An event at Crowborough station to celebrate the railway of the 21st Century and include the spirit of the past with Railway 200
The doors were opened to the Community Hub for the first time welcoming local people, their MP Nus Ghani, the deputy Lord Lieutenant, GTR staff members, Community Rail Network, Railfuture, station partners, representatives from community support groups, contractors and many more, to see for themselves, meet the Hub Committee members and hear plans for the future use of the building.
Catering was provided by the local community pantry. Attendees were welcomed to add to their comments and suggestions on future use (some interesting and surprising results).
The ticket hall hosts a new permanent display of the town’s notable buildings from the past until the present day and of celebrities who have lived in the town.
The R200 Blue Plaques banner highlighted railway folk from the past plus a few stories of local interest.
The station partners had put a great deal of effort into rebuilding the stations’ planters and filling them with some fabulous blooms.
A VVIP was also welcomed, Marian Doyle, daughter of a station master from the 1950’s, she shared memories of her father and of the family living at the station.
Last but by no means least – the dual signage naming the station ‘Home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’ was on temporary display (await contractors permanent fix). The town is especially proud of their famous son, this installation had been requested for many years and put the finishing touch to all that we had done.
A chance to thank all who have given their time and a lot of financial support to the project.
A great day, young and old excited to see that after many years of hoping, the local community now has the key to the door of their very own community centre, a much-needed facility at that end of town.
New contacts and offers of support made, advice and suggestions for the future shared.
Paul Goddard: Was nice to see so much support from the community as this project reached a milestone.
Jenni Jones: Community Rail Network are proud to support this exciting project, which will see a disused railway building transformed into a vibrant hub at the heart of the community. Well done to all involved.
MP Nusrat Ghani, for Sussex Weald, said: “Having been supporting the project for years, it was wonderful to join the Crowborough Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Community Hub Committee Cllr Paul Goddard and our local communities in celebrating the start of a very exciting chapter of the project.