Friends of the Nickey Line

At a crowded public meeting held on 14th March 2006, local residents of Harpenden, Redbourn and Hemel Hempstead heard local council representatives call for local support and involvement in the future of the Nickey Line.

A steering group of local volunteers and the (then) Countryside Management Service developed a proposal for a new support group ‘Friends of the Nickey Line’ to represent the many users of the Nickey Line throughout its run from Harpenden to Redbourn and Hemel Hempstead and to improve the Line as a local amenity.

‘Friends of the Nickey Line' was officially formed at a public meeting in Harpenden Park Hall on 18 May 2006.

What We Do

Work with local councils to maintain and improve the Line and to encourage greater use
Run an active programme of events for members and non-members
Organise volunteer work parties to maintain the Line, involving both members and non–members in contributing to our local community. Work includes:
- investigation and reporting of Line problems with emergency line clearance where relevant and possible
- litter picking
- vegetation management, including planting saplings and wild flowers
- installing new features such as benches
- usage counting and user surveys.
Raise funding to provide additional maintenance and investment
Produce regular newsletters and other updates for members – Why not join up to receive these?
Publicise the Line through public talks, press articles and online media
Run a public facebook group 'The Nickey Line' for wider community use and interest
Campaign on issues affecting the Nickey Line

Current Committee Members and Their Interests:

Committee Member	Interest
Dave Abernethy (Chair)	Dog walking, wildlife, hawking, Line history
Mike Platt (Treasurer)	Walking
Geoff Bunce (Secretary)	Walking, wildlife, work parties
Roger Thornhill	Cycling, wildlife, work parties, Heritage on the Nickey Line
Ian Caldwell	Redbourn
James Johnson	Work parties, cycling, walking
Karen Summers	Hemel Hempstead

This Website

Was created in 2023 at a special 'charity rate' for us by Fortem Digital, based locally in Dunstable.

We would also like to thank the Railway Ramblers who generously donated much of the site cost to us. Railway Ramblers is a national club that organises walks and encourages interest in disused railway lines throughout the UK - including the Nickey Line as you can see in the photo of their 2017 walk led by long term Friends stalwart Roger Green.

The site is kept up to date by committee members but we welcome contributions from all Friends and other users of the Nickey Line. Please email your possible news items and photos for our Galleries for example to friends@nickeyline.org.

N.B. You can also join and post your own items about the Nickey Line direct onto our Facebook group as below!

Facebook Group

We launched our Facebook group “The Nickey Line” in September 2017. This has been well received with now over 1600 members and still growing. Users post their pictures, memories and experiences of the Nickey Line. You can also use it to notify us and other users of problems on the Line.

Also see:

Our Vision & Aims Our Latest News Upcoming Events

How You Can Help Become a Friend Contact Us

Our Constitution Privacy Policy