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Services restart, Tuesday 31st July Following the restoration of a mains water supply to Toddington the GWR is restarting services on Tuesday 31st July. And, as a special offer to celebrate the all-volunteer railway’s return to business, the GWR is offering a free child ticket (worth £6.00) for every adult ticket sold on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday this week. Each ticket allows unlimited travel on the day of issue.
Honeybourne bus service cancelled It was intended to run a mini-bus service from Honeybourne station to Toddington station on the 4 Sundays in August and 2 in September in conjunction with the Cotswold Line Promotion Group. Plans had been finalised to expect large numbers of people travelling by First Great Western to Honeybourne and then on to Toddington for a ride on the steam railway. Unfortunately the elements have conspired against us and as a large amount of engineering work is now necessary on the Cotswold Line, this tourist attraction has had to be cancelled for this year. The GWR would like to thank everyone at the Cotswold Line Promotion Group for all the work they have done to organise this - it is a great pity it all has to be cancelled. Watch this space though - we will have another try next summer! Click here to visit the CLPG website and here to see some of the damage caused on the line by the recent flooding..
Steam firing and driving courses sold out The handful of remaining places on this year’s firing and driving courses have now been filled. The GWR thanks you for your support of these days and hopes everyone has a fantastic time. Dates for the 2008 courses will be announced once the 2008 timetable has been agreed.
Flood pictures We now have a number of pictures of the flooding on the GWR and the aftermath. Click for our news extra article.
Diesel driving experience cancelled Due to the current weather conditions and the lack of water on the GWR the diesel driving experience scheduled for this friday has been cancelled. For further details contact the co-ordinator Alan Clothier.
Rain stops play! Heavy rain over Gloucestershire has caused severe flooding as may of you will realise. The GWR is flooded in several places and there will be an inspection before trains can run on
Saturday 21st. Reports have come in that the water at Winchcombe is level with the platform tops. Unfortunately this means the David Shepherd Wildlife and Steam on Tour exhibition at Winchcombe has been postponed as has An Evening with David Shepherd which was due to be held at Toddington on Saturday evening. We deeply regret that circumstances prevent us from running these exciting events this weekend, however, a new date will be announced shortly, possibly in September. Photo shows Winchcombe at 2pm Friday 20th July by Neil Carr. If you have bought tickets for An Evening with David Shepherd you may:
You may contact the GWR either by phone on 01242 621405 or via email to enquiries@gwsr.com To find out if trains are running on Saturday 21st please call 01242 621405 after 10am. With all the rain that has fallen on Friday it is hard to believe that this day last year was the hottest day on record!
Ticket sales holding up well June ended with another successful month for the GWR. Although ticket sales just about match the number recorded at the same time last year, it’s important to point out that 2006 included the Centenary Festival that ran over nine days, compared with the Cotswold Festival of Steam which was a four-day event. Here’s the low-down:
Events 2007 2006 Race Trains 1,033 780 Diesel Galas 1,369 1,692 Days Out with Thomas 3,226 2,707 Steam festivals 4,849 9,019 Coach parties to date 1,766 947 Comments Ian Crowder, Commercial Director: “This is a creditable performance given that last year’s figures included the nine-day Centenary Gala, although average daily numbers were a little higher for the Cotswold Festival of Steam. Increased numbers of people are visiting us with coach parties too – and this appears to be a steadily increasing trend which augurs well for the future. The high numbers for March are accounted for by the ‘kids travel free’ promotion which was a financial success. “The diesel gala in June was disappointing – but the event coincided with appealing main-line heritage diesel tours as well as diesel galas at two other railways. That clearly had an impact on numbers.”
Busy weekend ahead – and loco roster updated (again!) The loco roster – which tells you what locomotives are hauling which trains – has been subject to a few updates over the past few days, so apologies to anyone who arrived at the railway expecting to see one locomotive but finding another on the advertised service. Last Saturday was particularly troublesome, with three of the four operational locomotives temporarily out of service due to relatively minor problems – but then, busses always come in threes, too. But for aficionados of ‘Growlers’ would have been pleasantly surprised to find class 37 no. 37324 at the head of two of the service trains. This coming weekend (21 and 22 July) sees lots of activity – with three steam locomotives in service. No. 92203 Black Prince will be sporting the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation headboard throughout the weekend, in support of the Foundation at Winchcombe along with a gallery of David Shepherd’s steam and wildlife paintings. 4771 Green Arrow will also be working service trains, while trusty small Prairie, no 5542, works a special Elegant Excursions charter on Saturday (for a group of that locomotive’s supporters) and again on Sunday for a luncheon train. On Saturday evening there is ‘An Evening with David Shepherd’ at Toddington starting at 7pm (tickets £15 in aid of the Foundation, from Toddington booking office) followed by a trip to Winchcombe, a viewing with David of his paintings (with refreshments) and of course return behind Black Prince to Toddington via Cheltenham. You can reserve a ticket if you wish and pay for it on arrival.
