Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway

I’m not a particular fan of steam railways, but my partner is. I wasn’t sure what to buy him as a Christmas present last year, as he has sufficient clothes, cd’s, books and the like. Then I saw an advert for a day trip that was being organised by Worthing Coaches, which was going to the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway and that seemed the ideal solution to my problem. It was being organised for Tuesday 27th December, so it also fitted neatly into that gap that always appears between Christmas and New Year. As an added bonus, we would be served with a hot mince pie and either a tea or coffee during the train journey.

So I booked the tickets and kept my fingers crossed that the weather would be kind to us.

Fate smiled on us and when 27th December arrived it was very cold and frosty, so much so that it seemed more like a very fine layer of snow. All the trees were covered in a dusting, as were the fields and the buildings. The sun came out and as the temperature slowly rose, a fine shimmer of mist appeared. In several places, wild deer were grazing near the edge of woods and I lost track of the number of pheasants that were scrabbling in the undergrowth.

We made a short comfort stop on the way and then arrived at Cheltenham in time for lunch. As it was only two days after Christmas, a number of the cafés, restaurants and shops were stilled closed for the holidays, but we found a lovely bistro in one of the side streets and had a delicious sandwich.

It was my first visit to Cheltenham and hopefully will not be my last. We were impressed by the Regency buildings we saw and in particular a row of shops that are divided by caryatids.

We found one section of public garden that included a fountain dedicated to Neptune, which must look wonderful when it is working. When we were there, it was switched off and the water had been drained.

Nearby there is a statue to Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson, who was born in Cheltenham. He was an artist who accompanied Captain Scott on his voyages to the South Pole, both on the Discovery and the Terra Nova and he was one of the explorers who died on Scott’s last expedition. By a strange coincidence, we have seen the cabin he used on the Discovery, when we visited Dundee a few years ago. Some of his artist’s materials and his watercolours are on display there and it is strange to think that he could produce such delicate work in such harsh conditions.

From Cheltenham we wended our way through some delightful Cotswold villages, with their honey-coloured stone houses and tiny alleys. Even in the middle of winter, there seemed to be plenty of tourists around.

We arrived at Toddington Station with time to look round the museum area before climbing on board our train. One of the volunteers told us the history of the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway, which was built between 1900 and 1906 and was part of Great Western Railway’s Cheltenham-Stratford-upon-Avon-Birmingham Line. It closed after the line was damaged by a derailment in 1976. The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway was founded as a volunteer-run heritage railway in 1981 and it began re-laying the track. The first services ran in 1984 and over the years they have extended the line so that it now covers 12 miles, finishing at Cheltenham Racecourse. A mixture of diesel and steam heritage locomotives are used by the volunteers and special events are arranged during the season.

In our case, we were served with a delicious hot mince pie and drink, which we enjoyed as we chugged through the misty landscape. An added bonus was arriving back at Toddington Station just as the sun set in a pink and lilac sky! The ideal way to finish our day.