A Community Rail Lancashire project called ‘Twin Tracks’ got under way earlier this week with the clearance of the disused platform and access path at Burscough Junction station.
‘Twin Tracks’ is a project based on Burscough Junction and involves a twinning between St. John’s Catholic Primary School in Burscough, Lancashire and Trills Primary School in Erkrath, Germany.
A group from Lancashire’s Community Payback Team set to work on Monday morning after a safety briefing by Network Rail and managed to clear the disused platform and access path in just two days.
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- Burscough Junction before 1
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- Burscough Junction before 2
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- Buscough Junction after 1
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- Burscough Junction after 2
Following the clearance of the disused platform the main project can begin in earnest with the installation of some additional recycled plastic planters to be delivered next week and manufactured by Ark Plastics in Accrington. The local school children will then visit the site to plant up the new and existing planters.
Erkrath is twinned with West Lancashire; through the twinning association, and CRL will undertake a project of exchanged letters (via email) in both English and German by the children in the top classes of both schools, detailing their local area, how they relate to it, European similarities, differences and unity; all illustrated with art and photographs (as appropriate). St John’s, Burscough, will also undertake CRL’s rail use and safety ‘Passengers of the Future’ programme, travelling to Preston to generate art and language for use in the project, as well as to learn about rail travel.
These letters, photographs and pieces of artwork will be made into two identical art pieces, one for display at Burscough Junction and one for use either within the school in Erkrath or potentially at the local rail station (communications with Deutsche Bahn are on-going). The artwork will celebrate not only the local area of Burscough, but also the twinned relationship with Erkrath, and promote European similarities and differences as perceived by the young people, giving them a unique opportunity to explore and learn about a different culture in a socially meaningful context.