A spur of the moment idea that sounded like it might work, soon saw 25 people taking part in an afternoon of bingo, knitting, dominoes and snakes and ladders, on the Severn Beach Line.
Games on The Train, a partnership between LinkAge Network, Severnside Community Rail Partnership, Avonmouth Community Centre, Sea Mills Community Centre and Sea Mills Over 50s Group, took place on Wednesday 19th September and saw people aged 50+ travel from Sea Mills and Avonmouth Train Stations, to Temple Meads.
The aim of Games on the Train, was to publicise the activities that take place in both Sea Mills and Avonmouth, but to also use the train that links both communities together.
On the day one carriage was full of bingo players, with the caller shouting legs eleven and two little ducks. The players had the chance to win prizes donated by Café in Square, Groupo Lounge, Severnside Community Rail and GWR. The full house winner was excited by her prize, the GWR open ended ticket, and now she just has to figure out where to go. The bingo caller who was from Sea Mills said, “I wasn’t expecting that many people to show up.”
The next carriage along had all of the knitters and the board games players. After their cups of tea and biscuits, the games quickly appeared. Magnetic snakes and ladders was one of the choices, and the two women who played it expressed how much fun they had on the day, “We felt like two little girls giggling sat in the corner”. Another two women sat with a young boy playing dominoes. The table ended up being too small for the game, and so they had to use their hands to hold onto the dominoes.
The knitters from Avonmouth who also came along on the day, enjoyed themselves so much that they took a second journey back up to Temple Meads.
Several people who supported the afternoon said, “We’d never been on this line before now and we thought it was a great idea”.
We would like to say thank you to all the people who supported the day and to Heather of Severnside Community Rail Partnership who knows a good idea when she sees one.
Written by Tracy Edwards-Brown, North Bristol Community Development Coordinator at LinkAge Network.