A project to create a new wildlife garden at Wrabness railway station in Essex has resulted in it being shortlisted in the esteemed national Community Rail Awards.

The project which was carried out by the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership saw a combined effort involving :

• Local residents
• Station adoption volunteers
• The Essex Path to Prosperity Project
• Community Rail Network
• The Bee Friendly Trust
• Greater Anglia

The impressive project saw has seen around a quarter of an acre of overgrown scrubland which previously had been the site of the stationmaster’s house, miraculously transformed into a wildlife garden.

The garden, which is also visitor-friendly, was opened by station adopter Julia Prigg BEM back in March with a host of residents, guests and partners of the project attending.

The garden aims to support and encourage wildlife and features:

• Bug hotels
• Bird boxes, including two special robin boxes
• A pond for frogs
• A hibernaculum for newts, lizards and toads
• A path leading to seating built from railway sleepers placed on the stumps of ancient trees
• Two planters with bee-friendly planting

The garden also includes a third planter, which features a collage using ceramic tiles, which was created by the residents of Acorn Village, a residential home for adults with learning disabilities.

The garden also features an array of specially commissioned artworks such as metal sculptures, relief carvings of bees, wooden sculptures and a large bird bath which rests on a decorative pedestal.

At the entrance to the garden, a herb bed has been created with the hope that visitors, those travelling by train and the local community will use freely. The garden has also seen native wildflower seeds sown, which will no doubt bring stunning results later in the year.

The Bee Friendly Trust has also taken part in an initiative working with Wix & Wrabness Primary School and saw the children enjoy ‘pollination workshops’ as well as a chance to paint posters which will be displayed in the garden. A poster has also been selected by the children and will be made into a t-shirt which celebrates the project.

The Community Rail Awards, which are organised by the Community Rail Network and in their 19th year, have recognised the special project by short-listing it in the ‘Most Enhanced Railway Spaces’ category. The awards celebrate the amazing volunteers who work across the rail network, creating welcoming spaces at train stations and working within the community to educate and encourage rail travel.

The award ceremony will take place on the 18th of March in Swansea.

Creating the wildlife garden at Wrabness has been a fantastic collaborative project and we are so excited for rail passengers and the community to come and see it and enjoy watching it develop over the coming months. We are very grateful to all the partners who made it possible with their generous support.

Our aim is to build positive relationships and mutually beneficial links between rail branch lines in Essex and the communities they serve, so we were absolutely delighted to see our efforts and the benefits they have delivered, nominated for this national award.

Jayne Sumner, Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership Engagement Officer

We are really proud of our community rail partnerships and amazing station adopters and are thrilled that the work that they do across the region to support communities, promote sustainable travel and help our region’s branch lines to thrive has been shortlisted at the Community Rail Awards.

Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Engagement Manager