Love Your Railway – Week Three – is themed around “Community”. At Apedale, this is something we take very seriously – if nothing else, because we’re part of the Apedale Community Country Park. The Moseley Railway Trust, the charity which owns and operates the Apedale Valley Light Railway sees itself very much as part of the local community. Easy to say, but what does it mean in practice? Many things. It means being a good neighbour – looking after the area, not making noise late at night, sorting out the flytipping from some less community-minded individuals. It means making sure that the railway is accessible to the community. We’re not in a wealthy part of the country, so we try very hard to make sure that events like Santa Specials remain affordable to local families. We’re acutely aware that many in our community struggle to make ends meet; we try our best to make sure the the little extra special things – like meeting Santa at Xmas – remains in reach of the community. It means saying yes to “Can you just weld up this bit?” questions. But it also goes the other way; not only does the local community provide the majority of our visitors, many of our volunteers are drawn from the immediate area as well. So, “community” is a two-way street!
