To the SVR, once more

It was quiet and wet at the SVR on Sunday. They will be hoping for better weather for their forthcoming steam gala weekend. For the second day running, I had been disappointed by the extent of the refreshments available on the day at a heritage line. Many people visiting the SVR will be making a whole day of it and will be requiring sustenance throughout. It was bad news, therefore to read a few days before our visit that the kitchen at Bridgnorth station café would not be serving hot food, even though they were opening at 9.30. It would have been no advantage for us to go to Kidderminster, instead, because their station café didn’t open until 12.00, so well after the first train of the day had left at 10.15.

As we were travelling from Merseyside, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire to meet up at Bridgnorth in Shropshire, it would have been nice to start off with something fairly substantial to eat. In the town and a short walk away, I found that Greggs, Costa, Maisie’s and the Castle Tearoom were all open and serving breakfast within the market square alone. Fast forward to dinner time at Kidderminster, and we were very pleasantly surprised by Sunday lunch on the station. The café here is linked to the adjacent pub, the King and Castle, which also belongs to the SVR, and they’ve really got their act together. The food quality was excellent, it was good value for money and the service was first class. Off we went, steam-hauled to Highley in the rain. We thought we might squeeze in a cup of tea and a piece of cake in the splendid first floor café that overlooks the running line but the doors were locked by 3.00 and we had to settle for the drinks machine in the shop, though the attendant kindly took pity on us and gave us a free cuppa. Perhaps we looked a bit bedraggled by then.

Let’s be clear. We can work around these things. Victuals are not the be-all and end-all for us. Reaffirming life-long friendships, exchanging news since our previous get-together and enjoying the ambience created by the heritage railway that reminds us so strongly of our youth and our shared affection for steam traction, are all more important than stuffing our faces all day, believe it or not.

I also understand the pressures for the heritage railways that exist in this area. Franchising out responsibility for refreshments is difficult. The railways do not run anything like every day. There just isn’t the potential custom. They rely on imaginative schemes to lure visitors in, especially out of the holiday season and usually at weekends. The patchy nature of the typical calendar for running trains makes viability for allied businesses, which are therefore effectively part-time by necessity from the very start, really difficult.

As a volunteer with a heritage railway, myself, I know just how important this aspect of people power is to their continued survival, and how critical it is to renew volunteer labour by attracting more youngsters wherever possible. Without this willing labour pool, cafes can just not offer the service the railway would surely wish for, namely a full range of possibilities at all the available venues, whenever trains are running. The SVR remains a convenient, centrally located Midland venue, set in its wonderfully scenic valley - a significant tourist attraction for the area, with financial spin-offs for many surrounding businesses.

The crowds will return from next Thursday for four hectic days of activity, and no doubt all the ancillary providers will do a roaring trade and good luck to them. Fingers crossed, though, that when we get back there next, as we surely will do, but on a purposely quieter day as befits our advancing years, as we don’t particularly want to jostle for seats on a crowded train, or have to queue for lunch. Hopefully, some more bright-eyed young folk who live locally can be prised away from their online alternatives to find that the SVR provides a sociable and worthwhile way to spend a Sunday, whilst making an important contribution to the overall visitor experience in a place that we all hold dear.