‘The Friends’ anticipate another busy and active year ahead with plenty of planting and refreshing of tubs and flowerbeds. We are helping the Royal Horticultural Society celebrate it’s 50th Anniversary with it’s “Growing for Gold” project this year. Sunflower seeds supplied free by the Society have been sown in a tub on the platform. Also some have been brought on in tubs to be planted in other areas of the station.

Having received a grant of £170 from Falmouth Town Council, the opportunity has been taken to overhaul our wheelseat with extensive work, stripping down and repainting the wheels, replacing the wooden planking and the planned laying of slabs beneath, to greatly improve the area around the popular and unique wheelseat.

It is intended when these works are completed, to have a plaque placed on the seat remembering Ron and Gladys Jackson and Arthur Tate of the now wound up Britain in Bloom (Falmouth) branch. Sadly all these have passed away but their enthusiasm and assistance in our early years were greatly appreciated, and we feel an appropriately worded plaque will be a good way to remember them.

We were delighted to welcome steam back again in late April, on the branchline, travelling through Penmere twice! ‘The Great Britain V11 is an annually run train, that traverses the length and breadth of the country, over the course of a week. This years excursion (on it’s 2nd day) picked up passengers early on the morning of Sunday 27th April from Falmouth Town (The Dell) after travelling from Truro empty coaching stock. The 12 carriage train then returned double-headed steam hauled back through Penmere, heading for Truro and Bristol, the two engines being ex GWR Castle Class No 5029 ‘Nunney Castel’ and ex Southern Region engine West Country class No 34046 ‘Braunton’.

A fine sight they looked too, with lots of waving from the lucky onboard passengers to the onlookers on the crowded platform and vice versa.

There is a possibility we may see steam again in September, later this year.