Stratford upon Avon
City of Birmingham
Stratford upon Avon
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Friends of the Shakespeare Line – Voluntary Community Station Partnership
Welcome to the Friends of the Shakespeare Line (FoSL), a voluntary Community Station Partnership, a not-for-profit overarching organisation operated by volunteers for volunteers to support their commitment as adopters at their railway station between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon. We are supported by a number of other organisations and individuals including train operators West Midlands Trains and Chiltern Railways.
“The future of the railways depends on the creation of a new system centred around passengers. Delivering social, economic, and environmental benefits”
Peter Wilkinson
Managing Director of Passenger Services
Department for Transport
This is the website for the first ‘Community Station Partnership’ in the UK
We are a volunteer-led community partnership, investing our time and energies to enhance the twenty-two local stations between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon.
We aim to help underpin the national efforts to restore confidence in rail and attract visitors to the scenic and fascinating Shakespeare Line.
The Friends of the Shakespeare Line (FoSL) is about delivering public benefit. Our mission is to work with Train Operating Companies and Network Rail and other regional partners to help make our stations more relevant to the locality, more passenger-centric and welcoming to visitors by providing a greater amenity and wellbeing.
Friends of the Shakespeare Line is about delivering Social Value.
We work with and obtain support from regional partners and individuals to enable volunteers (station adopters) to make our railway stations more welcoming to visitors, more relevant to the locality, more engaging for passengers and supportive of the local economy and environment.
The Exhibition will take place at:
Stratford upon Avon Railway Station
May Bank Holiday weekend
10 am and 5 pm
Saturday 25th May, Sunday 26th May, and Monday 27th May 2024.
Exhibition of Railway Paintings by John Austin FGRA
We invite everyone to come along and see unique and evocative scenes from yesteryear in classic paintings, some of which feature the local area.
Stratford upon Avon will host an exhibition of Railway Paintings by John Austin in May this year. John, a Fellow of the Guild of Railway Artists, is well known in railway circles for his evocative paintings depicting railway scenes and compositions from yesteryear. Originally from Birmingham, several of John's paintings are local to Birmingham, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.
Signed prints of some of John's paintings will also be available at the exhibition, which will take place at Stratford upon Avon Railway Station over the May Bank Holiday weekend between 10 am and 5 pm on Saturday, May 25th, Sunday, May 26th, and Monday, May 27th, 2024.
Please come along and see for yourself. The steam-hauled Shakespeare Express, operated by Vintage Trains, is also due to make two visits to Stratford upon Avon on Sunday, May 26th. Visitors will also be able to meet some of the volunteers and trustees from the Friends of the Shakespeare Line who look after the stations along the Shakespeare Line and members of the Committee who speak up for Rail Passengers from the Shakespeare Line Rail User Group.
The exhibition will be held in the 'The Shakespeare Line' community hub at the railway station.
John is the guest of the Friends of the Shakespeare Line and the Shakespeare Line Rail Users Group, who jointly manage and operate the community hub at Stratford upon Avon station.
Neil Morgan, the Treasurer of Friends of the Shakespeare Line, says, "We are looking forward to welcoming John Austin and are pleased to provide facilities that will enable people to come along and see his fantastic paintings. With the Shakespeare Express visiting the town twice on Sunday, we aim to provide a different, unique, and great experience for visitors over the late May Bank holiday weekend.”
Friends of the Shakespeare Line - Easter 2024 Update
The update sets out the key activities that have and are taking place along the Shakespeare Line, including the Renovation, Repurposing and Reopening of Henley in Arden Station, several streams of activity with Woodrush Academy at Wythall and other improvements and news from along the line.
Friends of the Shakespeare Line Annual Report 2022
The report sets out the scale and range of activities, from over 10,000 volunteer hours and also records heart-warming comments from the volunteers and an impressive array of endorsements from British Transport Police, Network Rail, West Midlands Railway and West Midlands Rail Executive.
22
Destinations
23
Miles
80
Volunteers
6
Trustees
