Award-winning Cornish food, branded deckchairs, films and shanty song filled London Paddington station this week, as Falmouth was showcased to thousands of rail passengers as part of the annual Community Rail in the City initiative.

Working with the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and Great Western Railway (GWR), Falmouth was given a prominent location on the busy concourse at Paddington – the station receives a staggering 160,000 passengers daily - and the Town Team worked with many Falmouth and Cornish-based partners to ensure the town, with everything it has to offer as a place to visit and do business in, was profiled as imaginatively as possible.

Richard Wilcox, Falmouth BID manager said: “What a fantastic and productive day. We engaged with thousands of people, many of whom had an affinity with Cornwall and Falmouth, and wanted to find out more about visiting.

"We met with the great and the good: a war-time evacuee to Falmouth, Chelsea pensioners, a TV presenter, a film-crew from Japan looking to visit the west country and even a Premier League football manager!

"I am really pleased that relationships fostered over several years with the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership and GWR, has enabled us to promote Falmouth in such an innovative way. So pleased are they with our efforts, that we are in discussions with them to profile Falmouth at other key locations across the UK in the future as well.”

Indeed, Falmouth was the only town represented at any of the major stations participating in the scheme across the country.

The Falmouth Town Team, comprising BID manager Richard Wilcox, town manager Richard Gates and events & marketing coordinator Naomi Morant, were joined by others who gave up time to help the Falmouth cause; Sioned Parry-Rudlin, proprietor of the Merchants Manor Hotel in Falmouth, Will Keating a musician who also sings with the Falmouth-based shanty group The Oggymen and Rebecca Catterall, from the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.

The Town Team secured the services of two shanty groups – Short Drag Roger and Swinging the Lead - who jumped at the chance to come along and perform to delighted commuters during the day on Wednesday, June 16.

The thousands of visitors to the Falmouth-claimed patch of Paddington were not only treated to songs and stories from Will Keating and the two shanty groups, but also had the opportunity to wait for their trains in comfort – thanks to Falmouth-branded colourful deckchairs and artificial grass that had been laid out – and watch Falmouth videos on a large screen.

Richard Gates, Falmouth Town manager added: “This is another excellent example of partnership working here in Falmouth. We couldn’t have co-ordinated the opportunity were it not for the many local businesses, organisations and individuals who have given so generously to support the efforts, so a huge thank you to them, as well as the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and of course GWR.

"We as a Town Team are always looking for new and innovative ways to promote our special town and its business community. Once we had secured the Paddington day, we wanted to ensure that Falmouth was showcased as creatively as possible so that we could engage with many people. It worked and we were delighted with the response.”

The London promotional campaign continues with an online #Love Falmouth competition which is being run over the next six weeks via Falmouth.co.uk, the official town website.

The prize consists of three nights in one of the new luxury self-catering apartments at Merchants Manor, a WeSUP paddleboarding adventure around Falmouth Bay, a hamper full of Cornish produce thanks to Picnic Cornwall and first class train travel to Falmouth with GWR.

The competition will run until Saturday, June 30 via www.falmouth.co.uk.