Next time you’re at Toddington collect a copy of both Heritage Railway and Steam Railway magazines. Heritage Railway boasts a wonderful spread of photographs from the recent Cotswold Festival of Steam (of course, you can see pictures on our own gallery too). Steam Railway also covers the festival – but from the perspective of staff writer Mark Pearce, who spent a day on the footplate of Foremarke Hall during the Festival.
David Shepherd special evening Saturday 21st July While a gallery of some of David’s finest wildlife and steam work will be on display throughout the weekend (21st and 22nd July) at Winchcombe station, there is a rare opportunity to enjoy an ‘Evening with David Shepherd’ on Saturday 21st at Toddington station. David will talk about his work to save endangered animal species and how his passion links with another endangered species, 40 years ago this year: steam locomotives. After the talk a special train will depart for Winchcombe, where David will talk about the wildlife and steam paintings on display here, while enjoying a glass of wine. The train will then return to Toddington, via Cheltenham. Ticket price for this special evening (including the train ride and view of the paintings with David Shepherd) is only £15, all in aid of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Tickets available from the GWR at 01242 621 405; e-mail enquiries@gwsr.com. Tickets are going fast although a few are being reserved for sale on Saturday at Toddington booking office. Phone or e-mail to reserve yours now! As a taster, here are a couple more of David’s steam pictures – the well-known and evocative picture of the last days at Nine Elms locomotive depot in London and one of several sketches painted ‘live’ so to speak, at various depots during the dying days of steam. This is of a filthy ‘N’ class 2-6-0 at Guildford depot. Several of these oil sketches will be displayed at Winchcombe during the weekend, one of the first occasions that they have been displayed and most have never been published.
David says, ‘I only paint sad scenes’ and these certainly capture the desperation of the last days of steam on BR – images painted when the subjects had only days – or even hours – of service ahead of them, or had ended their days and were awaiting the vicious cut of the oxy-acetylene torch. The same applies to his wildlife paintings – the wonderful images are sad when one realises that animals such as tigers, bears and elephants are fast diminishing in numbers. You can find out more by reading our press release or seeing our earlier news item which includes more of David’s work including a painting depicting 92203 in BR days. Fortunately David saved this locomotive from the cutter’s torch, for us all to enjoy today on the GWR.
Diesel driving experience places selling fast Places are running out on the GWR’s diesel driving experiences. There are only places available on the September and November courses. Click here for more details.
Latest carriage and wagon department report The latest carriage and wagon department report is now available here. Thanks as always to Richard Johnson for the report.
David Shepherd – Wildlife and Steam in the news A press release has been issued to local media about the forthcoming weekend with David Shepherd, 21st and 22nd July. You can read the press release here. Don’t forget that you can now obtain tickets for the Evening with David Shepherd – not only does this include an entertaining talk by David at the Flag & Whistle on Saturday evening, but a trip behind his locomotive Black Prince to Winchcombe, for a ‘private view’ of his steam and wildlife paintings, with refreshments. That’s a great opportunity to talk to David about his work with wildlife and of course, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, in aid of which this evening is being run. The train then returns via Cheltenham. Tickets only £15 each – fantastic value – and they are available from Toddington booking office now. Download a booking form here or telephone 01242 621405. You can also find out more in our earlier news item here.
The way we were – the way we will be again The photograph of Broadway station we ran in last week’s news item about clearing the way at Broadway produced some kind responses about the magnitude of the project ahead. So we’re glad to report a good turnout – especially on Saturday – of volunteers who set to with gusto. Compare the picture of Broadway station in 1960 with the picture taken yesterday from pretty much the same spot. It’s not difficult to imagine track here again along with a station building that is likely to be an existing former Great Western building to be moved from another location.
It was easy to see where the station platforms once stood while the foundations of the signalbox – south of the road bridge – have been excavated. The foundations are in remarkably good condition and can be re-used to support the former Exminster signalbox which has been acquired for the site. We’ll publish more photographs soon.
June P-Way update The latest update from the railway’s P-Way department is available here.
Update on steam firing and driving courses There are now only two dates available for the GWR’s steam driving and firing courses. The remaining dates are: 21st September - 3 places available For more details click here. |
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