Lost for 21 years, this historic Manchester railway plaque has finally returned to Piccadilly – thanks to one man’s relentless quest. Neal Keeling reports.
17:02, 07 Dec 2025Updated 17:32, 07 Dec 2025
A piece of rail heritage vanished from the station during a major refurbishment.
He had waited more than two decades for the moment. Mel Thorley gazed at the new arrival at platform 10 at Piccadilly Station Manchester for five minutes. Then he bought a paper before coming back to gaze some more.
It had taken him and his transport police friend 17 years to find it. Then they had to endure a six year delay before Network Rail finally returned it to its original home.
A piece of rail heritage vanished from the station during a major refurbishment. Mel and BTP officer, Dave Smith, hunted for the missing artefact.
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway plaque – a high quality replica of the 1839 original – was hung in the mid-1960s near the entrance. It was removed in 1998 when upgrade work began at the station. The original resides in the National Railway Museum in York. It never reappeared when the work ended in 2002.
Railway enthusiast Mel Thorley, 78, from Stockport, then a train driver, noticed it was missing. Its disappearance unexplained, Mel, from Stockport, began a dogged pursuit – that would last 17 years.
He checked railway auction catalogues and spoke to auction houses supplying them with a photograph of the plaque. He didn’t get a sniff until it turned up on eBay on August 17th 2019 for sale in Retford. The plaque was up for sale with a price tag of £3,700. The sales blurb recommended a forklift to load it onto a truck for collection in Nottinghamshire.
But after tracking it down Mel had to wait six years for Northern Rail to install it back at Piccadilly on Wednesday (December 3rd).
Recalling his first sight of the newly re-installed plaque Mel said: “I caught the 14.51 from Hazel Grove to Piccadilly. I photographed and touched it. It was marvellous. Standing on platform 10 – not the busiest platform thankfully – I stood there in awe. I had forgotten how big it was, having not seen it since about 1999.
How the plaque looked when rescued from a scrapyard in Nottinghamshire
“I never thought it would happen. To be fair to Network Rail once it was found getting it back to Piccadilly with all the politics was worth it, it looks fantastic. I stood and gazed at it. Then I went to get a magazine, but came back and did it all over again.”
Asked why it was so important that the plaque came home, he said: “Well it takes railways back to 1839 when the station was in Travis Street as opposed to London Road or Piccadilly. It is a time capsule, but rather than a buried one it is an unearthed one. Future generations can now see how long the area has been active in railways. In 1840 trains were travelling out of Travis Street getting as far as Heaton Norris. It was pioneering.”
Phil James, Network Rail’s Route Director for the North West, said: “This is an incredible story that has been possible because of the hard work of our colleagues and Mel. It’s great to see the plaque returned to its rightful place and it shows how important the history of our stations is. Manchester Piccadilly is a vital transport hub for our passengers and now they will see the plaque daily.”
Phil James, Network Rail’s Route Director for the North West next to the histroric plaque at Piccadilly Station. (Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Recalling the breakthrough in his search for the plaque, Mel said: Someone sent me a link to it in 2019 but he did not want to get involved, he probably thought ‘I don’t want to upset a scrap man’.
“I had the number of an ex British Transport Police copper, Dave Smith, who I used to meet up with at reunions. I said he must have the authority to make a noise. He too had been trying to find out what had happened to the plaque over the years. He went to see a young woman BT officer who said ‘right leave it to me’.
Mel had also sent emails to alert people in the know, including experts at Railway Magazine. The magazine had previously run a piece from Lord Faulkner of Worcester, co-chair of the Railway Heritage Designation Advisory Board (RHDAB), requesting readers keep their eyes peeled for the plaque.
Piccadilly Station in 1979 with the plaque on the wall outside on the right of the entrance.
Chris Milner, editor of Railway Magazine, contacted Lord Faulkner, also president of the Railway Heritage Association. He brought in Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, and together they asked BTP for help.
They got hold of the local BTP and the local police in a Nottinghamshire town and went to the scrapyard where it was seized after they cited Network Rail as the rightful owners.
Mel said: “I then contacted Sir Peter Hendy by email and he pointed me to someone in the regional office who came out with an absolute belter. They said to me ‘there is no way we can have any nostalgic ceremony at Piccadilly. It could lead to ridicule and a field day for the press. Imagine the unveiling of the plaque on platform 1 just as 4 cancellations are announced for other platforms ‘ I did see his point, just a pity the situation was such.”
Mel Thorley with his garden full of railway memorabilia (Image: Stockport Express)
He added: “The next thing I heard was that Wilmslow station was getting it to add to their 180th celebrations in 2022 but nothing appeared to happen. Then I heard it would have a place in the Piccadilly platforms 13/ 14 upgrade. But it never appeared.
“The plaque was installed at Piccadilly in 1959 I believe ready for the opening in 1960. It was on a wall outside the station as you come up the approach near the taxi rank.
“People used to say ‘meet you at the plaque’. In 2019 I was chuffed, I thought my mission was complete. But it took a bit longer.”
The original plaque which is now at the National Railway Museum in York
Back in 2019 Tim Shoveller, then Managing Director of Network Rail’s North West and Central Region, and now CEO of Freightliner Group told Rail Technology Magazine“Thank you to Mel, Dave and others for hunting down our missing plaque. We will get it cleaned up, painted and put back up where it belongs, at Manchester Piccadilly, as soon as possible.”
Margaret Edge, Manchester Piccadilly’s station delivery manager, said: “We know it’s been a long time coming. None of this would have been possible without the perseverance of Mel Thorley and Dave Smith, whose dogged detective work in 2019 saved this important piece of the station’s heritage from being lost forever.”