Railway fanatics keep mini marvel on the right track
ACUTE miniature railway in Poynton has been a popular destination for families for the past 40 years.
But Brookside Miniature Railway looks even better than ever thanks to the dedication of a team of local volunteers who took it over when it was at risk of closing forever five years ago.
Now, a team of railway enthusiasts tend to the tracks and the steam engines, paint the gates, the mini railway station and signal boxes to keep it looking picture perfect when it opens every week.
The miniature railway was first opened back in 1984 by the former owner of the garden centre and has delighted families ever since.
But in 2018 it appeared to be at risk of permanent closure, until a group of local railway enthusiasts teamed up to take it on.
Retired police officer Chris Mackenzie MBE and Lee Oxley joined forces as the directors of the railway back in 2018.
Chris, 62, says: “I’ve always been a railway enthusiast so I always knew about it here, and when we had a young son he loved it, and of course we were there every weekend.
“When we heard it was closing down, there was a public outcry. We decided it was too good to close down, so we formed a local company, a lot of us got together and here’s where we are now a few years later.
“We didn’t realise how run down it was, so a lot of work has gone into it and without the volunteers we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
During lockdown the team took the opportunity to repaint it all, while the garden centre, now owned by Klondyke & Strikes, helped in providing materials too. Chris said: “The general community here have been brilliant. It’s how to run a railway, with a lot of volunteers and not much money and a community behind you.
“One of the things we created to make it interesting all the way around was a magical fairy wood. People donated gnomes, we got a load of fairies and spent a lot of time making it. Wives will come along and “donate” their husbands to help out!
“Only a couple of months ago a widow donated a shed to us, so we transformed that into a siganl box and painted it in red and cream it looks lovely now.”
Dozens of volunteers help out to maintain the railway and man the trains and generally make it a lovely time for all involved.
Meanwhile the train station manager is popular local TV star Andy Prior.
Band leader Andy was famous for his own BBC show, The Andy Prior Big Band, in the 1990s and continues to bring smiles to the faces of young and old with his role at the miniature railway.
Andy said: “People ask us what we sell at Brookside and I say we sell smiles. It’s aimed at families and that’s why we have the fairy wood and pirates and that sort of thing, just to make it that bit more magical.
“It was in a pretty derelict state when we took it on, I’ve always been involved in railways and trains all my life. A lot of kids know me as Andy the train manager now.
“I train all the drivers. Sometimes I’ll be driving, sometimes I’m train guard taking the platform tickets -
I’m pretty hands on.” The railway is open every week on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and also on bank holidays. Opening times are 10.30am to 4pm.