Friends of March Railway Station create planters for heroes

Volunteers put in an eight-hour shift to continue to keep the station looking good.

The Friends of March Railway station spent Saturday working on weeding around the track bed and platform 1.

The team, made up of Glen Davis, Mandy Ward, Rob Abel, Callum Fairbrass, and Brian Sayers, spent the day working on creating two new planters as well as other work.

The planters have been created to decorate March railway station and stand at the end of the platforms. (Image: Mandy Ward/Friends of March Railway Station) After carrying out the weeding, attention moved to building sleepers and rails to house the Class 47 planters at the end of the platforms

Glen and Rob, assisted by Callum and supervised by Brian, put their woodworking skills to good use to create the rails for the planters to stand on.

The new planters are a tribute to the heroes of the Soham Rail Disaster, engine driver Benjamin Gilbert and fireman James Nightall, who were both recognised for saving an ammunition train from a fire on June 2, 1944.

Nightall was killed in the disaster that happened at Soham station when a train carrying explosives and bombs exploded. Gimbert was seriously injured in the explosion, which could have been much worse if they had not acted so swiftly to try to move the train out of the station. Both were awarded the George Cross for Bravery.

(Image: Mandy Ward/Friends of March Railway Station) Other work undertaken by the volunteers on Saturday included ballast being moved, and the tracks being positioned and levelled.

These were then painted by Mandy to finish the look.

The fresh breeze helped to dry the paint, leaving time for Glen to put the 47s in place, add some drainage, and fill with compost, ready to plant up in the coming week.

Water butts were also refilled to ensure a supply to keep the existing planters looking fresh.

Friends of March Railway Station put in an eight hour shift of weeding and other work. (Image: Mandy Ward/Friends of March Railway Station)

Mandy said: "A full-on eight-hour shift put in today. But, well worth the effort, and we hope everyone agrees that the new planters make a fitting tribute to the heroes of the Soham Rail Disaster, Benjamin Gimbert GC and James Nightall GC.