Friends of Brockenhurst Railway Station celebrate its 178th birthday and Railway 200 as South Western Railway gives go ahead for another market

VILLAGERS celebrated their local railway station’s milestone birthday as it coincided with a national train travel anniversary.

Brockenhurst Railway Station recently turned 178 years old at the same time as Railway 200, which marks the 200th anniversary of the running of the country’s first passenger train.

There was a mix of stalls selling local produce and run by volunteer groups at the celebration.

Friends of Brockenhurst Station chair Dave Darnell said: “The highlights of Railway 200 were the unveiling ceremonies of a plaque to mark the opening of the station on June 1, 1847, and of two large photographic murals of the unique New Forest environment together with the cutting of a magnificent birthday cake depicting the station in 1855.

“The special guest at the event was Monica Fulford, the great, great, great niece of Charles Castleman, instigator of the railway through the New Forest.”

Dave said “several hundred” villagers plus holiday visitors came to the three-hour birthday celebration to show their “community spirit (and) acknowledge the significance of the station in the development and life of the village”.

South Western Railway has given the go ahead for another local producers’ market to take place in the station car park on Sunday, 4 October.