Today's video was quite an effort to produce, but certainly a worthwhile one! The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway was running its annual 'Cotswold Festival of Steam' event, over 3 days from the 12th to the 14th of May. There were a mix of visiting locomotives:
-4079 Pendennis Castle
-78019
-75014 Braveheart
-11243 (not featured)
-31806
As well as the home fleet of:
-7820 Dinmore Manor
-7903 Foremarke Hall (Running as 6999 Capel Dewi Hall)
-35006 Peninsular & Oriental S. N. Co.
I did originally have my doubts about going as I am undergoing the June 2023 A Level exam series, so my plans were supposed to be scaled back as was, but further issues scaled it back even further. Firstly I had to contend with the fact that Cheltenham was undergoing a blockage so the train from New Street was a no. I therefore settled upon cycling the route from Stratford Upon Avon to the GWSR for filming. Due to other commitments on Friday and strikes on Saturday, I had to settle for Sunday. Unfortunately the earliest I could get to Stratford was 10:17, due to a lack of direct services from my local on a Sunday. I also knew my last reasonable train home was 19:27 and I had to consider that it was at least an hour's cycle from Stratford to Broadway both ways.
With that in mind I set off! I firstly grabbed the 08:57 from my local, changing in Brum for the 09:30 to Stratford. Unfortunately the train got stuck outside Stratford for 25 minutes, so my first catch of the day, 4079 and 7903 double heading, was not attainable. I therefore pressed on with the plan, stopping off in Broadway, and arriving at Hayles Abbey Halt for around 12:40. I immediately knew something was really wrong with the timetable, and this was a recurring theme throughout the day, all trains running around 20/30 minutes late. First up we had 7820 with the goods, powering through towards Toddington. At that I headed over to Chicken Curve near Winchcombe where I met @WestCountrySteamVideos. Here 4079 opened up spectacularly, sporting an SLS headboard. After that I cycled with @WestCountrySteamVideos to Greet Tunnel, seeing 7903 (as 6999) round the bend and enter the tunnel. After this was a very fast ride over to Winchcombe to see 31806 and 35006 departing in style! I then headed over to Didbrook to see 78019 on the goods, although it caught me out midway through setting up lol. After that I picked up some supplies and headed over to Toddington field for 75014 Braveheart. At that point I had a dilemma as with trains running so late, I wasn't sure whether I would make the 19:27 from Stratford if I stayed to see 4079 and 7903 double heading, so although disappointing, I did not stop at Stanton on the way back to see it, instead returning to Stratford for the 18:36, which got me back home 45 minutes earlier than I otherwise would have.
The weather was very kind to us today, although it was quite hard on the bike, given that I covered in excess of 50 miles! I did also manage to squeeze in some revision at times when trains that I wasn't interested in were running, so that was good. Thanks to WMR, Chiltern, the GWSR, to Tom, and all the other people I met today whilst filming! An additional thanks to those with me on the road who didn't behave badly around me as I am used to lol. Hope you enjoy like I did!
