Port Sunlight

I couldn’t really account for the fact that I’d never had a good look round Port Sunlight before now, but there you are, we were here at last. It is, of course, renowned in some quarters as the model garden village constructed for the factory workers in his soap manufacturing business by William Hesketh Lever and begun in 1888. At the heart of the estate today is the classically-styled Lady Lever Art Gallery with its collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings. The museum opposite tells the story of the settlement, though this was unfortunately closed on the day that we visited. The Lever Brothers building, itself, has an impressive stone façade from 1895, and nearby is the Gladstone Theatre of 1891, opened by Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone, firstly as a dining hall.

Of interest, too, is the station, which has a cottage-style exterior in keeping with its surroundings. The station is on the ex-LNWR/GWR Joint line from Birkenhead, a route we travelled along on trainspotting forays to Chester, Crewe and Shrewsbury. We must have sped through Port Sunlight on the Paddington expresses many a time, without giving it so much as a second glance. This section is now part of the electrified Merseyrail network that connects Chester to the Wirral and Liverpool. It is operated by four-car Class 777 third rail EMUs.  

Peak Rail Heritage Open Day

A tour round the sheds at 17C Rowsley was a first or me, never having reached here in the days of steam. The opportunity for a “behind the scenes” guided walk was provided as part of the nationwide September 2024 heritage days, whereby such sites open their doors to visitors at no cost. As the website puts it, “Heritage Open Days is England's largest community led festival of history and culture, involving thousands of local volunteers and organisations. Every year in September it brings people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. Stories are told, traditions explored, and histories brought to life. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE.” On duty at Rowsley South was the former Kent Electricity Board’s 0-4-0 saddle tank No. 2, Bagnall No. 2842, from the Chasewater Railway, at the head of the 4-coach train to Matlock. The sheds and yard contained a mix of steam and diesel locos in various stages of repair, in addition to the current operational fleet .

   

Totnes Riverside to Buckfastleigh

We took a trip up the valley on the South Devon Railway behind the ex-GWR 0-6-0 panier tank No. 6412. The journey is through a tranquil sylvan landscape with shafts of sunlight intermittently piercing the canopy of trees on the river bank. The peace is only broken by the steady beat and exhaust from the locomotive as it pulls its string of Mark 1 coaches up the slope at a suitably sedate pace. This is attractive rural England at its best. The branch line is so typical of its type, serving occasional country towns and connecting them to the nearest main line. When we first came here, trains ran in to the main line station, but the potential bottleneck on the up track at the rail bridge over the Dart immediately to the east meant Riverside became the necessary start point for the heritage line, so that workings did not encroach on main line operations. That’s fine, as it’s only a short walk between the two, and the replacement terminus is itself a delightfully re-constructed period piece. Near Staverton, we passed 4500 Class 2-6-2 tank No. 5526 on a freight working that included brake van experience opportunities.