Romiley crowned Best Kept Station for 2025

Romiley has been named Cheshire’s Best Kept Station at this year’s Cheshire Best Kept Stations Awards – the first time the station has taken the overall title.

The awards, held at Crewe Alexandra’s Hybrid Lounge, celebrated the volunteers, staff and community groups who help make stations across historic Cheshire welcoming and vibrant spaces.

The Friends of Romiley Station were praised for being deeply rooted in the community, organising regular walks and monthly newsletters alongside delivering ‘ambitious and ingenius’ projects that have transformed the station.

The group persuaded a contractor carrying out repairs to the bridge at Romiley Station to donate some materials which were used to turn an overgrown embankment into a garden. For Railway 200 they replaced boarded up windows in the subway with glazed windows featuring the crests of the 19th century railway companies that built the line and the station.

Angie Clark, Secretary of the Friends of Romiley Station, said:

“We are surprised and delighted to be awarded Cheshire Best Kept Station 2025, something we had dreamed of winning but never thought we would achieve. This award reflects the efforts of the entire community who readily help us turn our ideas into reality. For more of them, watch this space!”

It was a strong night for Stockport as Stockport Station won the Art Project Award for its large-scale community artwork along the Edgeley approach, Marple was named Best Staffed Station, and Rose Hill received the Transport for Greater Manchester Award. Heaton Chapel and Reddish South were both Highly Commended.

Judges praised the dedication, creativity and community spirit shown across the borough’s stations, highlighting the vital role volunteers play in transforming everyday travel spaces into proud gateways for their communities.