Steam, Jazz & the Red Arrows!
posted on: 01 August 2008
updated on: 19 June 2009
article by: webmaster
On Saturday 26th July,
a hot and sunny summer's evening, visitors gathered at Toddington
Station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in aid of the
charity Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres.
The GWR ran an extra
train, after scheduled services had finished for the day, in
support of the new 'Maggie's Cotswolds' centre, which is to be
built in the grounds of Cheltenham General Hospital later this
year. Record breaking Great Western locomotive "City of Truro" was
in charge of the train and carried a 'Maggie's Express' headboard,
which had been manufactured and donated to the charity by
long-serving GWR volunteer Eddie Roberts from Alcester in
Warwickshire. Locally based jazz duo 'Ain't Misbehaving'
entertained visitors (and GWR staff) on Platform 1 at Toddington
for an hour prior to the 6:30pm departure, then just before the
train was due to leave the Red Arrows flew over the station at low
level - a real treat and a big surprise.
Everyone seemed to
thoroughly enjoy the journey and the as the train pulled into
Toddington at the end of the day the sight of hot air balloons
floating serenely over Winchcombe completed a perfect summer's
evening in The Cotswolds.