West Riding [WRD]

D9006 Un-named passes Copley Hill Shed en-route to Leeds Central with the Down 'West Riding Ltd' - 12.4.1962. Photo provided by Gavin Morrison
D9006 Un-named passes Copley Hill Shed en-route to Leeds Central with the Down 'West Riding Ltd' - 12.4.1962. Photo provided by Gavin Morrison

Welcome to the West riding Branch pages of the RCTS website.  Members' meetings are convened on the third Thursday of the month from September through to June and are held at the Methodist Church Hall in Saltaire, commencing at 7.30pm usually finishing around 9.30pm.

Speakers from around the country offer presentations covering a wide range of railway subjects across the ages, mainly in digital format, although both slide and film show formats often feature.

For the summer months of July and August focus concentrates onto outdoor activities at local railway establishments of interest.

RCTS members, non-members/visitors and guests are welcome to attend all of our meetings for which a donation of £2.00 is requested, which also covers interval refreshments.

What's on

Venues

Click the venue name to see more

Contacts

Secretary
Bob Green
tel: 01347 811174
email: westriding@rcts.org.uk
1 Thompson Garth, Stillington, York YO61 1NN

Chairman

C. W. Jagger
Linfit, Henley Mount, Rawdon, Leeds, LS19 6PX

Newsletters

September 2022

May 2023

January 2024

October 2022

July 2023

February 2024

November 2022

August 2023

March 2024

December 2022

September 2023

January 2023

October 2023

February 2023

November 2023

April 2023

December 2023

Meeting reports

AGM/Members’ Presentations

25 Mar 2024

March was to be the AGM of the Branch which was well attended by a good number of members.  However, due to the pending retirements of both the Secretary and…

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“Fifty Years Ago”

24 Jan 2024

Presenter: Roger Hepworth Due to the unavailability of the booked speaker for the first meeting of the new year Roger Hepworth stood in as the deputy when he presented a…

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“Christmas Quiz + Bygone Memories”

18 Dec 2023

Presenter: John Holroyd The pre-Christmas entertainment came from Deputy Branch Chairman John Holroyd who entertained the well attended meeting with a slide presentation composed of two distinct elements.  Those being…

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“Steam & Diesel in the Northern Fells”

22 Nov 2023

Presenter: Ian Pilkington   Ian Pilkington, of recent RO photographic renown, was the presenter at the November meeting telling of “Steam & Diesels in the Northern Fells”.  Concentrating between 2010-2017…

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“Along the Trackside”

27 Oct 2023

Presenter: Steve Batty The October Branch meeting welcomed Steve Batty to Saltaire who had once again delved into the back of his cupboard in order to put on show a…

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“The Keith Pirt Collection”

26 Sep 2023

Presenter: Bob Gellatly Bob Gellatly was the presenter for the first meeting of the new 2023-24 season which covered the work of Keith Pirt, who was an early day exponent…

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Observations at Doncaster

25 Aug 2023

The second of the summer season outside activities was the traditional August evening visit to Doncaster when half a dozen enthusiasts with modern day railway leanings, turned out for an…

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Outside Visit to Bradford Model Engineers

06 Aug 2023

Activities for the summer months began with a July visit to Bradford Model Engineers at their woodland domain in Shipley.  Doubtless the excellent weather contributed to the entertainment that focussed…

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“Sheffield to Carlisle by Steam”

08 Jul 2023

Presenter: Roger Hepworth The well attended June meeting brought Roger Hepworth to the Branch who, being a local photographer and rail enthusiast over many years, has much to show of…

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“North Yorkshire Moors Railway 1968 – 2022”

21 May 2023

Presenter: David Birtle Later in the month (May) David Birtle, a long time founder member of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, was to be the speaker at the regular evening…

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“Missed Locos & Lost Locations”

21 May 2023

Presenter: Ted Parker Early in the month of May Ted Parker, a famed producer of steam related videos, came to Saltaire to present “Missed Locos & Lost Locations” which was…

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AGM + Members’ Presentations

01 May 2023

AGM Followed by Members’ Presentations A good number of members turned out for the April meeting which opened with the Branch AGM.  Political matters were rapidly dealt with as informative…

