Seemed like a good idea to start the New Year with something “sensible” to celebrate my birthday. I’d noticed that the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway (GWR) was running a series of Mince Pie Specials and that the last day was 4th January 2026 – my birthday, very fortuitous ! Also, I’d arranged to have tea with my cousin Hilary who lives in Bishop’s Cleeve, not a million miles away from the railway…. Haven’t seen her for a few years.
The railway runs for 14 miles from adjacent to the Cheltenham Race Course up as far as Broadway.
So on a cold and frosty morning (literally) I fronted up to catch the 12 noon train, knowing full well that it would be crowded with families, as it was the last day of the Christmas school holidays – ho hum….
It certainly was a bit nippy and everybody seemed to congregate near the Waiting Room, probably to get a bit warm….
What I didn’t realise that we were in for a bit of a treat in that the train was double headed, with both 6880 Betton Grange and 4079 Pendennis Castle both employed. I have a feeling though that one loco was only there to provide the steam for the carriage steam heating, but hey, still good to see them both. Strictly speaking though, Betton Grange is not all original, receiving around 50 % “re-cycled” parts from other life-expired similar locomotives. It first steamed in 2024. Whatever…..
So off we went to Broadway. I was a bit sceptical about this mince pie thing, but my fellow travellers on the same table came back with some, so I attacked the buffet car. Revealing it was my birthday, I was given double rations – thank you GWR!
Lots of people seemed to be only going one way, so I decided to move to an available comfy single seat for the return journey.
Arriving back at the Racecourse, it was into the car and off to my cousins for a cuppa. She’s a year and a few days older than me, so has already passed the 80th birthday mark. Haven’t seen her for a good many years, so that was all a kinda nice end to the day.
On the way home, it started snowing……..