New Love For Thornton Station

Eagle-eyed passers by to Thornton Station (and indeed Thornton Village) might have noticed it is looking a little more spruced up than of late.

This is all thanks to the efforts of a new volunteer group called Love Thornton, working alongside the PWRS and our long standing member Gary Lea.

Making Thornton Shine, One Volunteer at a Time

Just a few weeks ago, a Facebook post from local resident Julie Richardson asking whether anyone wanted to help make Thornton an even better place to live sparked an incredible response.

What began as a simple idea has quickly grown into Love Thornton, a community group made up of local people giving their time, skills and enthusiasm to improve the appearance of the village.

The group has been given PWRS group membership and volunteers have already been busy refreshing the old station, as well as tackling litter, weeds and other jobs around the village.

The difference is already clear to see, and the encouragement from local residents and support from businesses has been heartwarming.

Thornton Station

Improvements to the station thus far have included:

• Large Concrete Planters - Received fresh coat of sandstone masonry paint, giving them a warmer, more traditional appearance.
• Picket Fencing - Excellent progress restoring the station's iconic picket fencing, with a substantial section prepared, sanded and repainted in its lovely heritage cream colour.
• Station Signs - Two of the station's signs, including the ticket office sign, have been carefully taken down ready for renovation. Once restored, they'll be returned to their rightful places.
• Weed / Tree Removal - Weeds along both sides of the platform have been tackled, along with the persistent sycamore growth and overgrown areas further down the line and on the tracks.
• Wooden Sleeper Beds - Have been reorganised, the soil turned over and enriched with fresh compost, and troublesome couch grass removed. Ready for future development.
• Paving Resanded - Paving around the ticket office has been thoroughly weeded, with fresh paving sand brushed into the joints to help reduce regrowth.

Future Plans

The group are creating a structured programme of short and long term goals to help guide their volunteers and build on the progress already made.

Their ambitions include:

• Restoring the traditional heritage benches and litter bins.
• Renovating and refreshing the ticket office door, sign and frame.
• Repairing and improving the large wooden sleeper beds.
• Introducing lighting along the platform to enhance its historic character.
• Adding more hanging baskets, planters and seasonal planting displays.
• More benches and possible memorial benches.
• Continuing to improve the grounds, planting, new gravel, rockery areas and overall appearance of the station.

Get Involved

If you would like to get involved, you can get in touch with Love Thornton via:

• Facebook - www.facebook.com/share/g/1CDu79D5PB/
• Email - lovethornton1@outlook.com

If you want to help support the restoration efforts of PWRS or maybe get your hands dirty with our historic rolling stock, full membership is also available.

Looking Great!

A huge thank you from PWRS and the residents of Thornton to all the wonderful volunteers who are giving their time, energy and enthusiasm to this project.