Three magnificent montages of photographs have been installed at St. Anne’s Railway Station to greet travellers. Two of the large photographic artworks  have been prominently placed on the platform whilst the third has been positioned at the station entrance.

St. Anne’s Town Council has funded the artwork as part of the Neighbourhood Plan not only to brighten up and enhance the rail gateway, but also to link the station explicitly with local community groups and to promote the town as a tourist destination.

The photographic pastiches, which promote St Anne’s as a ‘garden town by the sea’, were proudly unveiled by the Town Council Chairperson Gavin Harrison and Vice Chairperson Karen Harrison (pictured below).

Councillor Gavin Harrison, unveiling the display, said: ‘The photomontages create a bright welcome for visitors to our town, highlighting many sights and features of interest and they will encourage people to explore St Anne’s. This project also fits in with our work to attract artistic talent and businesses to town, for example the thriving Craft Quarter centred around St Andrews Road South.’

Councillor Karen Harrison added, ‘These montages give a really colourful lift to the station alongside the floral displays that the In Bloom group works so hard to provide.’

Tony Ford, St Anne’s Community Rail Partnership, said, ‘The project was a great way to connect with the community despite the restrictions and while we would have liked to have worked directly with local groups, especially schools, we have still been able to deliver a project to enhance our station and offer a colourful welcome to the town for rail users. It has taken a while to come to fruition for obvious reasons but although delivered later than planned it comes at just the right time as restrictions are being eased and people are being encouraged to use public travel and enjoy ‘staycations’, putting our town at the forefront of the visitor economy.’

Katie Musgrove, a member of the Community Rail Lancashire staff who liaised with the designer and printers said ‘The artwork looks stunning. Hopefully all the contributors will choose to visit at some point and see their wonderful images in situ. We would have liked to have invited them to the unveiling but the social distancing restrictions meant that was too much of a challenge.’