The sounds of nostalgia (posted 30th July 2004)

Why is it sounds trigger off such powerful recollections? It seems the older we get, the more that sounds trigger off memories: little things like the wind sloughing through trees, the distant babble of children playing in a school playground. Or the ticking fussiness of an idling Morris Minor engine; the distant whistle of a steam locomotive carried by the wind; the sliding door of a 1950’s coach; the ‘ker-ker-lunk’ of railway carriage doors slamming.

There were once-familiar sounds like this a-plenty at Winchcombe station on the 25th of July when John Webb’s second ‘transport nostalgia Sunday’ of the year took place. The impressive line up of cars included a squadron of Ford V8 Pilots, sharp chromed bonnets arrogantly looking over a startling variety of historic cars.  The familiar, rounded shapes of a row of Morris Minors - including a Police ‘Panda’ car - triggered many memories, as did a Morris Commercial ice-cream van from 1950, and still offering its frozen confection.

On the weighbridge was parked a yellow ‘National Benzole’ tanker - (whatever happened to that brand?) while other commercials and buses helped to pack the yard with not-too-distant motoring memories.

And as a backdrop, steam trains came and went - the accelerating beat of the engine fading into the distance, accompanied by the nearby metallic clunk of the signal returning to danger. The faint ring of a telephone in the signalbox acting as a reminder that, actually, telephones don’t ring any more!

Don’t miss our next Transport Nostalgia weekend on Sunday the 5th of September - once again in the pleasant surroundings of Winchcombe station. Entry is free - but the catch is that you have to take the train from either Toddington or Cheltenham Race Course to get there, as there is no ‘ordinary’ car parking at Winchcombe station on the day.

If you have a historic or classic vehicle and fancy a day out with a difference, please write to John Webb, the organiser, at “The Railway Station, Toddington, Glos. GL54 5DT”.

Memories a plenty at Winchcombe on Sunday (posted 22nd July 2004)

Sunday, the 25th of July, sees the GWR's second Transport Nostalgia day at Winchcombe station. The June event was a great success, and the next one promises to be just as fascinating.

Organiser John Webb puts an enormous amount of effort into bringing such an interesting selection of ancient and modern vehicles to the GWR. The repertoire includes buses and commercial vehicles as well as cars and vans.

"Some of the highlights include a 1927 Model 'T' Ford - in which HRH The Princess Royal has travelled - and a matching penny-farthing bicycle. I hope that its owner will be demonstrating the mysterious art of riding one of these contraptions!" he says. "There is a lovely 1926 Alvis expected, too."

On the commercial front is a 1950 Austin tanker in National Benzole (remember that brand?) livery and among the coaches and buses is a Bedford OB in Blue Motors colours from Minehead - recalling leisurely days out to the seaside.

"On the more modern front we're expecting a lot of visitors to have their memories jogged by cars such as Hillman Super Minx, Morris Minor, Rover P6 and P5 - and many more.

"Should be a great day - we're fortunate that we've attracted an excellent range of vehicles," John says. "And you can even buy an ice cream from a beautifully preserved Morris Commercial ice cream van - still doing the job it was designed for!"

There will be memorabilia on show in the station as well as a range of interesting stalls.

Please note: Although entrance is free, there will be no car parking at Winchcombe. Please travel by train either from Cheltenham Race Course or Toddington. A 'local' train service will be operating between Winchcombe and Toddington on the day - so with cars and steam trains, Winchcombe Station will be a pretty lively place to be! Click here for our timetable - it is the 'green' service operating. And to find out which engines are working, check our locomotive roster.

Wayfarers meet ‘Bob on a Bike’ at the GWR (posted 21st July 2004)

On Wednesday July 21st the GWR played host to BBC (Midlands) TV programme “Bob on a Bike”. Intrepid reporter Bob Hockenhull, dressed in a distinctive black ensemble, has recently been riding his bike around some of the best known attractions in Gloucestershire and today arrived at Toddington Station in time to board the 11:00 departure.

After an interview with guard Geof Deakin, Bob loaded his bike carefully into the guards van and climbed into the cab of GWR heavy freight No.3822 for the journey to Cheltenham Racecourse. Meanwhile director and cameraman Gabe Crozier ensured there was plenty of interesting footage ‘in the can’.

