WINSFORD Railway Station has been honoured for an art project celebrating the town’s heritage.

Cllr Tony Hooton, who has been appointed by Winsford Town Council as the Champion of Transport, spearheaded the project alongside Derek and Anne Johnson from the CrossHatch Gallery.

As part of a project to improve the look and feel of the railway station, two photographic montages of Winsford buildings were created and installed at the station last summer, as well as a drawing from Anne.

Cllr Hooton said: “They are really interesting because they are all montages of photos of different bits of architecture around the town centre.

“The main two buildings are of the Guild Hall and the Chapel Hall. Derek and Anne Johnson did a really good job.

“The whole aim was to make the station much more interesting than it is at the moment. It is all coming along quite nicely.”

Derek said: “It has been a wonderful project. We co-operated with London Midland, which is now West Midlands Trains, and they were really good to work with.

"They were very supportive and are actually funding what we are doing.”

Cllr Hooton revealed that work is already under way for the second phase of the project.

He said the council has enlisted the help of Winsford schools through the Winsford Educational Partnership, to create a series of pictures to be displayed at the station.

Cllr Hooton said one of the ideas suggested is a montage of the various buildings between Liverpool, Winsford, Birmingham and London, the areas which the mid Cheshire rail line serves.

For their efforts Winsford Railway Station was named Best Newcomer at the Cheshire Best Kept Station Awards, which is organised by the Mid Cheshire Rail Users Association.

The awards evening was held at The Grange Theatre in Hartford and attended by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire, the Lord Mayor of Chester, and various other mayors from around mid Cheshire.

Jools Townsend chief executive of ACoRP, which presented the awards, said: “These volunteers work tirelessly to ensure their stations are welcoming gateways and hubs for their communities, bringing pride and enjoyment, and helping local people come together.”