Community Rail Lancashire has learned that it has been successful in securing two grants from the Community Rail Development Fund a source of funding manged by the Community Rail Network on behalf of the Department for Transport.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach station – photo © Caroline Holden
Details of the two projects receiving grants can be seen below:
Welcome to Blackpool Pleasure Beach Station
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Station was neglected for several years when its previous support organisation folded. However, in 2024, the Friends of Blackpool Pleasure Beach station was formally established with enthusiastic local residents and councillor support. This revitalised group is now actively maintaining planters, litter-picking, and has recently installed a recycled plastic bench. Community Payback is also improving the station environment and repainting the footbridge.
The key need is to build meaningful connections between the station and its local community, particularly engaging young people who will become the next generation of rail users. Armfield Academy presents an ideal opportunity – the school directly overlooks the station from its art room, yet students currently have little connection to this valuable local resource.
The project aims are:
+ Connect local young people to their railway heritage and the opportunities rail travel provides
+ Create a welcoming gateway that reflects the positive character of the area for both residents and visitors
+ Establish ongoing school partnerships that will encourage rail confidence and awareness of railway career opportunities
+ Reduce antisocial behaviour through community ownership and pride in the station
+ Align with Railway 200 celebrations, particularly the Inspiration Train visit to Blackpool
This project represents the crucial next step in transforming Blackpool Pleasure Beach station from a neglected facility into a community asset that locals take pride in and visitors find welcoming.
Tony Ford, Chair of the South Fylde Line CRP said: “Securing funding for an Arts project for Blackpool Pleasure Beach station is great news. This is yet more targeted investment on the South Fylde Line. I look forward to seeing the involvement of the educational community and anticipate a stunning outcome”.
Tracks of Life: Trains, People, and Places
Langho Signal box and steam crane – photo © Ken Roberts Collection
Delivered in collaboration with Ribble Valley Rail and Lancashire County Council, Tracks of Life: Trains, People, and Places will mark Railway 200 with an engaging exhibition in Clitheroe Castle Museum, featuring the black-and-white photography of late Ken Roberts (died 26th May 2024); a renowned local photographer who captured not just trains but the people who interacted with them.
Offering a human-centred lens on railway life. Ken’s photographs were regularly published in railway magazines and his photographs are well deserving of a wider public viewing of this talented Lancashire photographer, unknown generally to the general public as yet, but so renowned in railway circles. Where better then, but to showcase the trains, places and people that Ken has loved to capture in the town of Clitheroe where he spent his early childhood travelling along on the Clitheroe Line and beyond; his home being by the railway line itself at Ramsgreave and Wilpshire and being one of the founding members of the friends of this station too.
Alongside the photography, railway artefacts from station adopter and collector Brian Haworth will enrich the exhibition’s historical narrative, meaningfully linked to the themes within the exhibition, and will also include an example of the camera used to take the photographs.