A SPECIAL day of fun, song and food to celebrate 175 years of the Chester to Shrewsbury line in Chirk was declared a great success.
It was organised by Josie Rayworth, from the 3 Counties Connected Community Rail Partnership with Friends of Chirk Station and the Chirk Community Food Cupboard, who as a result of the event raised £141 towards their funds.
Josie said she was delighted with the day and thanked all those who took part in making it special.
“The Victorian Day was a great success,” she said.
“The event was organised as part of a series of events along the line to celebrate the 175th Anniversary year of the Chester to Shrewsbury line being open to the public.
“It was the perfect opportunity for a good old-fashioned community get together, to celebrate our history while sharing stories from retired workers to the community recalling railway memories from many years gone.
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“We had lots of children dressed up as Victorians enjoying the magic shows including a Victorian tightrope walker.
“We even had an appearance from Sherlock Holmes and not to forget an impromptu performance from Jim Heath, a local artist and woodcarver singing Daisy Daisy to the crowds.”
Josie was full of praise for the Chirk volunteers from both groups to make the day run smoothly.
She added: “The friends of Chirk Station had a stall where many delightful floral posies were made and photos were taken under a splendid floral arch created by Angela Ree with most of the flowers coming from her very own garden.
“There were raffles, a fabulous display from local family and performers from Ballet Pod where visitors discovered the life of the Victorians and experience wonderful dance, song and musical performances.
“The Thomas Brassey Association kindly joined us to tell visitors about this marvellous engineer from Chester, who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century including the Chester to Shrewsbury Line.”
3 Counties Connected is a new Community Rail Partnership established in April 2022, funded by Transport for Wales and Avanti West Coast and hosted by Groundworks North Wales.
The overall purpose of the Community Rail Partnership is to encourage greater use of sustainable travel on rail services through increased participation of communities in their rail line.
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