St Margarets station, opened in 1876, turned 150 with a street party, a new mural made with three local schools and a visit from the rail minister.

St Margarets station has turned 150, and the people who look after it threw it a party.

A street party on Saturday 3 October marked the anniversary, with live music, children’s games and a new mural for the station. The station first opened in 1876, according to Richmond Council’s announcement of a children’s poster competition for the birthday.

The party was organised by SCRP, the Friends of St Margarets Station and residents of Amyand Park Road. The organisers’ account was published by the council on 8 October, on behalf of Visit Richmond.

Who came

The guest list was long for a suburban station. It included:

  • the Mayor of Richmond, Nancy Baldwin
  • Lawrence Bowman, managing director of South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex
  • Lord Hendy, the Minister of State for Rail, who arrived with a heritage Routemaster bus

The organisers say one 65-year-old resident got to fulfil a lifelong dream of sitting in the driving seat of a Routemaster.

What was on

The afternoon ran from Amyand Park Road into the station itself. The organisers list:

  • a street party, with live music from The Elastic Band
  • children’s games in the grounds of Amyand Park Chapel
  • an exhibition on the history of the station, put together by local residents Michael Gambazzi, Paul Velluet and Chris Hurrey
  • a display of children’s artwork in the waiting room on platform 1
  • a first look at new planting at the station

It finished with dozens of residents joining the guests in a chorus of “Happy Birthday”.

Seven people standing together on the platform at St Margarets station, in front of a painted mural on the far side of the tracks.
On the platform at St Margarets station. Photo: published by Richmond Council with the organisers' account of the birthday.

A mural, and an award for the planters

The new mural was made with three local schools, the artist Will Parker and Turner’s House, the museum in the painter’s former home on Sandycombe Road.

The planting has already won something. The Friends of St Margarets Station received a London in Bloom “Celebration Stations” award for it, the organisers say.

The children’s artwork in the waiting room comes from the poster competition the council announced in June. Entries were handed in at the station’s ticket office by 1 July, and the prize was a family ticket to anywhere on the South Western Railway network.

Sidonie Forrest-Brown, chair of the Hounslow Richmond Community Rail Partnership, said: “What made the day so special was the huge support and enthusiasm of everyone involved, and I really would like to thank everyone who contributed to making the event such a success.”

What it means for you

The party is over, but most of what it unveiled stays put:

  • The mural and the new planting are at the station, so anyone catching a train at St Margarets can see them.
  • The children’s artwork was displayed in the platform 1 waiting room. The organisers have not said how long it will stay up.

St Margarets sits between Richmond and Twickenham, one stop from each, on South Western Railway’s routes into Waterloo. Trains to London are covered on our Richmond trains to London page, and anything shutting nearby roads is on the Richmond roadworks page.

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