The volunteers of Friends of Chelford Station were surprised and delighted to win an award in the Cheshire Best Kept Stations 2020 Virtual Awards Evening. The picture shows Mark Barker, Chair of CBKS, holding Chelford's award at the beautiful Hadlow Road station.
The announcement was made on the CBKS Youtube channel and came out of the blue in such a difficult year for the volunteers. In spite of everything, it was possible to do some maintenance to keep the station looking loved and it's to the credit of the volunteers, particularly Heather who has worked so hard from the formation of the team in 2007.
The Covid restrictions caused work to stop entirely in spring and early summer and since then, other restrictions have caused all sorts of obstacles to doing the usual work.
In spite of it being a tricky year, plans for improvements are in place and the volunteers have secured funding from Steve Forde of the Community Rail Partnership and also from Chelford Parish Council to renew the beds on the Crewe bound platform.
The intention is to replace the wooden beds with four new self-watering planters that you can see around the village (see picture). The old wooden beds were put in place around 2007 and have done sterling service, however, they have become a bit careworn.
Here's hoping that 2021 is an easier year for us all and that we can look forward to the usual bright and cheerful floral displays.