Wivenhoe station becomes focus for celebration of bygone railway posters

Published on: Monday, 4 February 2019
Last updated: Monday, 4 February 2019

Wivenhoe rail station is to become a temporary art gallery displaying iconic railway posters from a bygone age.

The exhibition is being arranged by Off the Rails - a community arts initiative – and is supported by the Essex and Suffolk Community Rail Partnership and Greater Anglia.

The group hopes the exhibition will inspire local people to create their own railway posters, with a view to exhibiting them at the station next year.

Matthew Linley, of Off the Rails, said, “As you move around the station – in the waiting room, and across the bridge on Platform 2 – you’ll see lots of railway posters dating from between 1948 and 1955.

“They seem to reflect a post-war optimism and sense of hope and we hope they will brighten people’s journeys as they pass through the station.

“I hope people will also feel inspired to submit their own posters for a further exhibition in 2020.”

Jayne Sumner, Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Officer, said, “I’m sure Wivenhoe would have had its fair share of these beautiful posters up at the time, so it’s lovely to see them return and evoke a wonderful heritage feel.”

Greater Anglia’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Jonathan Denby, said, “It’s great timing for an exhibition like this, a reminder of the past as we work to introduce the first brand new fleet of trains in a generation and really transform the railway of East Anglia for the future.”

Anyone interested in submitting work for the next exhibition should contact Matthew Linley at [email protected]