A South Western Journey

On 20th March, Branch member Michael Clemens brought South Western England, to a capacity audience of our own members, and our friends from Cheltenham Rail Action Photographers. Michael has collated and digitised the cine and slide work of his Father, Jim Clemens, together with his own material and brought us a Midland and South Western Junction Railway journey from Cheltenham to Andover, via Andoversford, and a Somerset and Dorset Railway journey from Cheltenham to Bournemouth via Mangotsfield and Bath Green Park, with images from the 1950s and 1960s. With both the MSWJ and S&D crossing routes of the Southern and Great Western, along with hosting holiday trains from the north and east, there was inevitably a lot of interworking between locomotives and carriages of the ‘big four’, plus BR Standards and carriages. Michael reminded us that the GW had been rather awkward over running rights across their tracks in earlier days which prompted both the S&D and MSWJ to make alternative arrangements with the Southern and Midland. The “oohs and aahs” around the room during the evening demonstrated that many memories of those who could remember the S&D, and MSWJ were being stirred, coupled with a bit of envy from others who could just remember travelling over these lines, but were too young to really take it all in! A truly wonderful evening.