A total of 200 books of station poems have been given away in one day to mark Railway 200.
Poets from the Rye Harbour Writers travelled along the Marshlink line to hand out the books to passengers.
The station poems are a collection of the various writings which have been displayed in the waiting room at Rye station over the last three years.
The writers took the train from Rye – some heading towards Ashford International and others going to Hastings – on Sunday 24 August.
Alongside the books, the group also promoted the ‘Write on Track’ poetry competition.
S C Morgan from the writing group said: “The book give-away was a phenomenal success. Amazing!
“We gave out all 200 in about two hours and the passengers were so interested and wanting to talk about the book and the competition – even the guard on our first train wanted a copy! We were all astonished.”
The theme of the poetry competition is a positive experience of train travel such as a first rail journey or a memorable trip or an exciting day out. Entries are open until 31 October and the winning poems will be displayed in Rye waiting room in the new year.
Funding for producing the books came from a Railway 200 grant from Southern Railway which also organised for the poets to travel on the trains.
Railway 200 marks 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened in 1825 and is a national celebration of railways.
Photo: Rye Harbour writers S C Morgan and Jim Northover on board a Southern train as part of the Railway 200 book give-away. Credit: Lenka Medlik
