Hands-on

My railway volunteering has rather run out of steam for now, and I didn’t really get my hands dirty at all. My friend, John, however, is doing his bit in the carriage department at the Severn Valley Railway. He uses his know-how as a former art teacher and as a practising artist to line out and number refurbished and repainted stock and apply lettering to carriage boards, etc, in accordance with some very prescriptive graphic styles.

The SVR’s carriage department - and John, himself - feature in a TV programme in the BBC1’s Escape to the Country series, to be broadcast on Tuesday 14^th November at 3.00 pm.

Though Kidderminster is hardly countryside, no doubt the intention is to show viewers some of the interesting things that are happening round and about, should you choose to up sticks and move to rural Worcestershire.

My photos are from 2001, while the paint has barely dried on John’s.