A picture from Steam Railway magazine with their permission, and that of photographer Paul Cooper, who took it as the locomotive set off on the last leg of its journey from Woking.

During the 2008 Cotswold Festival of Steam, British Railways 9F class 2-10-0 was set to appear much as it was in April 1968, straight out of British Railways' service. A bit grimy but in good mechanical order, someone had gone to the trouble of painting all the brackets, lamp irons and hinges on the front of the locomotive white. The result was a slightly gaudy if striking image. The engine was on its last journey over BR from Crewe to the steam oasis at the Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire, whose junction with BR was at Liss on the Woking-Guildford line.

But this was no ordinary journey.  It happened literally during the last days of steam on British Railways.  And the journey took in the electrified Southern Region over which no live steam locomotive had run since the last run-down survivors of Nine Elms had been hauled dead to Salisbury the previous July.  And 92203 was no longer owned by British Railways - it was owned by the already accomplished artist David Shepherd who had so movingly captured the last desperate days of steam on canvas. And David was on the footplate.

Today, of course, David Shepherd needs little introduction.  An indefatigable and passionate wildlife conservationist, artist and author; millions of homes house one of his distinctive prints of elephants, railway locomotives, RAF aircraft or one or other of countless subjects he has tackled over the years.  The GWR hosted the David Shepherd 'Wildlife & Steam On Tour' exhibition in April this year raising thousands of pounds for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.

During the Cotswold Festival of Steam, 92203 - which was soon after its arrival at Longmoor was named Black Prince - appears in its state when it slipped out of national service and into private ownership: embellished with white paint, a bit grimy and minus its nameplates. The locomotive will be in steam over both weekends of the Festival, 24th to 26th may and 31st may and 1st June. Click here to see the timetable - Black Prince is Locomotive E on all of these days. David Shepherd will be at the railway on Monday 26th May and again on Sunday 1st June. But 1st June holds special significance for him.

So over to David Shepherd who writes:
"Sunday, 1st June promises to be a highly emotional day for me. First of all, my 140 ton steam locomotive, Black Prince, will be in steam on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Furthermore, the Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane, of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will be flying over the railway at 3pm, and the combination of the Lancaster and Black Prince will be almost too much for me to bear.

"In the late 1950s, the Royal Air Force, with whom I have never served, used to fly me all around the world gathering material for commissioned paintings of aviation subjects with which I started my career. They flew me to Nairobi in 1960 and it was there that they commissioned my very first wildlife painting, which changed my life and from which I have never looked back. So I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the RAF.

"This was repaid in some measure in 1978 when I was asked to raise money for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. This involved doing a painting, Winter of '43, Somewhere in England, and producing 850 copies of the print, signed and numbered. These all sold in a matter of weeks and raised £96,000; it also involved me flying in the Flight's Lancaster Bomber, City of Lincoln, one of only two 'Lancs' flying in the world today.  The other is in Canada.

"Through this exciting project which was so successful, I got to know the personnel of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. It was last year, when they celebrated their 50th anniversary, that I donated a painting which was auctioned and raised a very worthwhile sum for them and they then came down to Toddington at my invitation to enjoy the delights of riding on the footplate of Black Prince. So the link was forged and as a result, they accepted my invitation to fly over the GWR when Black Prince would be in steam. So that is the background to the event on Sunday, June 1st and it is possible that I will have the original, or certainly a reproduction of Winter of '43, Somewhere in England, on view at Toddington with all the whole story."

During 1st June, at about midday, there will be a ceremony to mark the 40 years since David acquired Black Prince and he will ceremoniously attach the nameplates. It will be an emotionally charged occasion - that, coupled with the distinctive drone of Rolls-Royce Merlin engines overhead, will surely reduce many grown men to tears!