Community Rail Lancashire (CRL) has a team who specialise in working with young people especially schools and colleges.
What we do
The first part of the project involves a visit to the school to introduce ourselves and work, for just an hour, with the class. This involves showing the class one of the two DVDs featuring the cartoon character: ‘Brian the Bull’. They are:
+ Greening the East Lancashire Line based on a journey between Colne and Preston and featuring Accrington Eco Station; and
+ Discovering the Ribble Valley Line based on a journey between Blackburn and Clitheroe.
This is followed by a question and answer session with questions based around the DVD.
The next session is ‘hands on’ using old railway equipment such as signals, oil lamps, uniforms etc. During this session the children get to wear and handle railway equipment and are introduced to rail safety.
The children are then escorted along their local line, either to Accrington, Preston, Southport, or another destination. They use this journey to complete activities ranging from data collection to art.
Community Rail Lancashire currently works in mainstream and special school settings. Sessions are adapted according to age and attainment. For other school groups, see the projects page.