As founding chair of the Friends of Dronfield Station (FoDS), my friend Peter Hayward, who has died aged 81, helped bring back the railway station in north-east Derbyshire from a moribund state with an intermittent service in 2006 to a beautiful destination with hourly trains and more than 180,000 journeys made each year.
Peter started by visiting the local Labour MP, Natascha Engel, in Westminster to ask how to get a proper train service for Dronfield. She said: “We met the rail minister, Tom Harris, who went out of his way to ensure Dronfield featured in every franchise bid.” The station quickly became the heart of the town, with Dronfield in Bloom successes and regular art exhibitions from local schools.
