Bristol Branch

Welcome to the Bristol Branch page of the RCTS website.
We meet once a month from September to May, on the first Friday, at St. Teresa’s Church Hall, 71 Gloucester Road North, Filton, BS34 7PL, next to Esso Tesco.
Our meetings generally take the form of slide shows, videos or talks with lively discussion on all aspects of railway history and operational practice.
Our members' interests range from the pioneering years of the railway through to the present day, in the UK and overseas.
We have an extensive selection of new and second-hand railway books on sale at every meeting, at bargain prices.
Our current programme is detailed below. All are welcome to join us and to share their interest.

What's on
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Meeting reports
3 January 2025 ‘Steam in Cornwall’ by SLS Librarian Gerry Nichols
Gerry started his presentation by showing several photos of Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge seen through the ages, the earliest showing a flotilla of Naval ships just beyond the bridge and…
Read More20 December Christmas Buffet and Members Evening
There were three digital presentations prior to the buffet, and three slide presentations afterwards, finishing at about 10pm. The digital presentations were: Dale Robertson – Heritage Railway Quiz. A ‘Where…
Read More6 December 2024 ‘The widows Frontier Railways’ by Richard Pelham
The presentation began with one of Rudyard Kipling’s Barrack Room Ballads with a list of wars fought on the sub-continent between 1824 and 1919. Three countries were covered however, most…
Read More8 November 2024 ‘That Was The Year That Was 1965’ by Geoff Plumb
On the 8th November Geoff Plumb started his presentation with a photo of his new camera, a Voigtlander, which was used to take the photos that he showed. A great…
Read More4 October 2024 ‘The View From The North’ by Steve Batty
We were treated to a ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ of trains in the Yorkshire countryside where the sky is blue, and the sun is always shining. Starting from picturesque Selby we…
Read More6 September 2024 ‘End of Steam on British Railways 1966-67’ by Michael Smyth.
At our first meeting of the 2024-25 season on 6th September, we were pleased to welcome Michael Smyth of the Cambridge Branch to present The End of Steam on British…
Read More‘Railway Holidays in the West Country – Devon & Somerset’ with Stuart Warr.
For our final meeting before the summer break, it was appropriate that Stuart Warr returned to present ‘Railway Holidays in the West Country’ featuring images taken in Devon & Somerset…
Read More‘East Coast Main Line part 2 – North from York’ presented by Stephen Gay.
Our April meeting saw Stephen Gay return to continue his ECML journey from York to Edinburgh. The first photo was of the halfway point sign between London and Edinburgh, near…
Read More1 March 2024 A.G.M. followed by ‘My Early Years’ by Branch President Arthur Turner.
32 people were present for the Bristol Branch AGM followed by a presentation by Branch President Arthur Turner titled, “My Early Years…” with black and white images from around the…
Read More2 February 2024 ‘Steam & Semaphores to Penzance’, Maurice Dudman’s slides presented by his son Nick.
52 members and guests attended the second part of Nick Dudman’s showing of his late father’s slides. The journey from London to Bristol featured in the first part, this slide…
Read MoreLinks to Photographic Gallery