Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City [HTC]
Welcome to the Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City Branch.
We meet twice per month, once at Hitchin and once at Digswell, Welwyn, except for August when we make an outdoor visit.
The Hitchin meetings are held, in the afternoon, at St Mark's Church Hall, St Mark's Close, Lancaster Avenue, Hitchin SG5 1UR on the second Tuesday of each month (except August). Doors open at 13:30 with the featured presentation from 14:00 to 16:30 (approx).
The Welwyn Garden City meetings are held, in the afternoon, at the Digswell Village Church Hall, Warren Way, Digswell, Welwyn AL6 0DH on the last (third in December) Tuesday of each month (except August). Doors open at 13:30 with the featured presentation from 14:00 to 16:30 (approx). (Note: access to the meeting room is via three steps).
Our meetings generally take the form of presentations on varied aspects of railway history and operational practice. The requested donations (£3 for members and £5 for non-members) include tea/coffee & biscuits during an interval in the presentation and entry into a raffle draw.
The meetings also offer the opportunity to browse and buy from a wonderful selection of hundreds of pre-owned railway books at bargain prices.
All are welcome to join us.
BRANCH NEWSLETTER
The Branch has a monthly e-newsletter Railway Ramblings.
(scroll down to find copies)
If you would like to be added to the mailing list please contact Steve Lacey, Branch Chairman at hitchin.chairman@rcts.org.uk
What's on
Venues
Click the venue name to see more
Contacts
Chairman
Treasurer
tel: 01582 642680
Newsletter Editor & Web Coordinator
John Dossett
tel: 01438 714325
email: hitchinnewsletter@rcts.org.uk
Newsletters (click image to view)
2026
2025
2024
Earlier copies of "Railway Ramblings" are available from the editor.
"Railway Ramblings" was first issued in August 2019
(replacing the earlier newsletters "The Hitchin Flyer" and "Garden City Express").
Meeting reports
Stratford Depot and Recollections from 1988
Today’s speaker was branch committee member Hugh Driscoll. Hugh has spent his whole working career on the railway. Today’s presentation recalled his experiences as an apprentice at Stratford depot in…
Eurostar – 30 Years and Counting
This presentation by Chris McCanless-Stone, Fleet Performance Manager for Eurostar split his presentation into two very different halves. We started with a description about what Eurostar was about and its…
Six Decades of the Settle & Carlisle
We finished our programme for 2025 on a high, with our largest attendance of the year. Our speaker Michael Smyth (Cambridge) presented a fascinating look at “The Last 60 years…
Sugar, Steam & Sunsets in Java
Today’s presentation, by Dave Longman, , entitled “Sugar, Steam and Sunsets in Java”, turned out to be something of a complete surprise to everyone attending. This was really Dave’s account…
Changing Scene on WCML Southern Section – 1930’s to present day
We had a very good attendance today for Rob Freemans presentation on “The Changing Scene on the WCML Southern Section, 1930’s to the Present Day.” The first half of the…
From Litchurch Lane to Temple Mills via Paris
Branch committee member Hugh Driscoll, our speaker today, gave us a thorough insight into his long career on the railway. Following a brief induction course Hugh’s first placement was at…
Memories of a Gorleston Spotter (Part 2)
Today the Branch were again taken back in time to the end of steam in the 1960’s. Chris Wright presented “The Memories of a Gorleston Spotter (Part 2)”. Now living…
The Last Four Years of Steam
This afternoon we were treated to “The Last Four years of Steam” by George Howe, a long-term friend and member of the Branch. Starting locally, near Hitchin, with pictures of…
The Doncaster Rail Rover
Today we welcomed back Stephen Gay. Stephen has been visiting us now for very many years and he never fails to enthral our members. Today’s presentation was “The Doncaster Rail…
The Midland Main Line – Bedford to St Pancras
The subject of today’s meeting at Hitchin was The Midland Main Line from the Peter Bland Collection, presented by Bryan Cross. This was the fifth instalment of Bryan’s work with…
UK Railways in the 21st Century
UK Railways in 21st Century by Society member John Day was our topic for today’s presentation. This turned out to be a stunning afternoon with some superb photographs, mixed with…
The Great Eastern Railway Since 1991
Geoff Brockett treated us to a varied colourful afternoon presentation featuring “The Great Eastern Railway since 1991”. We covered all lines emanating from Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street, stopping…
The West Somerset Railway, plus more
