ABOUT FoGS

Great things have small beginnings.

 
 
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Friends of Goostrey Station (FoGS) has worked tirelessly to improve our historic station, its facilities and the service provided to our village.

Opened in 1891, the station has witnessed much over its history, but since it became an unmanned station in the early-1990s it fell into disrepair and the previously award-winning gardens overgrown and unloved. Most seriously, the rare and stunning Station Building was in extreme danger of being destroyed.

When the then Station Adopter for Goostrey Station - under an adoption scheme through the franchise owner Northern Rail - won an award of £200 from his employer Royal London Mutual Insurance Society based in the nearby town of Wilmslow, he approached Goostrey Parish Council to suggest the formation of a Friends Group to utilise the money. The most pressing and overriding concern was the protection and ultimate restoration of the Station Building which was slowly falling apart.

Subsequently, on 01 May 2012, at a meeting at Goostrey Railway Station between the Station Adopter, Crewe -Manchester Community Rail Partnership and Goostrey Parish Council…Friends of Goostrey Station (FoGS) was born!

Over just a decade later, FoGS has punched far above its weight in terms of its achievements, which we are proud to say includes…

  • 4 National Community Rail Award

  • 9 Cheshire Best Kept Station Awards

  • 1 Wild About Goostrey Gold Award

  • 11 National Community Rail Award short-listings

…as well as securing significant sums of money (£170,000.00), with the much appreciated support of the Railway Heritage Trust, to watch ecstatically as the Station Building was beautifully restored, like a phoenix from the flames, to its former glory.

The new Station Building is now home to an Art Studio, which has since been awarded £10,000 by the National Lottery.

With the enthusiastic involvement of the local community, including the Primary School, Cubs, Beavers, Rainbows, Guides and young people working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, our Station is now a vibrant, cherished and pleasant place to be.

And we look excitedly towards the future!