Furness Railway and Lakes Line 175 Committees and the Community Rail Partnerships have been working with a range of stakeholders across the rail industry. It has been wonderful to see the support from all corners of the industry and the communities.
Project 175 has been busy with the transport festival in July, roadshows from August into April 2022, merchandising, publicity and everything that follows. Northern has provided excellent publicity material and the initial contact with Dez (LoveArtPix), an artist who developed our 175 banner artwork. Network Rail has offered to display 175 posters at Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street stations giving events far wider publicity.
Both Network Rail and Avanti West Coast are working with schools and sharing the history of the lines with pupils. There is a 175 Facebook page which follows the events and stories.
An online Transport week curated by Signal Film & Media through their Sankey historic photography project – and supported by Cumbria Railways Association for the historical narrative – kicked off festivities on 5th of July 2021
The Festival of Transport on the 17th of July 2021 in Barrow featured the oldest working British steam engine (Furness no 20) thanks to the Chair Tim Owen, Furness Railway Trust and Barrow BID. 175 committees and rail organisations were located outside Dock Museum in Barrow and we had almost 1,000 festival goers visiting. Children loved the various stands, admiring the steam engine and engaging with the entertainers and jugglers. A fantastic time was had by all!
The 175 community events – ‘roadshows’ – during August and September, have been exceedingly successful with a lot of engagement from local people, families, curious children and those interested in the amazing history surrounding the lines. Money raised at these events will benefit those station adoption groups that staged the events. Other station adoption groups have produced historic panels for ‘their’ station depicting some of the 175 years of the railway.