Stop & Examine

Amazing women by rail.

With this issue of RAIL, you will have received our New Transformers’ special supplement raising awareness of the amazing contributions that women are making to the railway, and aiming to inspire both women and men to recognise and make use of the breadth of opportunities offered by a career in the rail industry.

While our supplement aims to promote the contribution of women in rail, the Mid Cheshire Line and the Calder Valley Line are offering the chance to discover amazing women by rail.

The project encourages people to explore the lines by rail and at the same time learn more about 32 inspirational women and their stories.

A special booklet has biographies on each amazing woman and the station/area with which they are connected, as well as information on other attractions that visitors and tourists can enjoy in the vicinity (with suggested itineraries and tips on travel).

The col lect ion of pol it icians, businesswomen, writers, singers and artists includes leader of the British Suffragette movement Emmeline Pankhurst (Manchester Piccadilly), novelist Elizabeth Gaskell (Knutsford and Manchester), Oscar-winning actress Wendy Hiller (Stockport), singer and comedian Gracie Fields (Rochdale), engineer and house builder Laura Annie Willson (Halifax), former Minister of Transport and Employment Barbara Castle (Blackburn), and the Brontë sisters (Bradford).

The project is a collaboration between Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership, Friends of Lit tleborough Stat ions, Community Rail Lancashire, Women in Community Rail, and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships. It is co-ordinated by Sally Buttifant, Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership Officer.

For more information, go to www.