Author: Gary Outram

December 18, 2025

Colonel Stephens and the Hop Pickers Line, new information board unveiled at Paddock Wood https://kentcrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Video_DN.mov Back in January 2023, David Sargison of Paddock Wood Town Council proposed that we work with the Hop Pickers Line Heritage Group, to celebrate the former branch line that wound through the Kent countryside from Paddock Wood to Cranbrook. This…

Loading

December 15, 2025

Valley Park School Choir, Music and Mince Pies, Maidstone East Station, Monday 8th December On the evening of Monday 8th December Maidstone East station adopters, Valley Park School students entertained passengers with Christmas songs and mince pies at Maidstone East station. The station has a large bright white foyer however the 22 students with their…

Loading

December 10, 2025

Kent CRP Shortlisted For Community Rail Awards 2026 We are delighted to announce that two of our projects and one of our volunteers have been shortlisted for Community Rail Awards 2026.   Tourism & Leisure Award – North Downs Way Trail by Rail   Railway 200 Legacy Award – History, Heritage and Creative Celebration on…

Loading

December 4, 2025

Heath Farm School’s Nature Garden Launch, Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Charing Station On Wednesday 3rd December, Charing station celebrated the launch of its nature garden, the first garden on the Kent Downs Line.  The garden started with a seed of an idea 4 years ago and the launch saw a culmination of a hugely successful…

Loading

December 4, 2025

Celebrating Ashford International’s 183rd Birthday, Monday 1st December 2025 Music and Mince Pies Party On Monday 1st December, Ashford International station celebrated it’s 183 year old birthday having opened in 1842. To mark this auspicious occasion station adopters Ashford College students entertained passengers with music and mince pies. With it being the beginning of December,…

Loading

October 29, 2025

Sheerness Christmas Event, Sat 6th December Have a family Scenic Rail Winter day out at the Sheerness Christmas Event, Sat 6th December. Live music, craft market, food and drink, entertainment, face painting, reindeer and more. We’ll be there, come and say hello.

Loading

October 28, 2025

“Putting Down Routes” Tracks and Trails Ramble from Cuxton Station, Saturday 25th October. The Kent Downs National Landscape Putting Down Routes team partnered with Kent Community Rail Partnership and North Downs Way Ambassadors to deliver the Cuxton and Ranscombe Farm Circular Tracks and Trails Ramble. Together we bring under-represented groups into the Kent Downs, encourage sustainable…

Loading

October 21, 2025

Hollingbourne Station Railway 200 Heritage Day, Sunday 19 October 2025   The Community Interest Company at Hollingbourne Station hosted a highly successful Railway 200 Heritage Day open to the public and attended by visitors from as far away as Paris! Our regular volunteer Chris Anthony and Therese set up the Kent CRP stand at 10.30am…

Loading

October 21, 2025

Grow 19 College SEN students Train Travel Training From Maidstone East station to Hollingbourne station 17 October 2025 Nine SEN students and their 4 tutors undertook a train travel training journey to Hollingbourne station’s Signal Box Café. All students were between the ages of 18 and 25.  At the café, some of the students practiced life…

Loading

October 21, 2025

Railway 200 art panels launched at Ashford International Station 26 Sept 2025 It felt time to replace the May 2022 Queen’s Platinum Jubilee community artwork in the station underpass and what better choice than to design artwork to celebrate Railway 200.  Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre (AIMREC) enthusiastically engaged to design panels of carefully…

Loading

October 21, 2025

Rehoming More Abandoned Bikes with Maidstone CAN and Making a Difference to Maidstone Following our recent success of moving on some abandoned bikes at Maidstone West for refurbishement and re-use, Sharon Gray of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership alerted us to another pile of abandoned bikes, this time at Tonbridge station.   In years gone by, these…

Loading

September 18, 2025

Medway’s Life In Miniature On Wednesday 17th September we joined a number of other organisations at Medway Archives Centre to celebrate Railway 200 and Heritage Open Days at the “Medway’s life in miniature” exhibition. Among the other local groups and organisations attending were: Chatham and District Model Railway Club Medway Aircraft Preservation Society The Guildhall…

Loading

September 1, 2025

Paddock Wood Station’s Birthday Celebrations, 28th August 2025 Railway 200 continues to see us mark our station’s birthdays, bringing Community Rail to the attention of more people in the communities where we work.   It was an early start, Southeastern’s Paddock Wood station team wanted to ensure the celebrations could be enjoyed by both their regular…

Loading

September 1, 2025

Ashford Depot Open Day, Sunday 24 August 2025 Southeastern’s Exclusive Railway 200 Depot Open Day celebrated 200 years of the passenger railway in the UK; Southeastern opened the doors to their train maintenance depot in Ashford for one very special day.  The unique event was hosted by the Southeastern engineering team.   Chris Anthony, Dominic…

Loading