Speaker Meeting, 6.15 for 6.30pm

The Swindon & Cricklade Railway is entirely built, run and managed by volunteers. It was one of the first heritage railways to undertake the complete reconstruction of a standard-gauge railway with no legacy of track or buildings.

In the picture: Speakers Philippa Kennard and Stan Scott, two S&CR volunteers.

Originally, the railway was the Midland and South Western Junction Railway connecting Cheltenham and Andover, via Swindon’s Old Town station and Marlborough.  It was fully open by 1891 and in 1923 the M&SWJ was absorbed into the GWR.  In the two world wars it was a very busy line but after the second war traffic fell away.  Passenger trains ended in 1961 and goods trains ended when the line closed completely in 1970.

The S&CR Society, a registered charity, was formed in 1978 and from its base on the site of Blunsdon station, has worked hard ever since to restore the section from Cricklade towards Rushey Platt in Swindon.  It has about 700 members but only 100 or so volunteers who do all the hard and skilled work: track layers, drivers and firemen, signalmen and so on.  

Blunsdon is the Society’s main visitor centre, with ample car parking, a café, a gift shop and a museum.  Stan Scott is an experienced carriage and wagon restorer and Philippa Kennard looks after the Whistle Sop café and other visitor facilities at Blunsdon.   The Café is in a Norwegian railway carriage, a truly unique setting.

The heritage railway offers a round-trip passenger journey of approximately four and a half miles between Hayes Knoll in the north and Taw Valley Halt in the south.   At Taw Valley Halt there is direct access to Mouldon Hill Country Park.  The locomotive shed and restoration centre is at Hayes Knoll station, the northern terminus.  The Society’s aim is to reinstate the line further north to Cricklade and is currently seeking funds to progress that development.

The trains are hauled by a small number of locomotives.  Diesels in the fleet include an ex-BR Class 03, a Class 08 and a Class 73 electro diesel E6003 “Sir Herbert Walker”.  The “resident” steam locomotive is number 6695 a GWR 0-6-2 tank.   When that engine is in steam for a day, the coal costs £1,000.  Pictures of some of these locos are in the carousel above.

The Society also has a Railbus.  Number W79978 is one of four railbuses delivered in 1958 for use on the Kemble to Tetbury and Kemble to Cirencester branch lines and was regularly seen in Swindon.  It needs major restoration work before it can be used in regular service.  It also has several items of rolling stock, most needing extensive restoration.

Sadly, the Society’s property regularly suffers from vandalism, mindless and senseless destruction that drains much of its hard-earned funds.

Members expressed their sincere best wishes to Stan and Philippa and all the Society’s volunteers for much success and good fortune in the years to come.

Swindon and Cricklade Railway website