'My great-gran's piano ended up at a train station'

Four generations of the Stephan family owned the piano before it was gifted to Reading Station

Imagine catching the train home only to spot your family's piano at the station.

Mary Marsland's brother, Peter, discovered their great-grandmother's "quite unique-looking" heirloom in the middle of Reading Station recently.

The upright piano, now named Winnie, was donated to Reading Station by Great Western Railway (GWR) and wellbeing champion Beth Witney for Mental Health Awareness.

Ms Witney said she found the piano listed on Facebook Marketplace for free and "if we hadn’t turned up it was going to be sent to landfill".

The piano was donated to Reading Station by Great Western Railway

Ms Marsland, from Burghfield, told BBC Radio Berkshire her mother and brothers played the piano, her youngest brother taught himself Beethoven's Für Elise but she was "never one to play".

"You just take for granted seeing these things in your grandparent's house and don't really pay much attention to it," she said.

Winnie now aims to help promote mental health and wellbeing for commuters and is an opportunity for them to play a tune.

GWR wellbeing manager, Lucy Shephard, said: “Music is a great way of boosting mental health and we think this will be a popular addition."

Ms Marsland said her brother was on his way back from London and walking through Reading station with his wife and daughters when they spotted their family's piano.

She said: "They'd been to a concert in Wembley, they got off the train and then saw it - they couldn't believe it."

They had owned the piano since their grandmother had passed in the early 2000s.

"It was bizarre for them to see it," Ms Marsland continued.

She explained her nieces had learnt to play on it but outgrew it and decide to upgrade it, so it was put on Facebook Marketplace for free, a few years ago.

May and Alfred Stephan bought the family piano in the 1920s

"My great-grandparents, Alfred and May Stephan bought it in Shrewsbury, in the 1920s," Ms Marsland said.

"They bought it for my great-uncle Brian - who became an excellent pianist.

"He went on to own a grand piano and played in Paris - he excelled at it."

In the 1950s it moved to Nottingham, then in the 1970s it went to Ms Marsland's grandmother in Radlett and Watford.

After their grandmother died, her brother had it in Caversham.

"Then it magically appeared in Reading Station," she added.

The sound of someone tinkling the ivories has become commonplace at UK railway stations.

Global stars such as Sara Bareilles and Sir Elton John, who donated a Yamaha piano to St Pancras in 2016, have also given public performances.

Elton's signed piano, still at the station, reads: "Enjoy this piano. It's a gift. Love, Elton John."

Ms Marsland said the piano was brought by her great-grandparents in the 1920s