This wonderfully restored bench, complete with a commemorative mosaic plaque, now sits proudly in the garden of the St Albans South Signal Box heritage attraction.
The project was conceived back in March 2025 at the National Community Rail Awards (CRA) in Newcastle, attended by Andy Buckley from the Beds & Herts Community Rail Partnership and Chris Blanch from St Albans Arts Team.
Celebrating Railway 200
Andy mentioned that his family had an old garden bench which needed renovating, and he had approached Tony Franklin at HACRO to ask if they would like to take it on as a possible refurbishment project. Andy and Chris spoke with various guests at the celebration who mentioned there was funding available for projects which celebrated Railway 200 in September 2025.
The theme of Railway 200 was to include the old, the present and the future and it was agreed to use images depicting ‘No 1’ of 1825 (the ‘Locomotion’) which hauled the first public train, the current Class 700 for the present and the latest (Class 810 ‘Aurora’) to represent the future.
Local pupils design images
Running the mosaic sessions to create the panel along the back rest of the bench was Audrey from Montet Designs, who regularly delivers mosaic workshops in our community. Meanwhile, our companion Lee set to work completely restoring the antique bench, sanding it right back to basics and restoring it to its former glory.
Chris said: “I’ve worked closely with Tony Franklin from HACRO and his Turnaround participants for over three years, and with the close ties to Emmaus and the weekly carpentry workshop, we included them in the project. They were already skilled mosaic artists and carpenters!
“The Year 4 pupils from The Camp School in St Albans started off the project by designing images of the old and new engines for Audrey to use in the final mosaic design.”
Andy said: “It really was a very quick turnaround as we managed to fit in The Camp design session early in July 2025 before they broke up for the school holidays – so just three months from start to finish.
“I was pleased when we approached the Signal Box Trust to ask if we could place the bench in their garden. Initially we received a guarded ‘Yes, maybe’ – (they had seen the condition of the bench before refurb!) – but when they saw the finished item arrive there was all round approval and relief at how good the bench looked!”
Formal unveiling ceremony
The bench was first revealed in the St Albans South Signal Box garden, as part of the National Heritage Open Days Weekend on Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September. It will be formally unveiled there on Friday 26th September, when all participants, colleagues and guests will be invited to celebrate their achievements.
This celebration is the conclusion of three major art projects at St Albans City Station, delivered by St Albans Arts Team under the GTR ‘Your Station Your Community’ fund including; HACRO photos on Platforms 1 and 4; a 6-panel mosaic installed outside by the taxi rank made by The Daylight Club and Fleetville Infants Year 2 pupils and Andy’s Family’s Railway 200 bench, which was supported by additional funders.
The Beds & Herts Community Rail Partnership and St Albans Arts Team are looking to nominate the projects as entries in the next Community Rail Partnership Awards, as they deliver on so many levels of collaboration. These include inclusiveness, mental wellbeing and skill sharing, amongst many others.
A huge thank you to the many partners who collaborated on the single bench project:
Our companion Lee and HACRO service users
Audrey Montet from Montet Designs
Chris Blanch from St Albans Arts Team CIC
Andy Buckley from the Beds & Herts Community Rail Partnership
The St Albans South Signal Box Trust and volunteers
Andrew Chillingsworth and Patrick Ladbury from Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR)
Karen Caruso and Michael Cairo from Churchill
Kaye Robinson from East Midlands Railway (EMR)