All change!

I have now stepped down as Wivenhoe Station Adopter, leaving George and the lovely Charmaine to carry it on.

Africa arrives on platform 2

A colourful display of pictures and poems penned by pupils of Broomgrove Junior School is now on Platform 2.  The poem on Platform 1, also on the theme of 'Africa', is written by Alice Bell, a pupil in year 4.

For a more detailed view, head down to the station, or click on the Platform 2 page above.

Spring WDTL

The latest edition of WDTL is out and ready to take on your travels, with contributions from Phil Cohen,  Lelia Ferro and Jeff Holland.  The artwork in the leaflet is by Charmaine McKissock.

Wivenhoe Station - 150 Year Anniversary

In May, Off the Rails is celebrating 150 years since the opening of the train line to Wivenhoe. These are some of the things you can expect to see:

In the ticket Office

• Books Down the Line: a book exchange and a free special Anniversary bookmark, designed by Charmaine McKissock (see above)
• Words Down the Line leaflet:  an Anniversary edition edited by George McKissock (free as usual) which features poetry, prose and illustrations by local writers. 
• Display cabinets: a specially commissioned photography display by Wivenhoe Photography group.

Platform 1 poetry display cabinet:  two train poems by Martin Newell , exclusively illustrated by Hilary Lazell.

Platform 2 Crab and Winkle Gallery

• Exhibition of Anniversary photographs by Wivenhoe Photography group.
• Commemorative Poster designed by 7 year old Miles Black.

Station Masters Garden: Anniversary bunting, Victorian scarecrow and planting display.

There will be another exhibition on Platform 2 before this though.  Watch this space.

All change!

New in the Booking Office, are two craft works by Candyce Lange.

'Love Me or Leaf Me!' 

'All Winter Long, I Long for My Garden'

Candyce Lange is an artist and writer who lives in Clacton, but has adopted Wivenhoe.

Artist Juliet Lockhart display's her work on platform 2

Juliet’s work is based on the story ‘Sealskin, Soulskin’, written by Dr Clarrissa Pinkerton Estés, which re-tells the story of a man who steals the skin of a woman-seal, imprisons her on land, but loses her when their child finds the skin and releases her back to the sea, and freedom.

Juliet is a sculptor and installation artist and works in various media.  Her website address is:    http://julietlockhart.co.uk/

For the uninitiated (as I was three weeks ago), Platform 1 has some background information about the myths surrounding Selkies.

Bleating in the Booking Office

One of the beautiful, eye-catching, rag-rug pictures, now in the Booking Office.

The Mermaid and the Grazing Sheep in the cabinets were made by Charmaine McKissock using an ancient Rag Rug technique. This is the ultimate recycling craft:  nearly any old material can be cut into strips and pushed or pulled through hessian to form a ‘rug’. Here this ancient craft is used as an art form to create wall hangings orjewellery etc. Contact cmckissock@aol.com if you want to learn more about making a rag rug.