Barriers have been erected around the old ticket office at the station and rumours immediately abound. Thanks to Mike Jarvis, Chairman of Friends of Goostrey Station for explaining the full details of this exciting renovation:

As Chair of FOGS I can clarify the position as we know it in that the building will be restored, by the owners, Network Rail. They will limit the work to the exterior of the building, and they will renew the internal floor and provide utilities. Their plan as announced to FOGS is as follows:

15 – 30 November :strip and renew the floor

3 – 10 December :undertake electrical testing and remove redundant equipment

10 – 19 December: internal soft strip

Renovation of the outside will be carried out then during the period January – June 2019 which overlaps two financial years for budgeting purposes. Owing to the proximity of the high voltage power lines much of the exterior work will have to be done during the night with ”possession” of the line which requires electricity to be switched off completely. The building will be finished in specified heritage colours, principally green and cream as now, rather then in the livery of the franchise holder, Northern Railway.

It is envisaged then that FOGS will be responsible for the decoration of the inside together with installation of sanitary ware, after which the franchise holders, together with FOGS, will be seeking tenants for the building. The tenancy can be for commercial or for community use and for the whole building or a part thereof. We currently have one interested party.

FOGS has been working hard for the past six years to reach this stage. Maintenance of the building is the responsibility of the franchise holders but the previous holder carried out no maintenance. The new holders, some two years ago, argued that the building had deteriorated too much for simple maintenance to be possible but FOGS ,managed to secure the support of the Rail Heritage Trust who agreed that, being one of the last Victorian, wooden, modular buildings, complete with canopy, remaining in the whole country it was worthy of being saved for our heritage. They , therefore, are providing £40K out of a total cost which, we are told, will be over £100K.

We, FOGS have had several false dawns with promises not coming to fruition so have refrained from making any announcements until we could see that work had in fact started.

We trust that dawn will finally break and that the sun will shine again on a restored and refreshed Goostrey station. We shall aim to keep you aware of progress but if you have questions then we shall try to answer them.

Meanwhile our gardening and planting to improve the appearance of the station will continue. It is this work, aided splendidly by the art displays provided by Goostrey Community Primary School and their pupils, that has demonstrated to the railway companies our commitment to our station. which must be of benefit to the whole community. We still need more help and would appreciate your support.

Mike Jarvis, FoGS

I’ve just been chatting to the workmen fixing the sewer etc on a Main Road.

Many will be dismayed to hear that, whilst United Utilities have already replaced a section of pipes, they say it will still take them well into next week before they are able to finish.

Mending Main Rd sewer

Please note the Service of Remembrance at St Luke’s is at 10am on Sunday 11th (not, as initially described, at 11.00.) Apologies.

Those wishing to join the parade please assemble at The Crown Inn car park from 9:15am.

Goostrey Scouts’ annual bonfire held on the field next to the Scout Hut and Youth Centre on Sunday raised a fantastic £3,000 to help towards the cost of buying equipment and organising activities.

Group Scout Leader Neil Memmott said ” We were lucky that the weather was clear until after the end of the fireworks, so I was delighted by the turnout on the evening and the total raised.

“All the burgers and hotdogs barbecued by the team from Goostrey Scouts even ran out before the fireworks started, but fortunately Goostrey Guiding were also serving hot drinks and cakes, and Goostrey Pre-School’s marshmallow kebabs proved very popular. My thanks go to the organising team for the event, led by Executive members Tony Taylor, Mark Nelson and Colin Mottershead, and also to Ray Brown and sons for the use of the field and working to create the bonfire.”

The road through Goostrey is completely closed to vehicles at Bank View. Work is being carried out to repair the sewer under the sinking road. (Pedestrians can still get through)

Residents of Bank View can enter/exit the cul de sac to/from the eastern end of the village.