The Railway Children

 

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and surrounding area has been used many times as a location for films, TV programmes and adverts. (For the complete list see here.)  One of the most famous was 'The Railway Children', an adaptation of the book by Edith Nesbit, which was filmed there in 1970 and starred Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Bernard Cribbins.  Some of the action takes place here on Oakworth Station, including the scene of the homecoming of the children's father.  It remains a delightful and atmospheric little station, much as it has always been, with coal fires warming the Ticket Office and the Waiting Room and bits of railway ephemera including some lovely old metal advertising signs.  I bought a little booklet outlining a 'Railway Children Walk', taking in some of the main locations where the film was made, which I will explore sometime when the weather improves (and bring you pictures of, of course!)

I took so many photos at the Steam Gala Weekend that I have put some more on my other blog.

Wheel

Isn't there something really satisfying and beautiful about this?  It is, of course, a wheel on one of the steam locomotives on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Train driver

Rarely seen on SDP - a portrait of a person!  It's not so scary photographing people at events like the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway's Steam Gala Weekend - the volunteers seem to welcome it. There are probably many photos of this train driver on the Web!  There were hundreds of photographers around and he affably leaned out of his cab to chat to a passer-by.  Handsome man, don't you think?  It's a cliché that all little boys want to be train drivers - well, some of them manage it!  And as a visitor you get a real sense of the love that all the volunteers have for their work on the railway.  They all play their parts with relish: the ticket-sellers, the train drivers, the station masters and all those who run around doing the less visible jobs that together make the venture such a success.  Someone told me that KWVR have a hostel and people come to stay on working holidays to help with the restoration of the engines and rolling stock.  I salute them all.

Whistle

Here's a classic steam train shot.  Locomotive BR Standard 4MT No. 80002 arriving at Oxenhope station, as part of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway's Steam Gala Weekend. (Although this train is 'resident' on the line and is often used to haul the normal service.)

Even though I'm not a rail enthusiast in the accepted sense of the word, I still find steam trains exciting and romantic.  And this line is very scenic, passing through some lovely Yorkshire countryside and some attractive and interesting villages.

The Worth Valley line was opened in 1867, built by local mill owners but franchised to the Midland Railway. It eventually became part of British Rail in 1948 and was closed in 1962 as part of swingeing cuts across the British rail network.  Locals fought to keep it open, creating a preservation society to buy the line and lease access into Keighley station, where it joins the main rail network.  The line was reopened in 1968 and has run a regular service ever since, staffed entirely by volunteers.

Train coming

The interesting and historical village of Haworth is about half-way up the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway line.  There is a footbridge over the railway line beside the station that provides a good vantage point, though you do get wreathed in smoke and steam when a train arrives!  On Gala Weekends like this one, the combination of steam trains and real-ale (served all day in the trains' buffet cars) guarantees a large and predominantly male audience.  Keen photographers can get line-side permits and it was amusing to see little groups gathered at all the best spots - orange high-vis vests, tripods and DSLRs with massive lenses seemed to be de rigeur.  There must have been many thousands of pounds worth of gear walking about the Worth Valley that day!

(Don't ask me why, but some of the locomotives seem to be hitched to the carriages backwards, as I think this one was.  I think they go up the line forwards and down it backwards, no doubt due to the lack of a turning circle at the top terminus.  I was worried that the driver wouldn't see where he was going... but then I remembered they can't anyway in a steam loco!)

Letting off steam

It promised to be a sunny day on Saturday - and did eventually deliver!  So I decided to make the most of it and have a day out, hoping to get some photos.  I made up my mind to visit the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR), which is a privately-owned, volunteer-run railway that connects the town of Keighley (about 7 miles up the Aire valley from Saltaire) with the villages of the Worth Valley including Haworth and Oxenhope.  Even on wintry days there is lots of photographic interest along the line.

Imagine my delight to discover that this wasn't just any old weekend but a Steam Gala Weekend on the KWVR. (That explains why there was a steam train passing through Saltaire the other day, obviously one of the 'guest' locomotives.)  The KWVR is a thriving line that operates a number of steam-hauled trains, and regularly holds special events.  Even though I'm not a real train buff, there is something really lovely about the whole thing and I always enjoy visiting and riding the trains.

The low winter sun and backlighting make this photo into a story, I think.  I'll leave you to imagine that wonderful hissing sound as the engine lets off some steam pressure.

The Great Britain III

Our second day's walking in Northumberland took us another 13 or so miles from Holy Island to Belford, which is a village slightly inland. We were following St Cuthbert's Way, a way-marked path that goes past St Cuthbert's Cave, one of the places where it's said that the monks rested with St Cuthbert's bones when they were fleeing the Vikings.

We had to cross the busy A1 road, as well as the main Edinburgh to London East Coast rail line (which involved protracted chats by phone with a signalman!) As we were walking towards the line, we more or less bumped into this steam train. On searching the web I have discovered it was a Railway Touring Company tour - the Great Britain III - on its way from Edinburgh to York and then London. At this point the loco was the Princess Elizabeth 46201. And that, not being a train buff, is all I know. But I do like to see steam trains and so it was a serendipitous moment.

(For those who like trains, a click on the pic will make it bigger.)