A project exploring the heritage of railway lines in Cornwall through a series of creative workshops and events has won a national award.

A two-day community event on the Looe Valley Line, part of Loop the Loop: Branching Out was awarded third prize in the Best Community Engagement Event category at the National Community Rail Awards, held in Southport.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and supported by Cornwall Libraries, the project  took place in the spring of this year and worked with local schools, libraries and communities in and around the Looe Valley Line to celebrate their local railway’s heritage. 

Events centred on Liskeard station, included pop-up libraries, sound performances, cartoon and manga drawing workshops and heritage exhibitions. Alongside this, Patrick Bailey, one of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Associate Musicians, worked with Liskeard based community orchestra Sounds Vital to create a piece of music about the heritage of the line, performed at Liskeard Library and Liskeard station.

The National Community Rail Awards is an annual event which celebrates the work being done to promote and enhance Britain’s local and rural railways around the country.

An exhibition of heritage films and outcomes from the workshops and events will be touring local libraries in North and East Cornwall over the coming months.