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.

         

The Nene Valley Railway

If you have to go to the passport office in Peterborough at short notice, popping in to the NVR on the way back home seemed like a good idea. We rolled up at 2.00 in the hope of a late lunch, but the kitchen at the café had stopped serving minutes before we sat down, leaving very little choice from a restricted menu. The last time we were there, we had been very impressed with the café and the wide range of food on offer, but things have obviously changed and the formerly detailed chalk boards on the wall advertising what was available were scrubbed clean.

The NVR were celebrating Railway 200 over the weekend with the LNWR coal tank No. 1054 visiting from the K&WVR and ex-GWR Large Prairie No. 4144 on loan from Didcot. The ex-LT diesel shunter was offering footplate rides for a fiver between the station at Wansford and the entrance to the sheds.

Fledborough viaduct

The viaduct is a very substantial survivor of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway, which later became part of the Great Central Railway. The early optimism of the LD&ECR was ill-founded, as it never reached either Lancashire or the east coast. Its route was limited to the stretch between Chesterfield and Lincoln, though it was built as a double-track main line.

Fledborough viaduct was constructed in 1897 and is 890 yards long. It consists of 59 brick arches across the River Trent flood plain and 4 steel girder bridges above the river, itself. After closure in 1964, the track was removed and it eventually became part of a Sustrans national cycle route.

It can be viewed today from Fledborough, but only at a distance, and more clearly from the east side of the river to the south of the structure. It can be accessed between the villages of North and South Clifton by walkers and cyclists from a path connecting the viaduct approach to the minor road.

Chester station

I pointed out to Chris where we had stood on the steps that still lead down from the Hoole Road overbridge on the occasions that we cycled to Chester to train spot. We probably only managed it once or twice, as we usually went by train. Looking down onto the station from the top of the steps today means viewing an extensive car park, as some of the bay platforms, where the Western Region trains arrived and departed were abandoned decades previously. After all, it was 60 years ago that I last stood here.

The station itself is largely unchanged and it brings back many memories. Chester was an interesting venue for trainspotters, as a wide mix of locomotive types could be seen, including WR, LMR and Standard classes. There are barriers at Chester today and as I strained to take a picture from behind the line, I was approached by a lady who was part of the station staff and she asked if I wanted to come through to take my pictures. How nice was that? She went on to tell me about the many charter specials that visit Chester these days and how enthusiasts were always made welcome. I found that very encouraging and rather refreshing, when the trend nationally is probably the other way, in the direction of suspicion and increased surveillance.

 

Thomas Brassey, Railway Builder

A statue outside in the forecourt and a plaque on the wall inside Chester station mark the substantial contribution of Thomas Brassey to the railway age. Born nearby and educated in Chester, Thomas Brassey lived and worked in Birkenhead, where he set up his Canada Works near Beaufort Road. He went on to build the first railways in France and became a prolific and successful railway engineer in Britain and in many other countries. He is referred to as the foremost railway builder of all and deserves to be  regarded in the same light as Brunel and Stephenson. 

 

Queen Hotel at Chester

We found a reasonable deal for this hotel, which is on the other side of the forecourt opposite Chester station. It was opened as the Queen Railway Hotel in 1860 and has been tastefully refurbished, while retaining its substantial attractions. The links with the past include an explanatory corridor mural and an LMS-era photograph of a Stanier Black Five at the head of a train in the station, which adorns the wall in the gents’ toilet. Convenient nearby overnight parking is accessed by passing through the elegant archway at Queen Hotel Mews.

 

“Singin’ on the Train”

 

“Singin’ on the Train”

Carlton Male Voice Choir at the Severn Valley Railway, Saturday 16^th August 2025

This was quite an organisational feat and a carefully choreographed operation mounted by the heritage line. Seven male voice choirs from different parts of the country descended on the SVR for a feast of sound. That was in addition to a lot of chuffing from steam loco No. 4930 Hagley Hall and some serious throbbing and whirring from diesels D1062 Western Courier and the “Teddy Bear” Class 14, all providing interludes between the performances and transport to the various singing venues.

The wonderful recreation of a Great Western Railway country terminus at Kidderminster provided the focal point of the day, both starting off and later winding up the event under the glass canopy, which certainly didn’t detract from a sound quality angle. The Engine House at Highley, which serves as the SVR’s large exhibits museum, provided venue number two for the choir, and after that it was all aboard once more to the end of the line at Bridgnorth for a further performance on the station approach. Then it was straight back to Kidderminster for the finale, eventually involving all the choirs together.

