Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is an absolute cracker, its the railway the others wish they were….There professionalism is second to none & the membership /volunteer base huge, the railway trundles through some of the most picturesque countryside in the west midlands, its stations are classic Great Western treasures the coaching stock is impeccable and the motive power is always top notch, though visiting locos can be a little large for a former secondary GWR line. This railway has so much to offer the photographer i love it to bits!
An intersting day spent with my 7 year old son William. We started the day around Bewdley south, then went upto Orchard cottage, then checked out a couple of new locations. We finished the day around the yard at Bridgnorth. We met a few familair faces and some new ones. Its always nice to put faces to names youve heard alot about. The weather never improved till dusk and yes i picked the worst day of the whole event, but we still had some fun. We even managed to make Clive Hanleys gallery! i guess you dont see many 7 year olds playing with a D80.......
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Another trip over to the Severn Valley during the Christmas hols. Once again i was joined by my good buddy Rick Eborall, we started the day at the Rock then moved upto Arley where Rick showed me the Victoria bridge shots from the forest bridleway, we struggled with fog & poor light around the bridge so travelled back down the valley to Bewdley in the hope of Sun. We werent dissapointed and the sun shone for the rest of the day......Some nice shots were grabbed @ Orchard Cottage & Northwood Lane followed by some wandering for new locations south of Bewdley. The silhoutte shot by the safari park was a nice addition, a we had the Added bonus of the Pig @ Kiddi with the 4:45 on the way home, though we did struugle with the nasty orange lights around the station..... This railway is a photographers dream its such a pleasure just to wander around the Severn Valley never mind the railway.....Roll on the big events of 2010! Motive power was in the form off 6695, 5164 & 43106.
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What a way to celebrate your birthday...A superb day on the SVR lineside in glorious Sun with the Santa Specials. I was joined by good friend Andy Gamble & Rick Eborall who scrounged a lift from Cov! Inbetween shooting R.E. spent his spare time eating all my mince pies and drinking the brandy sauce like it were cows milk..........! The day was spent South of Bewdley, with one short foray upto Northwood lane for the Pig. The lane was pretty Icy underfoot & We met 2 fisherman by the old Tenbury Wells bridge, when asked how they'd got on the reply was something like " the only thing we've had on the line today was the car being pulled out of the ditch!" Oops......We had a quick chat with Martin Creese & Matt Fielding whilst there then headed back to finish the day up at the Tunnel. We lost the light for one two in the afternoon but finished very happy with the days efforts! Our only gripe was driving to Kiddi in Snow only to find Bewdley void of any fall....Bah humbugger!
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The SVR Autumn Gala this year had a real Tank feel about it. Once again the whole weekend was blessed fine weather but the mornings were quite cloudy affairs. The main star of the show for me was the Flying Pig 43106 after nearly 2 decades out in the wilderness it was lovely to see it in action, other stars were in the form of Loughborough based N2 1744 which was paired up with the gresley teaks all weekend & looked superb. Other visitors included KWVR Ivatt Tank 41241 & GWR 56xx 5643 from llangollen. These were supported by the SVR home fleet. As last year i spent the night shooting long exposures off tripods. This time round i had a great friend and good photographer Andy Gamble with me which was good for morale during the early hours of Sunday! During the Saturday evening we bumped into Rick Eborall on Hampton Loade station. As ever the banter was top notch even if did drink dry us of tea and eat all the biscuits....... We Also Caught up with Steve Botrill & Paul Martin at Eardington bank. It's always nice to catch up some of the regular GCR linsiders when on a foreign railway! After 22 hours of solid shooting we finally threw in the towel @ 11am Sunday at Bewdley Tunnel....But it was great and worth every bit of pain! The gallery will take me some time to complete but ive started off with the N2, i thought she looked lovely with the teaks, as far as im aware she never missed a beat and was a tremendous advertisment for the MPD @ Loughborough & the GCR generally. Well Done Loughborough! This year i concentrated on just getting good classic shots on classic SVR locations.....though i did get carried away with long exposures on Bridgnorth shed @ 4am Sunday! I hope you enjoy having a browse.....
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I should have been on the Bluebell, i wanted to shoot Merchant Navy 34059 Arichibald Sinclair but a failure scuppered that idea...So Plan B was a visit to the SVR to look for places to shoot at on the upcoming gala....We were blessed with gorgeous weather which became to hot and we lost all exhaust!! Shame as the afternoon light on Eardington bank was superb! Never mind still pretty happy with the shots and locations. Also took time to wander round the back of Bridgnorth MPD to have a gander at the Flying pig......The must shoot loco of the Autumn gala. Enjoy!
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The Severn Valley's first main gala of 2009 brought together a lovely mixture of express engines. 71000 Duke of Gloucester, 70013 Oliver Cromwell, 5029 Nunney Castle, 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley were supported by 7812 Earlstoke Manor & Large Pararie 5164 from the home fleet. I only managed the Saturday. The stations were buzzing but there was a noticeable lack of Gricers, probably @ North Nofolk Railway for the M&GN 50th Anniversary i guess?? Anyhow the weather was lovely in the morning but clouded over in the afternoon. lack of a lineside pass restricts you to certain places. but i used the opportunity to try different angles at Victoria bridge and did some arty pictures rather than traditional shots, this way you can keep the public out of the shots. All in all Ok day but nothing brilliant. highlight was seeing the Duke for the first time, it has more universal jointed driveshafts than a Land Rover...! It looks like a Britt on steriods!
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The first day out with the camera in 2009 proved to be a challenge...The venue was supposed to be the GCR to show a good friend (& great photographer) the classic locations.But on the morning of the 3rd the East Midlands had a blanket of cloud, but Westwards was gorgeous....Hence we changed venues to the SVR...Upon arrival at Bewdley all was fine. We carried on towards Hampton Loade for the first shot and were hit by thick "Severn valley" Fog! This fog remained all day North of Bewdley which restricted us for the rest of the day. The shots you see are the best of a very average bunch. The three engine's running were 42968 Stanier Mogul & 7812 Earlstoke & 7802 Bradley Manors......
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The Dukedog at the Severn Valley on a charter with the GWR freight stock was just to good to miss. I managed to get on the Adrian palmers charter at the last minute and hoped for the best......The morning was dull...very dull... We worked our way down the line from Hampton Loade to Bewdley then broke for lunch. In the afternoon the sun broke through and we got some lovely light for the shots around Bewdley. Some nice shots came out in the end, but the day wasnt best planned. The plan was to meet @ Bewdley for an 8am start only to find out the "dog" needed to go back to Bridgnorth for coal..... then had to shunt the guards van to the back, to cut a long and boring story short we actually took our first shots & 10am...@ Hampton Loade! Not best pleased...! When the sun came out in the afternoon we spent large periods of time walking the track instead of pinging shots! I guess that's what comes of booking late. Beggars can't be choosers. Lessons were learnt.
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The 2008 SVR Autumn Gala promised to be a Great Western extravaganza. The only visitor to pull out was 6024 King Edward I, which was a shame but a personal favourite of mine the Stanier Mogul 42968 deputised and provided some cracking evening shots as you will see.... Highlights included the beautiful Black Pararie 5526 with the Autocoach from the South Devon Railway & The double headings of Truro & the Dukedog......The weather was amazing a classic Indian Summer weekend with cold foggy evenings & mornings creating some great photographic conditions to get the SVR back on track after the near fatal landslips of 2007. My own personal highlight was waiting on Hampton Loade & Arley stations through the night for the arrivals of the 2 Manors which ran the night timetable. The stations take on a whole new aura at night, Heres to a successful 2009 for the SVR...........
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