London Northwestern Railway relaunches children's 'treasure trail' on Marston Vale line

Children living along the Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley are being invited to take part in a fun 'treasure trail'-style activity in partnership with London Northwestern Railway (LNR).

The 'Symbol Spot' is designed to encourage families to get outdoors as youngsters are invited to hunt for hidden discs across the railway network.

The project, run in partnership with the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership (CRP) and Mini Map-Makers, is designed to teach children about map reading, train timetables and rail safety.

Vicky Cropper–Clarke, LNR head of stakeholder and community, said:

“With life and travel slowly returning back to normal, we know parents will be looking for all sorts of enjoyable ways to keep their children entertained – in particular during the summer break.

The Symbol Spot activity is not only a chance to explore the great outdoors together, but it’s also very educational and will give children a chance to learn new life-long skills, whilst still having fun.”

To get started, families can collect a free activity pack from ticket offices at Milton Keynes Central, Bedford and Bletchley as well as the heritage centre at Ridgmont station.

Participants can start from whichever station they choose on the Marston Vale line and will be encouraged to travel to each station along the route to locate and collect an etching of the symbol.

Once all discs are found and activity packs are completed, families can return their booklet to the heritage centre at Ridgmont station to collect their completion coin as their reward for taking part.

Stephen Sleight, from the Marston Vale CRP, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to relaunch our Symbol Spot project which was able to offer so much to families when it launched last year.

"It’s been a real pleasure to work with Mini Map-Makers and the LNR team and I’m thrilled we are able to bring Symbol Spot back to the Marston Vale route for more young explorers to enjoy.”

Alice Gadney, director of Mini Map-Makers, said:

“The Symbol Spot was a lovely project to create with London Northwestern Railway and we’re very excited to relaunch it again in time for the summer break and help families understand the heritage and local history – whilst having lots of fun along the way.”

To find out more about the London Northwestern Railway Symbol Spot activity, click here.