Wednesday 1 October 2025 saw South East Lancashire CRP’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) take place in the Community Room on Platform 5 at Bolton Station.
The meeting was well-attended by committee members as well as organisations who have worked with the partnership and included representatives from Northern, Network Rail and Transport for Greater Manchester.
Featuring a Chair’s Report, Treasurer’s Report and Community Rail Officers’ Reports, the AGM highlighted the progress and ongoing community efforts and impact of the CRP in the last year. Chair Julie Levy reflected on the CRP as a ‘true model of teamwork, incorporating wide-ranging projects with art and representation at the heart’. She also emphasised the developments made to build the availability of the Community Room on Platform 5 as a space for people to use and expressed the wide-spread appreciation for the work of the CRP.
The Community Rail Officers’ Reports from Dr Steph Dermott and new Officer Emily Oldfield explored some of the projects undertaken in the last year, including a photography mural incorporating past and present at Wigan North Western Station, and the success of the ‘Beacons of Bolton’ project (both detailed in the ‘News’ section of this website). They also spoke of exciting developments to come with a new community art mural project planned for The Bridgewater Line.
The AGM also featured the election of committee members, with roles to be confirmed at the first new committee meeting in November. Proceedings concluded with a talk from guest speaker Professor Paul Salveson, President of the CRP. He provided updates on his work around Bolton and Leigh Railway anniversary celebrations in 2028, and also read an exclusive excerpt from his book The Loco Vanishes – Northern Rail Mysteries, due to be published on 1 November 2025 by Kents Bank Station Library. He read one of the ten short stories featured in the book, which explore rail travel and the supernatural, largely set in Northern England of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Following a constructive and positive AGM, South East Lancashire CRP would like to thank everyone who has worked with the CRP over the last year and look forward to another year of community involvement and projects.
