Fitzwilliam: ‘We’ve transformed our village train station so people remember to stop here’

Fitzwilliam is a small village steeped in coal mining history, surrounded by countryside and several nature reserves.

However, the village has had a challenging history with one of its estates previously being labelled as “one of the worst in Britain.”

Fitzwilliam City Estate was later knocked down and made away for a new development in 2014.

The next step was to revive the local train station which connects the 2,200-strong community to Leeds, Sheffield, and Wakefield.

Not only was it about pride of place for locals, but to provide an inviting station for passersby.

As a result Friends of Fitzwilliam was formed to “adopt the station,” said community campaigner Jody Gabriel.

Since the group formed in 2018, they have since worked with Northern and Network Rail, organised guided walks, put up a community notice board and now they have installed new artwork.

The large panels of artwork on the footbridge depict; farming, mining, social life, sport, leisure and railways.

The work has come about after a series of open meetings, family walks, and workshops in local schools and at the community centre, supported by Edgelands Arts.

Mr Gabriel said: “It was a joy to see the three lads who came on the bridge as we were installing the work. I asked them what school they went to and if they remembered creating art in one of the workshops.

“Next they excitedly searched for the bit of what they did. It’s wonderful to bring people together and create good memories.”

The project has been run by Friends of Fitzwilliam Station, and funded by Wakefield Council’s Culture Grants. It is part of the ‘Our Year’ series of work in Wakefield District 2024.