Volunteers join forces to form Friends of Stations group in New Mills

More than 10 people have already signed up to join the new Friends of New Mills Stations group and plan to revamp New Mills Central and New Mills Newtown stations.

Phil Frodsham, from Transition New Mills, put a call out for people to create a new group after the former group disbanded several years ago.

He said: “I’m really pleased so many people have come forward and in such a short time too.

“We have rail enthusiasts, artists, people who have been part of the original friends group and people who have just moved into the area and want to join in with the community.”

Transition New Mills was approached by the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership, which covers both New Mills train stations, saying they were really interested in talking to people about setting up a Friends of New Mills Stations group.

There is also money in the community rail partnership’s pot to fund projects at the station.

Phil added: “This is just what the town needs.

“We are getting a lot more tourists coming down from Manchester and the stations are the gateway to the town so we need them looking the best they can be.

“This is the exciting part of the project where everyone is full of ideas and the only limitation is our own imagination.

“Now we just have to turn all this potential into proper ideas.”

He says he is open to any ideas which will improve the stations from painting the walls, designing gardens or providing history of the town and information boards.

On the practical side it could include simply taking care of the planters or it could be arts and heritage projects, looking for ways to increase biodiversity – anything that different people are interested in.

He said: “We’ve seen the great things the other friends groups have done, like in Buxton, and we want to spread the love in New Mills.”

The group are planning their first meeting and welcome more members to come along.

For more information on the Friends group, email Phil at [email protected].

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