lytham St. Annes Golf Club, but are being designed to have a legacy benefit to the area.

The Designated Line Community Rail Development Fund is sponsored by the Department of Transport, Network Rail and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) and helps provide funding for development of community rail lines that have been designated as part of the Government’s Community Rail Strategy.       

The Lancashire Community Rail Partnerships found out late on Friday afternoon that it had been successful in its latest bid to the Designated Line Community Rail Developement Fund (CRDF).  The bid was for funding to provide 2 information lecterns at Preston station and was submitted by the East Lancashire, South Fylde & West of Lancs CRPs as ajoint application.

The three community rail lines inter-connect at Preston and it is an aspiration of all three CRPs to develop Preston as a gateway station. Around 5 million passengers use Preston station each year and approximately 1 million are using it as an interchange point.

The project aims to describe the lines through the provision of two attractive lecterns (see image below).  They will be strategically located to maximise the number of people who will see them. The lecterns will feature attractive displays about the community rail lines radiating from Preston and where to find out more information.  As part of the project, Virgin Trains will be encouraged to allow a display of Community Rail literature to be introduced in the booking hall at Preston, possibly using a dedicated leaflet rack that will be managed by the CRP officers.  This will carry leaflets produced by the CRPs including the Furness and Lakes Line CRPs which also have direct services passing through Preston.

The Designated Line Community Rail Development Fund is sponsored by the Department of Transport, Network Rail and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) and helps provide funding for development of community rail lines that have been designated as part of the Government’s Community Rail Strategy.       

The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival is the best Blues Festival in Britain – and that’s official!!

Colne’s annual music extravaganzwas named as winner in the British Blues Festival category of the 2011 British Blues Awards at the weekend.

Festival organiser, Alison Goode, said; ‘It is fantastic news that the Festival has now been recognised and I would like to thank everyone who voted for us and, of course, our sponsors – Barnfield Construction, East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership, John Smith’s and Radio Lancashire – who continue to support us year after year’.

To see the full press release click HERE and to see a full list of winners click HERE.

The Padiham Greenway Creative Engagement Programme, a project to rejuvenate the disused railway line between Padiham and Rose Grove has just been awarded a second place in the Exemplary Initiatives category at the 5th European Green Awards held in Épinal, France on 8th September 2011.

The disused line has been brought back into use as a cycle way and path and is proving very popular with the local community. Brian Haworth from the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership and Caroline Holden, Lancashire County Council’s Cycling officer have produced a full colour Cycling into Railway History leaflet that explains the cycle ride in detail.

The CRP has also worked with Mid Pennine Arts and Padiham Green Primary School on a number of history projects including an archaeological dig on the disused line that threw up a number of old railway artifacts that were then incorporated into class room art projects.