Crowborough’s connection to Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been marked with a commemorative sign at the railway station.
The platform signs were officially unveiled recently by the mayor, Cllr Natalie Whittle, Conan Doyle’s great nephew, Richard Doyle, and Barbara Payne from the Conan Doyle (Crowborough) Establishment.
Crowborough Town Council, Southeast Communities Rail Partnership and Southern have installed a sign at Crowborough station honouring the town’s connection to the British writer and physician best known for creating the iconic detective, and his work shaping the crime fiction genre.
Members of the Communities Rail Partnership have been delving into the railway’s history – and the areas it served- to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. Their findings have been displayed at the station and at events.
Conan Doyle lived in nearby Windlesham Manor between 1907 and 1930 and is where he spent the final 23 years of his life.
At the unveiling, Cllr Whittle, said the proud was proud of its connection with Conan Doyle. She said: “I hope this board will spark curiosity and demonstrate that one person’s commitment to a place and its voluntary organisations can make a lasting difference.”
Southeast Communities Rail Partnership has ten Community Rail lines across East and West Sussex as well as parts of Surrey, Kent and Berkshire. It works with five train operators, Network Rail, local authorities, community representatives and dedicated volunteers at 112 stations on its lines.
Crowborough station manager, for Southern, Josh De Angelis-Taylor said “Our railway exists to serve the communities around it, to connect people and places, and this year we’re celebrating 200 years of the modern railway. Like Sir Conan Doyle’s iconic Sherlock Holmes, the railway is something which forms part of our British identity. I am really proud we have been able to commemorate this literary legend, and I hope that all of our passengers stop, think – and perhaps pick up one of his books from the station bookshelf.”