Tours by Rail – Step into the Story brings together rail travel, walking and storytelling to help people explore local heritage in a more sustainable way. Through a series of free, expert-led walking tours linked by rail, the project shows how the railway can be a low-carbon, accessible way to discover places, histories and communities across Chester, Wrexham and the surrounding area.
Tours by Rail – Step into the Story is a collaborative project led by 3 Counties Connected Community Rail Partnership (CRP). Delivered between October 2025 and March 2026 the project will offer eight free, themed, guided walking tours, linked by rail, across Chester and Wrexham and the surrounding areas, promoting local tourism in the shoulder seasons and cross-border travel by rail.
The project builds on the Tourism Connect project and is an innovative approach to expanding walking tours in the quieter, off-peak months, boosting the local economy and demonstrating a sustainable, healthy and accessible way to explore local heritage.
Each tour will:
Be free to attend
Be limited to small groups
Connect two destinations by rail
Include lunch from local suppliers
Be led by experienced, professional guides
Promote sustainable, healthy travel and local tourism.
Deliver 8 guided walking tours that integrate rail journeys between destinations
Encourage off-peak rail use during the autumn and winter months
Demonstrate rail as a viable, low-carbon alternative to car
Promote walking as part of a healthy travel experience
2. Increase engagement with local heritage and underrepresented stories
Develop 4 themed tours – Women’s Stories, The Marches, Railway 200 and Border Connections
Work with qualified Green Badge Tourist Guides to lead walking tours that bring local history and rail heritage to life
Engage local residents and those from further afield in lesser-known narratives based around the themed tours
Strengthen peoples sense of place and connection across the Wales-England border region
3. Support local communities and businesses
Provide paid work for local, professional tour guides during the off-peak season
Source lunches from local, independent suppliers and establishments for each tour
Commission local creatives for branding, marketing and digital assets
Ensure project funding circulates within the local economy
4. Create a replicable model for future rail-based tourism
Build reusable tour formats, branding and digital assets
Collect robust data and participant feedback to evidence impact
Produce a final impact report and case study to inform future projects
3 Counties Connected CRP, hosted by Groundwork North Wales, as project lead.
Katie Crowther and Peter Evans as professional tour guides.
Lemondrop Creative as designer of brand the aligns with Tourism Connect.
Local food establishments as provider of lunches for tour participants.
Transport for Wales as provider of rail travel and funding.
Community Rail Network as funder through their Community Rail Development Fund.
Planning and Development (July – August 2025)
Confirmed funding and contracts.
Worked alongside Katie Crowther and Peter Evans to finalise routes, themes and travel logistics ensuring a seamless experience for participants.
Worked alongside Lemondrop Creative to develop branding, marketing materials and merchandise designs that align with Tourism Connect.
Set up Eventbrite booking and communications systems.
Marketing and Launch (September – October 2025)
Press Release and media outreach.
Social Media campaigns across Facebook and Instagram.
Launch of Eventbrite listings for the first 4 tours.
Order merchandise.
Book local food establishments.
Create comprehensive feedback forms using Google Forms.
Tour Deliver Part 1 (November – December)
Delivery of the first 4 tours.
Ongoing social media promotion and content capture.
Collection of attendance data and participant feedback.
Women’s Stories – Tuesday, 11 December 2025
Women’s Stories highlighted the stories of women who have helped to create the historic border cities of Chester and Wrexham as we know them today. These will include women whose contributions are well known or have been recognised locally or nationally, as well as some of those whose stories are more hidden and in need of celebrating.
Along the route you’ll encounter saints, royals, politicians, medics, educators, sportswomen and others whose daily lives were key to the development of their hometowns. Your guide will also share stories of women who witnessed major events in Welsh and English history as they unfolded in this border region.
Participants registered to attend
Participants actually attended
Participants on the waiting list
The Marches – Tuesday 18 November 2025
The Marches journeyed between Wrexham and Ruabon, tracing the ancient earthworks of Offa’s and Wat’s Dykes and uncovering how these landscapes shaped life along the border.
The Marches – An imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in which towns have developed with their own unique character.
At Wrexham we saw the modern representation of Wat’s Dyke – one of the features which symbolises the marches and heared how the town developed.
In Ruabon we learned how Wat’s Dyke is integral to the identity of Wales’s leading aristocratic families and walked along a section of Offa’s Dyke.
Participants registered to attend
Participants actually attended
Participants on the waiting list
Railway 200 – Tuesday 2 December 2025
Railway 200 celebrated two centuries of the modern railway, exploring local contributions to a transport revolution that connected communities across the world.
In 1825, George Stephenson’s steam-powered Locomotion No.1 travelled 26 miles carrying hundreds of passengers. It set in motion a train of events that changed the world forever.
In Chester we heard about prolific local engineer Thomas Brassey who built much of the world’s railways in the 19th century.
In Wrexham we learned about another great civil engineer, one with channel tunnel aspirations, long before it was built.
Participants registered to attend
Participants actually attended
Participants on the waiting list
Border Connections – Tuesday 9 December 2025
Border Connections delved into the shared histories of Wrexham and Chester, revealing how people, goods and ideas have flowed across the Wales – England border for generations.
Wrexham and Chester sit just miles apart on either side of the Wales/England border. As well as exploring the history and people of each city, we explored some of the, sometimes hidden, connections between the two cities and the people behind them.
How did people and goods travel between the two in earlier periods? How did the people of each city influence the other? And how has the border itself changed over the centuries?
Participants registered to attend
Participants actually attended
Participants on the waiting list
