Behind the scenes

Back to the Severn Valley Railway yesterday this time for the "Behind the scenes" open day, this is when the SVR grant the public access to areas of the preserved railway that are usually restricted to members and staff such as the workshops at Bridgnorth and the carriage sheds at Kidderminster. I had a great time exploring these areas of the SVR as well as the cab of a class 20 diesel locomotive, amazingly it was the first cab i have ever been in! You can see my photos here.

Maybe the best part of the day was being able to get "up close and personal" with locomotives. Usually you interact with locos at platform level but when you are track side you get a much different and much more impressive perspective of these machines.

A bit of Deltic thrash

I went to the Severn Valley Railway again today (second time this year) and enjoyed some "thrash" behind 55 019, the Deltic which is visiting for the Summer. While Deltics arn't my favourite diesel locomotives they certainly sound good, well 3,300hp is unlikely to sound bad!

I travelled behind it up to Bridgnorth and back and stuck my head out of the window to breathe in plenty of fumes (as you do!) I was also able to photograph one of the rebuilt "Ultra 73s" which is at Kidderminster for some reason (driver training or testing probably). You can see my photographs here.

Shrewsbury Abbey

The Abbey of St Peter and St Paul a.k.a. Shrewsbury Abbey dates from just after the Norman conquest being founded in 1083 as a Benedictine monastery. The abbey became the site for a major shrine for St Winifred when relics were taken there in the 12th century making the abbey a site of pilgrimage. The abbey was greatly modified and expanded up to the 14th century but fell into decline during the Reformation when it had become a parish church after the dissolution of the monasteries (with some parts of the site pulled down or reused for other purposes).

Further elements of the original church were lost the following centuries including when the A5 was built through the abbey grounds and the church fell into disrepair. Major restoration projects took place in the 19th century and in the early 20th century there was a move to have the abbey become a cathedral though this was narrowly defeated by a vote in parliament. This was the second time the abbey had been mooted to become a cathedral in fact, Henry VIII had also considered it.

Despite the abbey's turbulent history a fair amount of the original Norman building remains especially on the eastern side of the nave.

Bridgnorth Cliff Railway

The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway is a funicular railway that links the high and low parts of the Shropshire town of Bridgnorth. The railway was built in the 1890s to help provide an easier way to travel between the 2 parts of the town, the high town being where Bridgnorth Castle's ruins are. Before the advent of the funicular railway traveling up to the high town was a 200 step climb so no doubt the opening of the railway was warmly welcomed by most!

Originally the railway used water and gravity to operate with water being pumped into a tank in the "top" railway car to counteract the weight of the "bottom" car and hence allow movement. This was changed to electricity when the railway was upgraded in the 1940s and the original wooden railway cars were replaced with lighter aluminium ones in the 1950s, these remain in use today. The railway is only 61m in length though rises a height of 34m.

Back to the Severn Valley

The Severn Valley Railway is firmly on my visit itinerary these days after last year's rediscovery. Yesterday i paid my first visit of the year to the SVR, heading up to the Engine House in Highley and then onto Bridgnorth. This time i had time to visit the low part of the town, i'll go up to the high part later in the year when i have more time and the weather is better. It was a bit cold up in Shropshire yesterday, but i took it all stoically. Even standing atop the Bridgnorth station footbridge waiting for a train to come in the sleet!

It was all a good day though my highlight was finally getting to travel on the SVR's heritage DMU (below). Maybe some might think this would be a strange "highlight" but this is the kind of train i grew up travelling on so it was highly nostalgic (though they were blue and grey when i used to travel on them!) You can see the photos i took on the SVR here.

Bridgnorth

Bridgnorth is a lovely town in Shropshire, not only the HQ of the Severn Valley Railway but also home to a funicular railway that links the low and high parts of the town. Neither can be seen in this photograph however!

End of the line

The end of the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth can be seen here. Its possible that one day the SVR could be extended North though it would take a lot of investment as much of the original line is now blocked so at the moment is rather unlikely.

The visit of the Silver King

Now i travel down from Birmingham to London quite often and have taken Chiltern Mainline's loco hauled train quite a few times too (its always my preference). However when i heard that one of these trains was to travel the Severn Valley Railway... well i just had to go and see.

So my third visit to the SVR in a short space of time, but the first time i've been all the way up to Bridgnorth. I travelled up on a steam train but travelled back down on the Chiltern (it was chartered for a rail tour but there were 2 trips along the line open to everyone). It was a very novel experience and most enjoyable. I think i do prefer a bit of Mark 1 coach thrash though but travelling the SVR with wifi just had to be done! You can see the photos i took here.

The Hole In The Wall

The Friday pub photo! The Hole In The Wall, Shrewsbury.

Big gun

An artillery gun at Shrewsbury Castle.

Shrewsbury

I can't remember if i've ever been to Shrewsbury before up near the Welsh border in Shropshire (which means i probably haven't or if i did it was when i was a child a long long time ago). In any event it was certainly worth waiting for, Shrewsbury is a lovely place by the river Severn (indeed the river wraps around the centre of the town and includes a castle, an abbey and an amazing mix of old and new buildings. In some ways the architectural mix reminded me a bit of Oxford though of course no where near as many spires!

Of course i took a lot of photos and you can see them here. I will certainly be returning some time fairly soon.

English Bridge