On the return journey Bob rejoined Gabe on the train in order to interview some of the passengers and, as luck would have it, a large party of Folk Dancers were travelling on the train, including a contingent from Sweden. Dave Hidson, the group’s leader, explained that The Wayfarers Folk Dance Club hail from Harborne in Birmingham and have entertained audiences in the Midlands and overseas for over three decades. They wear traditional costumes and always dance to live music. They also carry out exchange visits with overseas dancers and the Swedish group Öagillet were visiting on such an exchange. Öagillet, who sing and perform plays as well as performing traditional folk dance, come from an archipelago north of Gothenburg. Some of the costumes on show were simply stunning.

On his return to Toddington, after interviewing the crew on the footplate, Bob retrieved his bike from the guards van and prepared to ride off. The Wayfarers had other ideas however and Bob soon found himself included in one of their ‘simpler’ dances. It should make for good television. The programme is due to be transmitted on BBC1 Midlands Today at 6:30pm on Wednesday July 28th, so catch it if you can!

Photographs by Steve Standbridge - watch out for a mini-gallery of the unusual day’s events coming soon.

Time Team visits Broadway? (posted 21st July 2004)

On July 9th, passers by might have noticed some strange excavations being carried out on the site of Broadway station. This wasn’t Tony Robinson and his friends, although in many respects the nature of the excavations was similar to an archaeologists’ dig.

The aim was to assess the extent of the structures and installations at the Broadway site, in order to enable a plan of the site to be prepared. Lots of useful information was gleaned, including the location of the main sewer - although this information was obtained from a local, rather than by hard digging!

Thanks to Roger Hawkins’ photographs, we’ve published a mini-gallery of the day’s activities. Click here to visit our galleries page, and then select your preferred version of our galleries. You can find the gallery in the “Mini Galleries” section.

August has come early... (posted 20th July 2004)

... or at least as far as our desktop wallpaper page is concerned. We’ve added another excellent photograph to decorate your PC, this time of 3822. There’s an even better photograph ready and waiting for September, so hopefully the webmaster will be able to resist the urge to publish that one early too!!

Train services this weekend (posted 16th July 2004)

This weekend, new arrival Collet 0-6-0 tender locomotive no. 3205 will be working one of the two service trains, on both Saturday and Sunday, while the other service will be diesel powered. This is a rare chance to enjoy a heritage diesel on a normal summer service train on the GWR: on Saturday, one of the class 37 diesels will do the honours and, on Sunday, 47105 - both are types which worked over this line after the end of steam in the mid-1960's until closure in 1976. Heavy freight 2-8-0 no. 3822 will be working a Footplate Experience course between Toddington and Winchcombe on both days.

No. 4247 which was due to operate this weekend has had to be taken out of service for an adjustment to its safety valves. Both 5224 and 7903 Foremarke Hall are currently out of service for their annual examinations. Hunslet 0-6-0 saddle tank 'King George' is back in working order again following repairs and it will be a regular sight shunting the yard at Toddington. Unfortunately, the engine is just a bit too small to work service trains all the way to Cheltenham!

For full details of the weekend's locomotive roster, click here.

3205 arrives - expected to run this weekend (posted 14th July 2004)

Sole-surviving Collett 0-6-0 tender locomotive no. 3205 (see news announcement of 3rd July) has now arrived at Toddington following a short spell on the Mid-Hants Railway in Hampshire (the first time the type has ever worked on that line - unless you know different, let us know in the waiting room). The engine is being checked over before being given a steam test on Friday and, assuming the test is successful, it is expected to be operating trains this weekend.

When 3205 was based at Gloucester in its early years, it is likely that it operated over our line. Do you have any recollection or anecdote about the class in general, and 3205 in particular, in service between Cheltenham and Honeybourne? Let us know in the waiting room!

Other locomotives expected to be in operation over the weekend are 3822 and either 4247 or 5224 - the latter is currently undergoing a boiler washout. 7903 Foremarke Hall is currently out of service for its annual inspection. Keep tuning in to 'latest news' to find out when this magnificent locomotive is being returned to service.

Sponsored Walk update (posted 13th July 2004)

A brief update on the Sponsored Walk (see the news item of 19th June); the total raised - as of 11th July - is £4644, with money still coming in. This greatly exceeds our original estimate of £3000. Remember, you can still donate by sending a cheque to GWR Ltd, with “sponsored walk” on the reverse, to our usual address.

Once again, thanks for the efforts of the walkers, organisers, and the helpers on the day.

Hunting Butts mini-gallery (posted 12th July 2004)

We’ve produced a new mini-gallery, showing pictures of the work on the headshunt extension to the Hunting Butts tunnel, as announced in the previous news item.

To view the new mini-gallery, click here to visit the main galleries page. Choose your preferred picture size depending on your Internet connection, and then select the “Mini Galleries” section.

