On Friday 29th October SCRP and Reigate station hosted an event to celebrate the’ Reigate Station Gallery’ , a collaboration by members of the local community to bring colour and personality to this pretty little Surrey station.
Invited to join the celebration of all that has been achieved were project contributors, local staff, Community Rail Network, GTR, Southeast Community Rail Partnership, regular passengers, neighbours and Reigate’s Deputy Lady Mayor. There were speeches and thank-you’s aplenty much to the surprise of unexpecting passengers passing through on their way to catch their train. The station had recently benefitted from the GTR’s station improvement scheme, , was looking fabulous as the staff had made every effort.
This project started before lockdown and snowballed into something bigger than was first hoped for when contact was made with Reigate School of Art’s photographic department. Students were asked to provide a display of local images, one adventurous student even chose to photograph via drone. These images have been installed within the underpass, a bright, colourful display that brings life and interest to bare walls.
Another contribution is a comprehensive history of how the station developed through the years, displayed within the ticket hall. A collaboration between a member of the Reigate Society, who previously worked on the WWII project at Redhill station and the Network Rail Signal Box Operator. Both gentlemen are very keen on railway history and researched the station’s history both before and after WWII.
The station staff had rescued from the back of a cupboard, the stations original dispatch and arrival red and green flags which are displayed along with copies of vintage Reigate station tickets, provided by yet another member of staff with a keen interest in station history.
The Flying Scotsman, when passing through the station was captured by a local photographer, this beautiful image caught at just the perfect moment, now takes pride of place on show within the ticket hall.
The project was funded by a generous grant from Community Rail Network and is a great example of the motto ‘it’s your station’ working to engage the local community. The snowball effect was very evident here, one set of contributors encouraged others to become involved, added to that the enthusiasm of the station staff provided the perfect project.