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“A Colour Rail Journey”

26 Mar 2023

Presenter: Paul Chancellor A most excellent show was given to the March meeting by Paul Chancellor of Colour-Rail fame, when he presented his latest version of a “Colour Rail Journey”. …

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“Shots in the Dark”

26 Feb 2023

Presenter: Peter Holden The meeting in February brought Peter Holden, of Bradford Railway Circle fame, to the Branch in order to present “Shots in the Dark” which exclusively concentrated on…

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“Steam Day Memories – Past & Present”

20 Jan 2023

Presenter: Vic Drake The first meeting of 2023 attracted the now usual good attendance in order to witness Vic Drake present a collection of black and white photographs by a…

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“Steam’s Last Redoubt”

26 Dec 2022

Presenter: David Fowler The December meeting was an absolute delight and appropriately set the festive season off to an excellent start.  David Fowler from West of the Pennines was the…

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“All things North and North Eastern”

02 Dec 2022

Presenter: Steve Armitage On a dark and dreary November evening Steve Armitage delighted an excellent turn-out of members by presenting his collection of superb images entitled “All things North and…

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“Adventures in Search of Steam”

23 Oct 2022

Presenter: David Tillotson At a well attended October meeting the audience was treated to an excellent totally steam orientated presentation given by David Tillotson, who is a well travelled organiser…

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“Far Away and Close to Home”

25 Sep 2022

Presenter:  John Holroyd Following the completion of the summer season of outside activities the setting up of the first meeting of the 2022/23 indoor season in September became the priority. …

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Observation at Doncaster

26 Aug 2022

To round off the current season the traditional evening of observation at Doncaster took place, which in order to avoid the many rail strikes was deferred by a week to…

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Visit to Shipley Glen Tramway

22 Jul 2022

The annual July branch visit to an outdoor location of interest for this year took members and friends to the Shipley Glen Tramway where an excellent turnout was treated to…

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“Northern Excursions”

16 Jun 2022

Presenter: Roger Hepworth Roger Hepworth, a well-known local photographer, provided the entertainment for another well attended meeting in June.  The initial phase of the show displayed extensive coverage of latter-day…

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“Looking Back”

20 May 2022

Presenter: Bill Jagger Due to unforeseen circumstances the programmed speaker for the meeting in May was unable to attend and Branch Chairman Bill Jagger stepped in to present the second…

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Branch AGM + Members’ Presentations

29 Apr 2022

The excellent trend of post-Covid meeting attendances continued when another excellent collection of members turned out for April’s Annual General Meeting of the Branch.  Political matters were quickly dealt with…

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“From the Back of the Cupboard”

17 Mar 2022

Presenter: Steve Batty Steve Batty, a prolific photographic contributor to the pages of “The Railway Observer” was the presenter of the March indoor meeting, who narrated his show of top…

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Tramways of the Dales (Part II)

23 Feb 2022

Presenter: Stewart Liles The February meeting commenced with a formal presentation to David Beeken who has been awarded the very first “Certificate of Appreciation” by the Board of Trustees in…

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“Extreme Gricing”

26 Jan 2022

Presenter: Austin Hughes The first meeting of 2022 was a presentation by branch member Austin Hughes, telling of a couple of distant trainspotting adventures to the title of “Extreme Gricing”.…

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Photographic Journeys

16 Dec 2021

Presenter: John Holroyd December’s well attended pre-Christmas meeting was presented by John Holroyd which was to comprise of several differing but distinct elements.  Phase one illustrated extensive coverage of the…

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The John Bearpark Collection

18 Nov 2021

Presenter: Vic Drake Encouraging consistent numbers continue to attend indoor Branch meetings as once again nearly thirty members and friends met for the November gathering. This was a presentation by…

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AGM + Members’ Presentations

21 Oct 2021

October’s monthly meeting was the Covid delayed 2021 AGM.  Attended by a good number of members political matters were quickly dealt with.  Of significance existing committee members were confirmed as…

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Looking Back

30 Sep 2021

Presenter: Bill Jagger Following excellent attendances at each of the two earlier summer outdoor meetings the trend continued when yet another goodly collection of thirty members and friends attended the…