Note: we’ve taken the opportunity to move our “mini-galleries” into the main gallery section. This makes it easier for us to maintain the galleries, and means you get to see some of the pictures with improved quality.

Another ‘extension’ & another tunnel on the GWR (posted 5th July 2004)

As exclusively announced in our latest e-newsletter (if you don't subscribe, then you're missing out! - click here to join), track once again passes through and just to the end of the 92-yard Hunting Butts Tunnel, about quarter of a mile south of Cheltenham Race Course Station. In fact, the buffer-stops are at the far (southern) end of the tunnel, which has more than doubled the length of the existing headshunt.

Why has our ever-resourceful permanent way team done this? It's not to get closer to Cheltenham town centre - but to provide plenty of room for the rolling stock used for the race trains during the Cheltenham Festival and on other special occasions.

The work has been done in anticipation of signalling being completed at Race Course station over the coming months. At present, because there is no signalling, the GWR can run only one train at a time down the line south of Winchcombe and this has inevitably caused long gaps between departures during race day evenings.

But if the line is only to be used as a headshunt, why use heavy flat-bottom rail and concrete sleepers?  "Well," says Ivor Dixon, engineering director, "if we ever do continue to relay the line back to Cheltenham then we know the headshunt meets the standard required to become the running line - and we won't have to relay it..."

The picture, taken by Steve Standbridge on 4th July, shows 2-8-0T no. 5224 at Hunting Butts Tunnel - the first steam locomotive to enter the tunnel for 30 years.

Fancy doing some decorating? (posted 4th July 2004)

Following a suggestion posted in our new online forum, “The Waiting Room”, and some kind help from a willing volunteer, we have a new section in The Sidings. You can now brighten up your PC with a beautiful picture taken on the GWR. Click here for details.

Another arrival: 3205 (posted 3rd July 2004)

When news broke that ‘2251’ class 0-6-0 no 3205 was to pay a repeat visit to the GWR, there was a ripple of approval among the GWR’s loco department staff. Easy to operate and maintain, this popular locomotive has a reputation of efficient running and is more than capable of handling the line’s typically six-coach trains. After a short visit to the Mid-Hants Railway it is expected to arrive in mid-July.

3205 has local connections. Completed in 1946 at a cost of £6,632, its first allocation was Gloucester and much of its early life was spent variously at Gloucester, Cheltenham and Worcester depots and during these days it almost certainly worked over the Cheltenham -Honeybourne line. However 3205 later went to Shrewsbury, making forays down the Cambrian line and was finally sent to Templecombe on the Somerset & Dorset line.

The 2251 class were designed to replace the Dean and Armstrong 0-6-0s which by the 1930’s were becoming a bit long in the tooth. 3205 was among the last of the class to be withdrawn in 1965, after clocking up nearly 350,000 miles and was purchased by the ‘2251 Preservation Fund’ and housed at the Dart Valley Railway. It moved to the infant Severn Valley Railway in 1967, where it worked that line’s first train. It also spent time on the West Somerset Railway but is now normally based at the South Devon Railway. 3205 has made visits to a number of preserved railways, including the GWR. Click here for more information in our locomotive database.

Photograph by Geoff Sanders, during an earlier visit by 3205 to the GWR.

Visit the Waiting Room… (posted 2nd July 2004)

You know how it is, you sit in the waiting room and strike up a conversation with your fellow travellers. Pass on a little news, exchange views, perhaps ask a few questions. Well, now we've our own virtual 'waiting room' where you can chat with your fellow travellers on GWSR.com. We’ve opened the waiting room for a three-month experimental period and if it’s a success, it will remain a permanent feature.

A few ground rules though - we will be monitoring the content closely, so please make sure you read the rules when you register (and no naughty words please). It’s aimed at being a bit of fun; an opportunity to conduct some research; a chance to ask a few questions. So who’s going to start it off? Click here to enter the Waiting Room now!

Oh - and thanks are due to the East Lancs Railway, for thinking up such an excellent name for a heritage railway forum!

The Small Print: The Webmaster and the GWSR reserve the right to withdraw the Waiting Room at any time without notice. Items which, in the opinion of the Webmaster or GWSR officers, are of a slanderous or insulting nature will be removed as soon as practicably possible, and further messages blocked. All postings will be logged and will be traceable. Many rude words will be automatically censored. Neither GWSR plc nor GWRL can accept any responsibility for the opinions expressed in the Waiting Room

Click here to return to the News Archive.