Lymington Flower Club was invited to decorate the train station and Isle of Wight ferry terminal to celebrate the last of the slam door trains. This sounded quite a challenge and, of course, the Club were as enthusiastic as ever. The event was organised by the Lymington, Brockenhurst and I.O.W community Rail Partnership
It was decided to keep the theme rather nostalgic and so two old milk churns, and an old butchers bike, were soon sourced as appropriate for the bygone era. These were all secured with an old anchor chain for safety.
Joan, Judy and myself set to work to create a romantic theme; perhaps there was a little contemporary input but the end result was much admired. The flowers were to be left outside for the weekend but placed in a store overnight to keep cool. Imagine how difficult it was to take apart and re-assemble again the next day. The sun shone down relentlessly but thankfully most of the flowers survived thanks to the most caring attention bestowed on them by the Station Master, who sprayed them and watered them at night. He really enjoyed the extra duties!
The Last of the Slam Door Trains
As usual funds needed to be raised for the cost of the flowers. How fortunate we are to have Wessex and Jersey Areas Media Officer, Janice Viveash on our Committee who soon went to work and obtained the necessary funds. £50 was soon raised from a Club special raffle and another £50 sponsorship came from the Lymington Society and the last £50 came via Hampshire County council through the Community Rail Partnership. Janice also secured a further £50 for Brockenhurst to decorate their station.