Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, less than an hour south of Manchester is where superstar Harry Styles formerly of One Direction grew up and the residents wanted to acknowledge their ‘famous son’.
Through CrossCountry’s community engagement funding and the local Crewe to Manchester Community Rail Partnership, The Holmes Chapel Partnership created a vibrant atmosphere through a piece of artwork at the station.
The design, by local artists Victoria Holland and Eamonn Murphy, is a riff on popular vintage railway posters. It shows a 2021 Grammys-era Styles "standing" in front of the viaduct.
A walking tour was launched last year after villagers noticed fans risking their safety near a busy by-pass while en route to nearby Twemlow Viaduct, where the singer apparently had his first kiss. Now the artwork of Harry greets passengers and is a photo point for those taking the tour around the town.
Unveiled in March, residents and visitors have been tremendously positive about the artwork and the station has seen a 40% increase in ticket sales because of the interest in the connection with the Watermelon Sugar singer.
While the town itself only has a population of about 6,200, an estimated 10,000 Styles fans – known as Harries – have visited the mid-Cheshire parish in the past two years. Visitors from across the UK but also international travellers from America, Canada, China, Japan and even New Zealand have signed the station visitors book.
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