By the end of the day, members of the Carlton Male Voice Choir had sung for a total of one hour thirty-six minutes and forty seconds, during which time they had run through twenty-seven different songs, according to their brief. That was in addition to any impromptu entertainment that was likely to break out in transit. There was even the possibility of a few more numbers at the end of the day for those who stuck it out for the advertised Afterglow repertoire session at the King and Castle pub on the station site, by which time participants would have been on active duty for over nine hours. With at least two hours outwards from Nottingham and the same back home again, that certainly counts as a full day out by anyone’s standards.

Our little party of fans tracked the Carlton crew throughout. The canopy above the concourse at Kidderminster station softens the direct sunlight and provided a splendid location for the initial set. At this point, I made a diversion to the adjacent Kidderminster Railway Museum for the Preview of the Guild of Railway Artists’ annual Railart exhibition, to which I had also coincidentally been invited and which I'm happy to recommend. It is open until Sunday 28^th September. Two old friends greeted each other in front of the pictures in the hall. “Hello. How are you getting on?” “Oh, I’m fine, thanks. Haven’t been to hospital since yesterday.”

I caught the 2.00 from Kiddy to catch up with the choir, who were having their lunch at Highley prior to singing at 2.45. Oh dear. We were going to be late away but no explanation was provided as to why, so I found an attendant. “An issue on the dining car, sir. Soon as we sort it, we’ll be off.” I envisaged one of the cake-stands I’d seen being carefully loaded on board on a trolley in preparation for afternoon tea collapsing and spilling scones and eclairs all over the carriage floor. By this time the habitual moaners in our carriage were going into overdrive and the guard was getting it in the neck about how a missed connection at Bridgnorth was going to ruin the rest of their lives. The guy opposite me started recording the encounter on his mobile phone, which momentarily struck me as quite a good idea, though actually I’m not that brave. The whistle was blown and the flag finally waved at 2.17. We were back on track and I would be at Highley in time for the choir’s next performance, after all. A uniformed SVR volunteer hurried through the coach armed with a dustpan and a long brush, more or less confirming my cake-stand theory.

After the Highley performance there was still time for a cup of tea or an ice cream before catching the 16.06 to the northern terminus. There is a nice café up the stairs at the Engine House, along with a spacious balcony to watch the trains go by. The Western diesel did the honours to prove the point, while we chatted outside with some members of the choir. The railway was new ground for them, but they were appreciative of the beautiful scenery in the Severn valley and the professionalism of the set-up on the railway, which like most heritage lines depends largely on the goodwill of volunteers of all ages for its continued survival. They were pleased to have been well-received and thought they had done enough to be invited back to what has apparently now become a regular part of the railway’s annual calendar.  

Onwards again to the early evening slot at Bridgnorth in the courtyard at the front of the station. The railway has extended the adjoining pub and refreshment area here in recent times and picnic tables are provided for just such moments, during this warm summer of ’25. Local bikers, dog walkers using the footbridge to the nearby town centre and regular pub-goers enjoying an early evening pint were amongst the crowd being serenaded and it was striking how appropriate the song selection process had been and how pleased the largely spontaneous audience was to hear so many recognisable offerings. Main man, Ian, skilfully switched from conductor to presenter and back again. His relaxed and friendly demeanour won the audience over with ease. Right on cue, drinks magically appeared for the two soloists, then it was back on board the train for the last leg of the journey to Kidderminster.

Our day out was coming to a close. The rest of the family headed for the nearest chip shop, which happened to be opposite the station. The board outside showing opening times thoughtfully announced its “Gluten Free Wednesdays!”, except that it was Saturday, so a long wait for gluten-free batter if that was a requirement. We had chosen, instead, the first pub serving food that we came to on Kidderminster’s urban fringe, so we can recommend The Swan at Blakedown for some excellent pub grub, friendly and speedy service and all at a reasonable price. Our excursion was complete. On the drive home, I wondered if Ian - or anyone else for that matter - had noticed my enthusiastic rendition of the “Oh-Oh-Oh, Oh-Oh-Oh” in the bridge of the choir’s version of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. I was pretty sure that it was impressively in tune, throughout, as a matter of fact.