This is a test of GDPR / Cookie Acceptance [about our cookies]
Really irritating test - cookie expires in 24 hour!
Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
 
Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by ChrisB at 18:19, 31st January 2026
 
From the BBC

Can you spot the 40 railway stations from the cryptic clues in the picture above and get one over on Darragh Ennis from The Chase?

The brainteaser was dreamt up by Alzheimer's Research UK to encourage people to keep their minds active during free time or on their daily commute.

Quiz master Ennis, known on the TV show as "The Menace", saw his dad pass away in 2024 after spending his later years living with dementia.

The scientist, who studied and lives in Oxford, is hoping the puzzle can help people keep their brains "sharp" but admitted he had so far only found 32 of the 40 hidden stations from across England and Wales.

The campaign is being supported by Great Western Railway (GWR), which has been advertising it at stations including Oxford, Didcot, Newbury and Maidenhead.

Ennis said the brain was "something you have to exercise or else it gets lazy".

"If you don't use different parts of your brain for problem-solving and things like that, the synapses and the circuits don't get strengthened," he added.

He said his dad had experienced "a very gradual, slow decline".

"We started noticing quite a long time ago that his memory was going," Ennis said.

"You would sit in a room with my dad for years and sometimes you would have the same conversation 20 or 30 times.

"While that can be very frustrating, it's at least still a conversation, but for other people it's much more aggressive and they disappear completely."

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, external - a condition often leading to memory loss and challenges with taking on independent tasks.

"Doing a crossword a day is not going to prevent you getting dementia if your genetics are that way or you have some other disease, but it changes the odds a little," Ennis added.

"So for something that's so small that can help keep you sharp in other ways, it's worth a try."

He said the use of technology for that purpose "isn't inherently bad".

"I do four puzzles a day before I get out of bed and they're all done on my phone - it's not the technology that's wrong, it's how we use it."

[Image from here is not available to guests]

A study by Alzheimer's Research UK among 2,006 adults in the south of England recently showed just one in three of them were doing daily puzzles or challenges in their free time.

About half were instead turning to passive pursuits such as scrolling on their phones or watching shows.

Samantha Benham-Hermetz, executive director at the charity, said: "As each generation ages there are different things that are both protective for brain health and also distracting.

"We want to send this message to the public that there are lots of things within their control that they can do to reduce their risk of developing dementia as they grow older."

"One of the things that I've noticed with the puzzle is when you look at it at different times you see different things, so it really is challenging your brain to do things you wouldn't normally do or in different ways," she added.

The puzzle can be found on the charity's website, external, with some of the clues unveiled on its social media channels.

[Image from here is not available to guests]

Some of them are quite difficult....

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by grahame at 16:15, 1st February 2026
 
Some of them are quite difficult....

Indeed - I have seen this before and had trouble working out "Gammon with French Fries" until I realise it was "Chip 'n Ham".  I have still not worked out the sauna on the top of a volcano.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 16:26, 1st February 2026
 
Bath Spa(r)? [Image from here is not available to guests]

I think it's meant to be a tree stump, rather than a volcano.

See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spar

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by ChrisB at 21:06, 1st February 2026
 
A Scot under Witch wood anyone? [Image from here is not available to guests] [Image from here is not available to guests]

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:27, 1st February 2026
 
Bath Spa(r)? [Image from here is not available to guests]

Apparently, it's actually Leamington Spa. I'm not sure I get the reference there.  [Image from here is not available to guests]

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by TonyN at 22:39, 1st February 2026
 
Kew Gardens

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by plymothian at 08:58, 2nd February 2026
 
Currently on 21/40.

Not sure why Exit-her can be generic when Blackpool Pleasure Beach has to be specific.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by DR7835 at 09:45, 2nd February 2026
 
Bath Spa(r)? [Image from here is not available to guests]

Apparently, it's actually Leamington Spa. I'm not sure I get the reference there.  [Image from here is not available to guests]

Lemmings in a spa?

Dave

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Witham Bobby at 10:33, 3rd February 2026
 
Is the star straddling the river a reference to Starcross?

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Hafren at 15:34, 3rd February 2026
 
A Scot under Witch wood anyone? [Image from here is not available to guests] [Image from here is not available to guests]

I was trying to work out why the Scot was below Coventry!

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 17:05, 3rd February 2026
 
Hmm.  [Image from here is not available to guests]

Compared with some of the more obscure ones, Barrow in Furnace was a doddle.  [Image from here is not available to guests]

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Oxonhutch at 17:59, 3rd February 2026
 
..., as was Carlisle.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Western Pathfinder at 18:07, 3rd February 2026
 
Chandlers Ford is a possibility.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 19:12, 3rd February 2026
 
Without wanting this to be a 'spoiler', I have combined (in alphabetical order) the 20 already published answers on the charity's website with our own suggestions so far here on this topic:

