Published on: Wednesday, 1 November 2017
Last updated: Monday, 18 December 2017
More than a thousand tulip, anemone, muscari, allium, giant crocus and narcissus bulbs were planted at stations along the Wherry Lines railways running from Norwich to Great Yarmouth, and Norwich to Lowestoft this week.
Organised by the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, the community rail event took place on 31 October 2017, with the aim of helping to further beautify Wherry Lines’ station gardens, following recent major project works on the lines by Network Rail to upgrade signalling.
The bulbs were planted by station adopters, in addition to nearly 500 crocus bulbs that were generously sponsored by Broadland District Council as part of its ‘Keep Broadland Buzzing’ initiative to give bees a boost next spring.
A dozen people took part in the community event to make a difference to station surroundings.It is hoped that more community groups and local people will get involved tomaintain station gardens along the Wherry Lines. The station gardens provide a beautiful welcome to Norfolk and Suffolk for both commuters and visitors, as well ashelp to sustain bees and birds.
Robert Beadle from Friends of Cantley Station (known as FOCUS), a group whose work was recently recognised and celebrated at the Greater Anglia Station Adopters Awards 2017 event, said: “We had a great day planting bulbs. More importantly, we visited stations that we had not been to before, met other keen adopters and saw their different approaches to how they care for their stations. We hope to do this more often."
Cllr Roger Foulger, Chairman of the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, said: “I welcome this initiative which reflects great credit on volunteers who work tirelessly to improve facilities and the appearance of our stations."
Paul Haynes, Greater Anglia’s Community Partnership Manager, said: “We are very grateful to all of the volunteers who took part in the event, this is a great initiative to further enhance the look of the stations along the Wherry Lines. We’re looking forward to seeing the blooms next spring."
Paul Webster, Operations Manager of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, said: “Community Rail is about local communities taking pride in their railway station and its surroundings. These station gardens carefully planted with a rich variety of bulbs show the value volunteers from local areas place on their station environment and the importance of the welcome it gives to railway passengers. I look forward to visiting again when the flowers are in full bloom and sharing this as an example with the thousands of adopted stations we work with across the UK."