A glorious Wednesday morning — 6 April 2011 — saw the plaque awarded to the de Etchingham Community Interest Company for the conversion of part of the up station building at Etchingham, on the Tonbridge-Hastings line, into a bistro unveiled by Sir William McAlpine. The plaque, made for the Network Rail Partnership Award that had been announced at the 2010 award ceremony, reflected the success of the entrant in sourcing funds from a variety of agencies in order to achieve the restoration of the otherwise unused space and its conversion into an attractive and successful local facility.
Pictured are, from the left, Jerry Swift, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Corporate Affairs of Network Rail, the Hon Sir William McAlpine, Chairman of the Railway Heritage Trust, Colin Phillips, Chairman of the de Etchingham CIC, and John Ellis, Chairman of the NRHA.
