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Launch of the Love Keighley train
Monday, September 21, 2009
Northern Rail today unveiled a train featuring stunning images of Keighley and the surrounding Brontë Country.
The train operator has teamed up with Keighley Town Centre Association to design an exciting new livery for one of its Class 158 trains, which will publicise the delights of the area to passengers across the north of England.
The train is part of the Love Keighley brand launched in February which seeks to help attract new visitors to the town, as well as providing an information point for residents through a new website lovekeighley.com
Steve Butcher, Area Director East, Northern Rail said: “We’re delighted to team up with Keighley Town Centre Association to help promote the town and surrounding area to the many communities we serve across the north of England.”
Susan Mendoza, Chair of Keighley Town Centre Association said I’m delighted to see the launch of the Keighley train, a physical symbol of successful partnership working in Keighley. I’m sure that the train will take a positive message of the town to a wider audience. The train is proof of how passionate we all are about Keighley.I would like to thank the partners who have supported us in providing this symbol of Keighley and in particular Town Centre Manager Philip Smith for his hard work”
The new livery was revealed on Monday 21 September in front of guests at Keighley Station. It was a special day for one person because as well as sporting a brand new livery the train was named ‘Ian Dewhirst’ in honour of the Keighley historian. Ian was awarded an MBE in 1999 in recognition of his services to local history.
Philip Smith said “It is a great pleasure to see Ian rewarded in this way for all his work on behalf of the town. His passion for Keighley is second to none”.
Ian has a love of the town and its history which can be found in more than a dozen publications including A history of Keighley and Gleanings from Victorian Yorkshire. In pursuit of his subject he has written hundreds of thousands of words, and given over 3,000 talks to a wide variety of groups.
A contributor to publications such as Yorkshire Life and other local journals, he has also appeared on ITV’s Dales diary introducing little known facts on Keighley and the surrounding area.
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