Ascott under Wychwood (obscure, but valid)
Barking (dog on the riverbank - see also Riverside)
Barking Riverside (see Barking and Riverside separately, then combine them into a third location)
Barrow in Furness (relatively obvious)
Bolton (or possibly Preston, the anvil?)
Carlisle (man lying on vehicle)
Chatham
Chippenham (plate of fries and meat)
Coventry
Derby (football colours)
Exeter
Gloucester
Grantham (gran's thumb)
Gunnersbury (Arsenal's nickname)
Halifax (halo fax)
Hastings (hay stings)
Henley on Thames
Hereford (rather than Oxford, apparently)
Honiton (honey town - all made from beeswax)
Kew Gardens (relatively obvious)
Kidwelly (relatively obvious)
Kings Cross (near the bridge, centre of picture)
Leamington Spa (rather obscure: lemmings in a spa?)
Leicester (lace star)
Leighton Buzzard (relatively obvious)
Liverpool Lime Street
Newcastle
Nottingham
Oxford (relatively obvious)
Penzance (lower left in picture)
Poole (relatively obvious)
Reading
Riverside (centre picture, under the barking dog)
Sevenoaks (relatively obvious)
Sheffield (chefs in a field)
Skegness
Swansea (on the lake, swimming in a crescent shape)
Tattenham Corner (lower right hand corner of picture)
Taunton
Tenby
Three Bridges
Weston super Mare
Weymouth

That's a running total of ... 44 now. [Image from here is not available to guests]

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Oxonhutch at 22:30, 3rd February 2026
 
What, no Barking?

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:35, 3rd February 2026
 
Fair point - I've now added that to the 'official' list here on the Coffee Shop forum. [Image from here is not available to guests]

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:47, 3rd February 2026
 
... and I've just seen Tattenham Corner (bottom right), so I'll add that to our list. [Image from here is not available to guests]

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by TonyN at 23:02, 3rd February 2026
 
Halifax (Halo-Fax)

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by eightonedee at 23:13, 3rd February 2026
 
Also...no Sevenoaks.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Hafren at 23:17, 3rd February 2026
 
I note some Hay-Stings going on.
Are those Ladies Well (not far from Liverpool with Limes) and on a Bank, I wonder.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by eightonedee at 23:23, 3rd February 2026
 
This is addictive once you get into it.

I think the old lady with her thumb up is Grantham (Gran Thumb, geddit?). The guy in armour on the bridge with steam coming out of his ears is Kings Cross,  and count them., we have Three Bridges which I think is a station in Crawley.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 23:35, 3rd February 2026
 
With my sincere thanks to all of our Coffee Shop forum members for contributing here, I'm struggling to keep up with updating our list! [Image from here is not available to guests]

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Oxonhutch at 07:22, 4th February 2026
 
And Sheffield

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by plymothian at 08:17, 4th February 2026
 
Hereford, is hear-a-ford as Ox-ford is also a valid answer
The Lace star is Leicester

There's a New-castle
S-Keg-Ness
Bolt-on
Liver-pool Lime [Street]
You have to know the nickname of Arsenal for Gunners-bury
Some Hams are having a Chat
You have to know who wore the #10 short for England, and is also a station
There is a Barking, but you have to locate where s/he is doing it

and that should be all 40.

ETA:  Hang on, there's 41!

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Oxonhutch at 22:57, 4th February 2026
 
There is a Barking, but you have to locate where s/he is doing

By the Riverside?

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 19:40, 5th February 2026
 
With my renewed thanks to all Coffee Shop members who have contributed here, I've at least tried to update my previous post with a full list of all those railway stations.

If I have missed any, please do post here, and I'll complete the 40. [Image from here is not available to guests]


Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by eightonedee at 22:20, 5th February 2026
 
Unless I have missed them, or haven't worked out the connection with answers listed, there's still the football game and swimming pool on the hill in the upper right.

Are they Poole (no explanation needed) and Derby (the footballers are in red and blue, so could be Man U v Man City or Liverpool v Everton)?

And the barking dog is I think Barking Riverside (a Plymothian/Oxonhutch joint effort!).

I'll stare at the picture a little longer.....

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:55, 5th February 2026
 
With my thanks for your post, eightonedee, I rather think you have hit the whatsit on the proverbial there. [Image from here is not available to guests]

There are possibly three clues combined into one there: there is a railway station at Barking (which is what the dog is doing); there is one at Riverside (which is where the dog is standing); and there is one at Barking Riverside (combining those two clues).

Derby and Poole I will also add, as they are both absolutely plausible.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by TonyN at 23:22, 5th February 2026
 
With my thanks for your post, eightonedee, I rather think you have hit the whatsit on the proverbial there. [Image from here is not available to guests]

There are possibly three clues combined into one there: there is a railway station at Barking (which is what the dog is doing); there is one at Riverside (which is where the dog is standing); and there is one at Barking Riverside (combining those two clues).

Derby and Poole I will also add, as they are both absolutely plausible.

I Think there are some in Reply 23 by plymothian that you have missed.

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 23:58, 5th February 2026
 
Thanks, TonyN.  [Image from here is not available to guests]

Having added those, we are now up to 44 of 40 - so clearly a few of them are just 'red herrings'.  [Image from here is not available to guests]

Can we identify them?

Re: Can you find the 40 British railway station names hidden in our puzzle?
Posted by Clan Line at 12:02, 6th February 2026
 
Strawberry Hill  - James Hill plays for Bournemouth FC

 
The Coffee Shop forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western). The views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit https://www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site at admin@railcustomer.info if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules. Our full legal statment is at https://www.greatwesternrailway.info/legal.html

Although we are planning ahead, we don't know what the future will bring here in the Coffee Shop. We have domains "firstgreatwestern.info" for w-a-y back and also "greatwesternrailway.info"; we can also answer to "greatbritishrailways.info" too. For the future, information about Great Brisish Railways, by customers and for customers.
 
Current Running
GWR trains from JourneyCheck
 
 
Code Updated 11th January 2025