A torrential downpour – which fortunately did not start properly until after the ceremony and photography – failed to cause too much disruption at Rowden Mill on Monday 2 September when the plaque awarded to the station’s owners at the 2023 National Railway Heritage Awards was officially unveiled.
Four members of the NHRA committee – chairman Andy Savage MBE with Robert Hayward, Peter Waller and Malcolm Wood – were in attendance with Hélène Rossiter, representing National Highways (the sponsor of the award), who unveiled the plaque. Also present were John and Sue Wilkinson, the station’s previous owners, whose work in undertaking the restoration of the long-closed station was recognised when it was given an award in 1989 under the earlier iteration of the competition (the Ian Allan Railway Heritage Awards).
The current owners of the station – Cecilia Chavez-Brandon and Paul Kirwan – had taken the opportunity of the plaque’s unveiling to issue an invitation to the local community to come and see the completed work and it was good to see so many present from the locality, including local dignitaries and the local BID team. Paul’s speech made reference to the great support that he and Cecilia had received from the local politicians and the BID team, and he was pleased to be able to express his thanks.
The unveiled plaque at Rowden Mill with, from the left, Cecilia Chavez-Brandon, co-owner of the station, John Wilkinson, former owner, Andy Savage, chairman of the NRHA, Paul Kirwan, co-owner of the station, Hélène Rossiter, Head of Programme for the Historical Railways Estate at National Highways (the award’s sponsor), and Sue Wilkinson, former owner. As part of the day, Mr and Mrs Wilkinson presented the new owners of the station with a display of tickets and luggage labels that related to the history of the long-closed station.
Now closed to passenger services for more than 70 years, the station at Rowden Mill was originally designed by William Clarke for the Worcester, Bromyard & Leominster Railway and opened in 1897. A winner almost four decades ago, further work has been undertaken by the new owners, with the attractive building justifiably being rewarded with the National Highways Award at the 2023 National Railway Heritage Awards.