Stockport railway station's manager is hanging up her whistle after an impressive 35-year career.

Karen Grimshaw joined the railways in 1989 aged just 24, and in that time has worked at stations across Stockport and Manchester.

After initially working in Longsight, she later moved to the Davenport station ticket office, and then to Manchester Victoria in the role of 'chargewoman' (the role involved dispatching trains and leading platform assistants).

After sojourns in Liverpool, Stoke, Crewe and Macclesfield, she finished up at Stockport station in her role as station manager.

It was here where she and her colleagues marked her retirement with a special celebration.

Karen celebrated her well-earned retirement at Stockport station (Image - Avanti West Coast)

Luckily, Karen's son Adam is following in his mum's footsteps - he joined the railways 10 years ago and is now a train manager at Manchester Piccadilly.

He credits his mum as inspiring him to follow this career.

"My mum inspires me", he said. "She's shown me that hard work and dedication outweighs anything."

Karen herself reflected on her 35 years in the industry, saying; "It's been a true pleasure working alongside colleagues and I'm incredibly grateful for the memories I have from my time onboard and at stations.

"It's the teams I've worked with that have made my time on the railway a special one. There's way too many of them to thank and I'm so privileged to have been part of the journey.

"While I'm excited for this new chapter, I'll miss being part of the team."

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