A selection of snaps, southern Scotland in late July
Steel Sculpture
It’s difficult to know what to expect – bits of scrap metal welded together at random? The “Ironbridge Open Air Museum of Steel Sculpture” (one of the Telegraph’s four best sculpture gardens, as I discovered, with the help of Google, after our visit) definitely contains works that give one that impression (I’m sure they were assembled / constructed / welded / sculpted with care and forethought)…
…or something else entirely? Yes – some works did appear to have been forged in one piece from hot metal, some made clear reference to real things – and some were obviously created by an author with a sense of humour.
The museum is one of those places that we’ve passed many times, thinking “I wonder what that’s all about?” (and possibly coming to the wrong conclusions) and “must go there one day and find out”. It’s somewhat off the beaten track, though barely half-a-mile from Darby’s furnace in Coalbrookdale. There are 79 permanent exhibits, set in steep-sloped woodland and grassy open space. The map provided at admission is a must – the site is a fascinating maze with surprises around every corner, and it would be next-to-impossible to find everything without it. We must have spent nearly two hours there – great fun, worth every penny of the £3 admission charge.
Ironbridge Open Air Museum of Steel Sculpture
Brown Clee
The easy way up – just the thing for a gentle stroll on a warm afternoon. Much of the way uphill is through woodland, providing interest and shade. The return route follows the surfaced road part-way down the old railway incline, until a track through the woods provides a gentler descent
7¼” Standard Gauge
Just published to Geoff’s Rail Diaries, the full account of yesterday’s trip, fully illustrated. Visit “Echills Wood”.
Echills Wood
Standard gauge models…
The Echills Wood Railway is an extensive 7¼” gauge miniature line at the Kingsbury Water Park, about 4 mile south of Tamworth. This weekend, the line would be running exclusively with models of standard gauge prototypes – with all proceeds going to the G&WR’s appeal for funds following their disastrous embankment failures. More to come – soon – on “Geoff’s Rail Diaries” – in the meantime, here’s a taster – rather a nice model of a GNR O1 2-8-0.
6024 southbound from Shrewsbury
6024 southbound from Shrewsbury, a photo by geoffspages on Flickr.Fun and games at Bridgnorth station, and 6024 “King Edward I” southbound from Shrewsbury. Visit “On a Western Theme” on “Geoff’s Rail Diaries” for more pictures and video
Ffestiniog “Linda” – at Statfold!
A rare event indeed – one of the Welsh railway’s mainstays visiting another line – the Statfold Barn Railway, for its 4th June open day. See Linda, and another eleven narrow gauge locos in action, in “A Statfold Dozen” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
Rhyl Centenary
Just published to “Geoff’s Rail Diaries”, the full(ish) account and pictures of yesterday’s visit to the celebrations at Rhyl. Visit “Rhyl 100” now…
The Rhyl Six
This weekend the 15” gauge Rhyl Miniature Railway celebrates its centenary. At first it was operated using Bassett-Lowke / Greenly “Little Giant” 4-4-2 locomotives; from 1920 a fleet of six larger and more powerful 4-4-2s was built, in Rhyl, by fairground engineer Albert Barnes. The story of the subsequent 91 years is complex; suffice it to say that, this weekend, the six Barnes Atlantics were on display, together, for the first time.
More photos to follow, in due course, on the “Rail Diaries” pages – in the meantime, here are the six, lined up in numerical order. Front (from right to left): 101 “Joan”, 102 “Railway Queen”, 103 “John”
Rear: 104 “Billie”, 105 “Michael”, 106 “Billy”
Wroxeter
We saw the new Roman Villa a little while before the Channel 4 documentary was aired – “Was that there last time we came this way?…”
