As the New Year rolls around once again, we are reflecting on some of our highlights from 2024, and sharing some of the exciting projects we have coming up. 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway and is set to be a year of nationwide celebration. We can’t wait to see what 2025 brings!

Round up of an exciting 2024

During 2024 we celebrated a number of wonderful achievements, getting both Walks from Glossop Station leaflet and Buzzing Stations booklet to print. We also funded a re-print of Glossop Bus Map leaflets, produced by Move More Glossop and Glossopdale Action for Sustainable Transport (GAST).

We continued work on the Steel Cotton Rail Trail (station-to-station walks from Sheffield to Manchester) in collaboration with South East Manchester CRP and Canal and Rivers Trust. This year we have waymarked many station-to-station sections and have worked with a variety of volunteers to test these routes.

New films were created to promote the Buxton line, and these have been shared at conferences as well as across social media. Projects like this, alongside the appointment of Vicky Frost as our new Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator in mid-September, have allowed us to celebrate our CRP through engaging visual content.

2024 saw us work with the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and Whitworks Adventures in Theatre on a drama project ‘The Exploits of Ethel’ with Newfield School in Sheffield to celebrate the centenary of the CPRE. Their debut performance in Edale on the 19^th October felt particularly special for us as it saw cast, crew and audience members travel on the train via the Hope Valley line which Ethel fought so hard to protect. Northern Trains and the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership jointly funded the tickets, allowing free travel for the event. 

We organised a number of Friend’s Days Out and Networking Days this year including a visit to the National Trust’s Castlefield Viaduct, and discussions about the 2025 Railway200 celebrations.

Friends of Glossop Station worked collaboratively with Glossop Creates throughout the year, bringing the work of local artists to the Waiting Room Art Gallery at the station. Volunteers at Hathersage station have created some wonderful new planters using pallets installed by Volker Rail. The station volunteers at New Mills Newtown have been busy attending to a range of jobs such as litter picking and planting, adding a large bag of daffodils for the spring. The volunteers at Glossop station had a final session on the Embankment Garden which involved much weeding and planting of primulas and bulbs in readiness for Spring. They are also in the process of renewing and refreshing the hanging baskets under the canopy on the platform. New fences have been built at Edale station and the volunteers at Disley installed new garden steps on a cold but sunny day in December.

A few things we are looking forward to in 2025

• • Celebrating Railway200

• • Finalising the Steel Cotton Rail Trail route, testing the route and printing leaflets

• • Appointing a fencing contractor for Bamford station

• • Developing phase three of the ‘Exploits of Ethel’ with Whitworks Adventure in Theatre

• • Refreshing our brand guide lines

• • Installing a new Grindleford map information panel

Thank you for a wonderful 2024, and we can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for us all.