Tina and I took granddaughter Maci and her ‘big sister’ Ivy out for the day and had a great time on the Watercress Line, which is a heritage railway offering a scenic, family-friendly experience through the Hampshire countryside, showcasing historic steam and diesel locomotives, local history, and a commitment to preservation and education.
We got on the train at Alresford and travelled the 35-minute journey to Alton, enjoying a ‘packed lunch’. After a look around the station at Alton, we got back on the train and travelled to Ropley where we got off to enjoy some of the activities and attractions based at this station before completing our journey back to Alresford.
The line served the needs of the local community and enabled the establishment of commercial watercress growing in the Alresford area. This highly perishable product required rapid transport to get it to market. During both World Wars, the line carried military traffic between the army town of Aldershot and Southampton. Part of the route, from Alresford to Alton, was subsequently purchased from British Railways by the Watercress Line and, through the hard work of volunteers, steam trains ran again from Alresford to Ropley from 30 April 1977. Services were extended to Medstead & Four Marks in May 1983 and to Alton in May 1985.
We were lucky enough to be in carriages pulled by the Stream Locomotive number 30506.
Nationalisation of Britain’s railways took place in January 1948, which saw the formation of British Railways, and 506 was renumbered to 30506. Though in fact, life for the engine was virtually unchanged.
Withdrawn in January 1964, 30506’s last duties were in June of that year, when she was rostered to tow several of her sisters to the scrap yards of South Wales. Fate stepped in when due to badly blowing superheater elements in the boiler, she failed with low steam and water at Staines, and was towed back to Feltham. Clearly, she wasn’t ready to go for scrap!
In October 1964, 30506 was herself towed to the Woodham Brothers Scrapyard in Barry Island, South Wales where she would remain until rescue came in the form of the Urie Locomotive Society who purchased her in March 1973. Moving to Alresford by road in 1976, restoration saw her back in steam in August 1987.
506 gave many years of service on the railway until 2001, when she was stopped for a heavy overhaul. Severe corrosion was found in the main frames behind the cylinders, which resulted in the front nine feet of the frames being cut off and replaced with new steel. June 2019 saw the welcome return to service of this fine locomotive and is a testament to the group of skilled engineers who have saved, repaired and looked after her.
The majority of the Watercress Line carriage stock consists of British Railways Mk 1, but there are some interesting exceptions. Service trains are usually five to six coaches long with a maximum of six due to platform lengths. Much of the Mk1 stock has its origins in the southern, eastern and Scottish regions. The carriage restoration department have refurbished these heritage coaches to a consistently high standard and continue to work on restoring non-operational stock. With the exception of the luxury Pullman dining train stock and the Real Ale Bar, most of the carriages are painted in British Railways southern green, to match the operational period of the railway.
For us it was a special day as Bluey and Bingo were at Ropley for a ‘meet and greet’ session. We were lucky enough to have tickets for this and duly shock hands, did a high 5 and had photos taken with these 2 ‘celebrities’… This was followed by fun on a train themed climbing frame, including coming down the fireman’s pole, two trips on the miniature railway (yes that’s me sitting in the train drivers seat) and the obligatory face painting
It was a great day out and I would thoroughly recommend a trip on the Watercress Line if you were able to do it. Visit their website for more information:
https://watercressline.co.uk/
FELIX UPDATE
Talking about trips and making memories, an update on my special appeal to send Felix to Disney World. Donations have continued and the target of £15,000 has been reached. This is fantastic news and means that Felix and his family will be able to take full advantage of their trip and will undoubtably make some terrific memories.
I had this message from Tom (Felix’s Dad):
Hi Dick,
We have reached target!!! All thanks to your efforts and we can’t thank you enough!
Visas are issued and now we just wait for the results of his last MRI and then we shall be booking and packing. I genuinely cannot express my thanks to you (and all who have donated and made the effort to push this) to make this trip happen. We as a family cannot wait to make these memories.
So, thank you. So much it’s impossible to describe.
Regards
Tom
I have now met Tom, and he was genuine and effusive in his thanks for the donations and also for the work and donations that have raised funds for ‘TheRockinR’ Gaming Carts which he and his family have had firsthand experience of using at various hospitals over the past few years. As my followers and supporters, your donations really have made a difference to so many people’s lives – so thank you once again.
I still remember the old 'slam door' carriages where there were no internal handles to open the door - you had to lower the window and reach outside for the handle to get the door opened. Things have come a long way since then.
Sounds like a great day out. That photo of the inside of an empty carriage brought back memories - I spent 7 years going to school 6 days a week in carriages like that on Southern Railways. (Yes, you read that right - Saturday mornings, too!)