Saturday, March 14, 2009
Just like a holiday
Today has been a holiday - well, it has felt like the sort of day we might enjoy during a holiday. We have loved the day!
The day falls into 2 parts and I will deal with the morning this evening and leave the afternoon until tomorrow. We took over 100 photographs between us during the day. These are obviously very much edited for the blog.
But you may be sure that we had fun seeing the world through the viewfinders.
We went to Sheffield Park.There is a National Trust garden there and splendid looking mansion. The gardens were designed by Capability Brown. We explored the gardens this afternoon.
There is also a station at Sheffield Park, which had once fallen into disrepair and the line was closed. A bunch of enthusiasts bought the line and some rolling stock and their small venture has turned into a real tourist attraction and a profitable venture - though there is always more money needed for further expansion. The working line has now been extended well beyond Horsted Keynes, through Sharpthorne to Kingscote. I may well have been to Sharpthorne Station as a babe - for my parents rented cottages close by in 1945. It is hoped to get the line running into East Grinstead and thus linking into the main railway network. I said that the Bluebell Railway - and that is not some modern tourist name for the line - could always use more money. We contributed little I'm afraid. For just £1 you can buy a platform ticket and have access to the engine sheds.
Don't forget, steam enthusiasts (nerds and anoraks!), the pictures can all be enlarged by clicking on them.
The midday train was at the platform preparing for the journey through the Sussex countryside.
All sorts of people were wandering the platforms and boarding the train.The footplate crew were getting ready for action.
The workers on the railway and in the repair shops are almost all volunteers, indulging their passion for steam trains.
I just missed a prize photo. The character with the bushy beard was scraping out the last spoonful of baked beans straight from the tin as we arrived at this spot.
The locomotive and carriages sit for a while at the station so that visitors can explore and point things out to their children - details which fathers might have forgotten about from their long ago youth, until today.
Just before midday the pressure of the steam was released for those mighty pistons to turn the wheels.
The signal dropped to give permission to proceed and the midday train puffed and chuffed out of the station.
Platforms always had interesting adverts and paraphernalia and Sheffield Park Station is no exception.
I never actually liked Frys Five Boys chocolate very much - just creamy milky chocolate if my memory serves me right. But the wrapper certainly fascinated me.
The day falls into 2 parts and I will deal with the morning this evening and leave the afternoon until tomorrow. We took over 100 photographs between us during the day. These are obviously very much edited for the blog.
But you may be sure that we had fun seeing the world through the viewfinders.
We went to Sheffield Park.There is a National Trust garden there and splendid looking mansion. The gardens were designed by Capability Brown. We explored the gardens this afternoon.
There is also a station at Sheffield Park, which had once fallen into disrepair and the line was closed. A bunch of enthusiasts bought the line and some rolling stock and their small venture has turned into a real tourist attraction and a profitable venture - though there is always more money needed for further expansion. The working line has now been extended well beyond Horsted Keynes, through Sharpthorne to Kingscote. I may well have been to Sharpthorne Station as a babe - for my parents rented cottages close by in 1945. It is hoped to get the line running into East Grinstead and thus linking into the main railway network. I said that the Bluebell Railway - and that is not some modern tourist name for the line - could always use more money. We contributed little I'm afraid. For just £1 you can buy a platform ticket and have access to the engine sheds.
Don't forget, steam enthusiasts (nerds and anoraks!), the pictures can all be enlarged by clicking on them.
The midday train was at the platform preparing for the journey through the Sussex countryside.
All sorts of people were wandering the platforms and boarding the train.The footplate crew were getting ready for action.
The workers on the railway and in the repair shops are almost all volunteers, indulging their passion for steam trains.
I just missed a prize photo. The character with the bushy beard was scraping out the last spoonful of baked beans straight from the tin as we arrived at this spot.
The locomotive and carriages sit for a while at the station so that visitors can explore and point things out to their children - details which fathers might have forgotten about from their long ago youth, until today.
Just before midday the pressure of the steam was released for those mighty pistons to turn the wheels.
The signal dropped to give permission to proceed and the midday train puffed and chuffed out of the station.
Platforms always had interesting adverts and paraphernalia and Sheffield Park Station is no exception.
I never actually liked Frys Five Boys chocolate very much - just creamy milky chocolate if my memory serves me right. But the wrapper certainly fascinated me.
Everybody seemed to have OXO - but I am not sure if my family ever did. I really cannot imagine that I, as a child, would have thought it "Splendid with milk".
A comfortable seat to wait for the train - and a pile of luggage.
There was an extra train going out half an hour after the midday train.
A comfortable seat to wait for the train - and a pile of luggage.
There was an extra train going out half an hour after the midday train.
The Bluebell railway adds to funds by allowing people to hire special trains for special events. Today there was a 60th birthday and a very fine meal was loaded onto the train.
The steam locomotive was decked out as The Golden Arrow - though later that bit was removed and a number attached - IM60.
The pullman coaches are shunted into the station where the excited guests gathered.
The pullman coaches are shunted into the station where the excited guests gathered.
Tables were laid for a 4 course meal.
We left the people to their celebration and toured the engine shed. Huge steam monsters were crammed in with tiny old locos - all going nowhere for now; not until there could be time and money to bring them back to their former glory.
The cafe on the station was full at 1 0'clock, so we decided to drive off and see what was available at the National Trust gardens.
And tomorrow I will share with you some beautiful views of the lakes and trees.
But first, tomorrow, we will get up early and go to Fontwell for the car boot sale and into Bognor for breakfast and then to Chichester for their car boot sale. The cameras will be with us - so I hope we will have more views of our world to share.
But for now, I bid you Goodnight. My legs ache after a lot of walking today.
