Passengers passing through Ledbury station over the next week will be visiting the official ‘Ledbury Junction for Poetry'.
The railway station has been renamed for the week-long poetry festival.
West Midlands Railway is supporting this year's Ledbury Poetry Festival by adding additional railway signage to Ledbury railway station.
The operator is also sponsoring the reading of a special poem which recognises the work of community groups at stations across the West Midlands Railway rail network.
‘Pride of Place' was written by Steve Pottinger from a Black Country Trio known as 'Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists'. Steve will be reading poem as part of the week's festivities at The Poetry Stage at the Ledbury Celebration on Sunday 14th July, part of six hours of non stop poetry music and entertainment on the final day of the Festival.
The train operator is also hosting a special ‘Poetry Chair' at the station. Rail passengers are invited to take a moment to sit in the chair and put together their own literary piece, which may be published onto the Ledbury Poetry Festival website.
Ledbury Poetry Festival runs from Friday 5 until Sunday 14 July. For more information visit poetry-festival.co.uk/
What did the officials say?
Fay Easton, head of stakeholder and community for West Midlands Railway, said:
“Poetry is something that resonates closely with so many people and our community groups at the stations across our network have loved the Pride of Place ‘thankyou poem'. Renaming Ledbury station seems a fitting tribute to recognising the impact of poetry, particularly in light of the very special poem we commissioned last year. The poem is a literary thank you to the volunteers who brighten up railway stations across our network, and will soon be found displayed at fifty of our stations across the rail network.
“With many of the Ledbury Poetry Festival's events just a short walk from the station, travelling to and from Ledbury by train is an easy and convenient option for visitors to the Poetry Festival this week.”
Phillippa Slinger from Ledbury Poetry Festival, said:
“We are so delighted with this partnership with West Midlands Railway. Over the years many poets have stood on the station platform, from Robert Frost and the Dymock poets to the hundreds of international poets who have visited the Festival since it started over twenty years ago. So to have the station named as the junction for poetry is very fitting. And it's equally perfect to have Black Country poets travelling down the line to perform their poetry here”
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