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19th August 2021 · Evening of Observation at Doncaster

19 Aug 2021

The on-going reintroduction of branch meetings continued into August when, in quite reasonable weather conditions, a double figure attendance of members and friends journeyed to Doncaster for a well enjoyed…

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21st July 2021 · Visit to Bradford Model Engineers, Shipley

21 Jul 2021

After many long months branch activities were resumed when an outside evening visit to the Bradford Model Engineers was arranged. No doubt the perfect weather conditions and enhanced degree of…

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20th February 2020 · “The Calder Valley”

20 Feb 2020

Presenter: Steve Armitage Another well attended meeting in February witnessed a superb presentation of images given by Steve Armitage illustrating the delights along the lines of the Calder Valley. This…

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16th January 2020 · “Steam Day Shed Bashing”

16 Jan 2020

Presenter: Vic Drake A very well attended meeting gathered for the first session of the new decade and all were treated to a programme of high quality monochrome illustrations taken…

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12th December 2019 · “A Christmas Quiz and Memories from 1969”

12 Dec 2019

Presenter: John Holroyd The pre-Christmas entertainment was presented courtesy of Deputy Branch Chairman John Holroyd who entertained members and friends with a widely varying programme comprising of his superb photographic…

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21st November 2019 · “Variations – Far and Wide”

21 Nov 2019

Presenter: Gavin Morrison A very different style of presentation was given by a favourite of the Branch, Gavin Morrison, which allowed members of the audience to select differing groups of…

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24th October 2019 · “BR 60’s North West Steam in Glorious Kodachrome”

24 Oct 2019

Presenter: Anthony Bowles To soften the onset of the winter nights the October evening meeting was presented by Anthony Bowles showing archived photographs taken by the late Gerald Dixon. The…

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3rd October 2019 · “Steam – East of Wakefield”

03 Oct 2019

Presenter: Roger Hepworth Following shortly behind the regular September evening meeting was the autumn afternoon session, which attracted the usual steady number of attendees. A most interesting and detailed presentation…

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19th September 2019 · “The Work of Bill Ashcroft”

19 Sep 2019

Presenter: Mike Taylor The new season of meetings began in September when Mike Taylor from Burnley presented a digitised selection of photographs taken by the late Bill Ashcroft, who was…

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15th August 2019 · Evening at Doncaster

15 Aug 2019

In quite reasonable weather a double figure attendance of members and friends journeyed to Doncaster for a late August afternoon/early evening of observation thus bringing the 2018/2019 programme of meetings…

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17th July 2019 · Outdoor Visit

17 Jul 2019

A visit to the lines of Bradford Model Engineers was the destination for this year’s outside evening event where ‘playing with trains’ perfectly described an evening of enjoyment. The two…

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20th June 2019 · Members’ Presentations

20 Jun 2019

The meeting held in June was the last of the current seasons of indoor meetings which comprised of presentations by branch members. Austin Hughes led the way be describing the…

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30th May 2019 · “Along the Trackside”

30 May 2019

Presenter: Steve Batty At the end of May the second of the season’s afternoon meetings was a presentation by well-known photographer Steve Batty who was making a very welcome return…

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16th May 2019 · “Railway Films of Cam Camwell”

16 May 2019

Presenter: Ian McInnes By way of something different the May meeting comprised of a showing of DVD material derived from 1950’s and 60’s filmed material taken by the late ‘Cam’…

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11th April 2019 · “Diverted”

11 Apr 2019

Presenters: Phil Lockwood and Enid Vincent Phil Lockwood and Enid Vincent were to present another of their “Diverted” series of talks to the members at the April meeting. On this…

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21st March 2019 · 1975 – A Good Year!!

21 Mar 2019

Presenter: Robin Lush Robin Lush, a well-known local railway photographer and enthusiast of some note provided the entertainment for the March evening meeting. Displaying a superb top class array of…

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7th March 2019 · Branch AGM

07 Mar 2019

In the first week of March the Annual General Meeting of the Branch was held. After a few words in respect of the passing away of our colleague and friend…

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