Volunteers at Avoncliff Halt in Wiltshire on the Great Western Railway (GWR) Heart of Wessex line between Bath and Westbury are celebrating after they won a gold award at this year's Stations in Bloom Awards.
The green-fingered volunteers are members of the Friends of Avoncliff Halt group that draws its members from the local community. This was the group's first-ever entry to the Stations in Bloom competition. They won the gold award for their work in diligently tending to a variety of displays at the station.
The Stations in Bloom competition encompasses a great variety of stations across both the Great Western Railway and South Western Railway networks. The awards are in recognition of the hard work and dedication of the volunteers who time and skills to create a welcoming environment for both rail users and the wider community.
Although the station is small, with platforms barely long enough to accommodate two carriages, it is a picturesque station. With railway connections to Westbury, Bath, and Bristol, it has become a green gateway for the villages that are served by the station.
The group spends hours of tireless care and effort to maintain the station, including providing planting troughs that contain bee-friendly flowers, as well as bee houses and a variety of herbs that the local community can use.
The Friends of Avoncliff Halt volunteer, Dr Trevor Turpin, said: “We were surprised and delighted to be presented with a Gold Award for ‘(a Station) Superbly Maintained by a Dedicated Team of Volunteers'.”
Avoncliff Halt station manager, Jordan Welsby, said: “All of us at Great Western Railway are incredibly grateful to the volunteers from The Friends of Avoncliff Halt for their hard work over the past year.
“Whether travelling to work or school or visiting local National Trust Property, Westwood Manor during the spring and summer months, visitors to this beautiful corner of the Wiltshire countryside will receive a warm welcome as they pass through the station.
“We are dedicated to putting our local communities at the heart of what we do, providing grants from our community fund, and also working closely with groups such as this. We want to extend a huge congratulations to the volunteers for their success in their gold award and thank them for supporting the Avoncliff community in this way.”
