All Aboard from Ashley Down!

Platform marked the grand opening of Ashley Down Station in style, facilitating four station visits and train trips during its exciting first week.

On Wednesday, 2nd October, Imogen led two train trips with St Werburgh’s Primary School, taking each of their Year 5 classes to Bristol Temple Meads. The students enjoyed a rail safety session, a guided tour of Ashley Down’s new station, and a fun I spy activity. At Bristol Temple Meads, they explored the rich history of Bristol’s railways, comparing Brunel’s iconic original station to the newly opened Ashley Down Station.

Meanwhile, Ellie was busy taking a class from Ashgrove Park Day Nursery one stop north to Filton Abbey Wood.

But it all began on Monday 30th September when Ellie travelled up on the train to Ashley Down to meet a group of KS2 students from Brunel Field Primary – the first school to travel from the station with Platform. After a warm welcome on both sides, Ellie quizzed the group on all the key points they had learnt in their pre-travel rail safety and confidence workshop with her 10 days previously. She was blown away by the amount of information they had retained, and their excitement about their imminent train trip was infectious. For five of them, this would be the first time they had been on a train!

Before moving onto the platform, they took some time to wander along Concorde Way to check out the innovative and eye-catching station art, Progression, the result of a special collaboration between local artist Aumairah Hassan, 1st Bristol Muslim Scout Group, members of Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust art group, Severnside CRP and WECA. The artwork – a celebration of the development of travel and connectivity over time – will be a fixture of all Platform visits to or from Ashley Down Station.

Ellie then gave the school some time in small groups to explore their new station, by way of a ‘Station I Spy’ activity. Could they find the ticket machine? What about the tactile paving? The help point? The departure screen? After lots of successful hunting, they crossed over the footbridge to Platform 2 in preparation for  the arrival of their train to Bristol Temple Meads. As always, it was great for Platform to see their rail safety and confidence training in action. Everyone stayed safely behind the yellow line until the train came to a complete stop and there was lots of careful checking of the size of the gap and height of the step when boarding the train. They were also able to experience first-hand the effects of fast trains passing through a station, as this is a frequent occurrence at Ashley Down.

The station visit part of the trip was made extra special by the presence of Severnside CRP’s Manager, Heather Cullimore, who was keen to meet the first local school to use Bristol’s newest station and to wave them off on the 10:55 to Temple Meads. They also benefited from her involvement in the art project as she was able to provide valuable context and set them the fun challenge of seeing which travel-related objects they could spot inside the 11 frames.

On arrival at Temple Meads, Ellie led the school through the station, pointing out things of interest and prompting some excellent observations about the ways in which it was similar and different to Ashley Down Station.

They made their way out of the side exit and headed for the steps overlooking the ferry landing. Here, they enjoyed snacks and a relaxed sketching session. A few students, who clearly loved drawing, chose to focus on the whole cityscape in front of them, taking great care to try and capture the scale and lines of the buildings and bridges.

On the return leg to Ashley Down, several students were interviewed on camera by Ellie and Peter Andrews (Managing Director of Introtweet), the perfect opportunity to share what they thought of Ashley Down Station and their trip out on the train. It was a big thumbs up all round!

“I was especially delighted to hear one of the students comment on what having a local station would mean for teachers when planning school trips. She makes an excellent point and the Platform team is very much looking forward to continuing to make connections with other Bristol schools in walking distance of Ashley Down Station.” (Ellie Swain, Senior Learning Development Officer, Platform)     

View Brunel Field Primary School’s trip here.

The generous funding of GWR, CrossCountry Rail and the Community Rail Network continues to enable Platform to facilitate free rail education and train travel for the schools across their five community rail partnerships, for which Platform and all the teachers they work with are extremely grateful.   

“The Platform team were kind, helpful, informative and so good with the children. Thank you!” (Julie Waldren, Deputy Headteacher, Brunel Field Primary School)

The Platform team would also like to thank all the fantastic organisations who have played their part in making Ashley Down Station a reality. Here are some of the Brunel Field students at the end of their pre-travel rail safety and confidence workshop paying tribute to each of them.   

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For more information and support, you can contact the Platform team here.