Lowestoft railway station is blooming marvellous!

The project to rejuvenate Lowestoft’s Railway Station has received a colourful boost with the addition of two nautical themed planting displays and a host of hanging baskets, helping to brighten up the site and provide a much more attractive welcome to visitors.

Volunteers from Lowestoft in Bloom recently installed the displays which have already proved popular with both rail users and visitors to the town. Working with the Lowestoft Central Project, the scheme to include new planting has been in preparation for over a year and includes two boats converted into planters and painted to match the stations heritage livery. Another nod to the past has seen the boats named ‘Samuel Morton Peto’ after the famous entrepreneur who first brought the railway to Lowestoft and ‘The Easterling’ after the regular rail service which brought thousands of visitors from London to the East Coast in the 1950s.

The station displays have been made possible by locality grants from Suffolk County Councillors, Keith Patience and Stephen Ardley, along with funding from within the Lowestoft Central Project, set up to rejuvenate the historic landmark.

Speaking on behalf of Lowestoft in Bloom Debbie Blowers. said, “It has been a great privilege for Lowestoft In Bloom to be involved in this project and we are so pleased to see the initial vision finally come to life. The boats look amazing and are a far cry from their original sorry unused state. The station is looking fantastic, not only with the hanging baskets and boats but with all the work the Lowestoft Central Project has done. A huge thank you must also go to both Waveney and Oulton Broad Yacht Club and DJ Electrical for the kind donation of the boats, to The Hollies Garden Centre for providing some of the plants and to Seletar Signs for the boat signage and lastly not forgetting our amazing volunteers to have given their time and gotten their hands dirty.”

Martin Halliday, Community Rail Officer said, “We are delighted to have been able to work with Lowestoft in Bloom this year to add an array of colourful hanging baskets and two spectacular nautical themed planters at Lowestoft Station. The team have done a fantastic job which has added great colour to the station and in doing so providing a much more attractive gateway to the town. We wish to thank the team at Lowestoft In Bloom for their hard work and those that helped to provide equipment and financial support to the scheme.”

Lowestoft in Bloom are a small volunteer group who all share the same goal and passion of getting Lowestoft blooming with projects like this and with their annual free competition. If you would like to find out more please email them at [email protected]

The Lowestoft Central Project has, in recent weeks, unveiled a number of improvements at the station including restoration of the former Parcels Office, now open as a new public exhibition space, vintage lighting and colour schemes and the restoration and reopening of doorways leading to the town centre which were previously closed for decades.

Many railway stations in the area feature attractive planting schemes cared for by Community Rail volunteers through the Greater Anglia Station Adopter scheme. Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s Community and Customer Engagement Manager added, “We are extremely grateful to Lowestoft In Bloom for their efforts which, in tandem with the restoration work completed through the Lowestoft Central Project, provides a terrific welcome to those arriving at the station by rail.

“We would also like to thank Councillors Keith Patience and Stephen Ardley, along with the Lowestoft Central Project, for generously funding these displays.”