Friends of Disley Station

Friends of Disley Station (FODS)

Latest news….

PROPOSED CLOSURE OF DISLEY STATION TICKET OFFICE.

Rail travellers and others will no doubt be aware of the proposals to close many ticket offices at stations throughout the national rail network. At Disley the proposal is to close the ticket office but provide a “staff presence” between 0700-0900 on weekdays. As yet there have been no details provided as to what this staff member will do and where they will be located but the Friends of Disley Station believe that now there is an ideal opportunity to make proposals to Northern Rail as to how and when this staff member could be better utilised.

The following are suggested as consultation areas with Northern Rail and FoDS would welcome input from members of the rail travelling community in Disley on these and any other constructive comments.

1. Should the roster for the staff member better reflect off peak travel where prospective travellers are more likely to need assistance than regular commuters? What about starting at 0930 until 1130 and including Saturdays?
2. Should Northern sell tickets through local retail outlets or through, say, Disley library? Some rail operators already do this such as Merseyrail and Transport for Wales.
3. Should the staff member be based away from the station, for instance in the community centre, where they would be more accessible to people who want to make face to face enquiries?
4. Should the staff member work longer hours in any instance or just be provided on longer hours on certain days of the week?
5. If the ticket office is closed and the staff member based elsewhere what use could the vacated office be put to for the travelling public?

Please send any comments to Jean Windsor at: jeanwinds25@gmail.com

Other news…

We started the year on  a high, having been awarded Cheshire Best Kept Station 2021 Best Kept Garden Award.

The award was presented to us on 1^st April 2022 at the Awards ceremony in Hartford, Cheshire.

Our wild flower seed mats and pollinator-friendly annual plants looked nice in early spring.

We decided, however, that it would be more sustainable to plant perennial plants. At the same time the old wooden barrels that had been at the station for many years were starting to fall apart.

We were very pleased to receive grant funding from High Peak & Hope Valley CRP and Northern so we were able to purchase four large faux lead planters plus a matching smaller planter for the station entrance.

We had to have a place at the station to proudly display our award so in August we constructed a running in board.

To complement the bird feeder, we also puchased and installed a bird bath.

We attended Cheshire Best Kept Station Awards presentation again on 16^th March 2023 and much to our surprise won an award again,. This time it was the Avanti Sustainability award.

Our latest project is to fill the large planter we have just recently had donated to us by TFGM with more pollinator friendly shrubs and perennial plants.

If you would like to join us on our work sessions, usually held on the first Monday of each month, please contact our Secretary at jeanwinds25@gmail.com

FODS is not just about gardening. We actively campaign for better services and improvements to both Northern and Network Rail. We have just recently set up a Rail User Group in conjunction with the other stations on the Buxton line. Please email Steve Brown at nutto@btinternet.com with your concerns and suggestions and these will be raised at our next meeting.

Visit the Facebook page at: Friends of Disley Station.