Society secretary Richard Morris, our speaker this afternoon, was welcomed by members, His presentation on the West Somerset Railway obviously proved very popular. We started with the history of the…
A 12th Colour Rail Journey
Paul Chancellor, our speaker this afternoon, presented “My Life as Spotter” his 12th in the series of his Colour Rail Journeys, showing his life watching and photographing trains. After being…
That Was The Year That Was – 1972
This afternoon we welcomed back Geoff Plumb, with his presentation “That was the year that was 1972”. After a few opening photographs taken in Germany and here at home, with…
Cambridge Area Railways – Yesterday & Today
At today’s meeting David Scudamore brought us Part 2 of his presentation on “Cambridge Area Railways, Yesterday and Today.” We started with a relatively early (1930’s) view of Cambridge station…
Sir Nigel Gresley, His Life and Work
“Sir Nigel Gresley, His Life and Work” was the subject Simon Martin presented to us this afternoon, attracting our largest meeting attendance for several years. Starting with a look at…
A Caledonian Collection
This afternoon’s presentation “The Caledonian Railway”, presented by Roger Pidgeon, was a full coverage of this railway throughout its life. (1845 – 1923). We covered its many routes from Carlisle…
Branch AGM & German Steam
Our meeting this afternoon started with the Branch AGM for which we had one of our best AGM attendances. This was followed by a colourful and lively presentation by our…
1960’s Cine Miscellany
This afternoon we had something slightly different for our members, a “1960’s Cine Miscellany” a presentation by local photographer David Percival. This was a very mixed bag of railway gems…
Remembering My Lines
Colin Brading, our speaker this afternoon, presented us with a superb selection of his favourite sights, journeys and everything he liked about the railways. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining presentation.…
The Last decade Around Hitchin
Local resident & member Richard Allen, our speaker today, presented “The Last Decade around Hitchin”. This attracted another large audience, proving our move to afternoon meetings was a good one.…
Memories of a Gorleston Spotter (Part 1)
For our first WGC meeting of the year, we welcomed Chris Wright, who recalled for us his “Memories of a Gorleston Spotter”. Chris moved to East Anglia in 1953, within…
North from Kings Cross – Photographs from the RCTS Archive
This meeting represented a big change for the Branch, firstly it was the first meeting in our new venue and, secondly, by popular demand, it was our first afternoon meeting…
Hitchin & Potton Snippets
We finished our programme for 2024 on a high, at Digswell, with our largest attendance of the year. Our speaker, Hitchin & Welwyn Garden City branch member George Howe, talked…
Swansea and its Stations
Tonight, for our last meeting before moving to a new venue in Hitchin, we welcomed back Chris Jones, who we thank for adapting the advertised presentation into this slightly shorter…
The 11th Colour-Rail Journey
Society trustee Paul Chancellor was our speaker tonight with his 11th Colour-Rail journey. As usual with Paul, we saw some excellent photographs many were his own along with a selection…
Mandarin Madness – Solo Travels in China
Our meeting tonight was superb and thoroughly entertaining. Dave Longman talked about his solo trips to China to photograph steam. He visited various coal mines and steel works on several…
Through Kirton Tunnel, Kirton Lindsey to Cleethorpes
Today we welcomed back Stephen Gay from Sheffield with part 2 of his presentation “Through Kirton Tunnel – Kirton Lindsey to Cleethorpes”. The talk was set in and around the…
The Deltics – Worthy Successors to the A4s?
A nostalgic trip into past for our members at this evening’s meeting, with Michael Smyth’s presentation “The Deltics, Worthy Successors to the A4’s” these iconic locomotives coupled with our closeness…
History of the 125 High Speed Train
We were pleased to welcome Society Secretary Richard Morris today giving us his presentation “A pictorial history of the HST’s”. Being a Great Western man through & through quite a…
Memories of a Gorleston Spotter – Part 2
Memories of a Gorleston Spotter (part 2) was our subject for tonight’s meeting with presenter Chris Wright. This presentation followed from Chris’s visit to us in October last year. Tonight,…
That Was The Year That Was – 1971
Another fascinating afternoon with Geoff Plumb, “That was the Year That was 1971”, but much to my surprise Geoff spent quite some-time during this year in East & West Germany,…
Living & Working With Trains
Following on from our Branch AGM, Richard Cole gave us a presentation on “Living & Working with Trains”. The first section was his growing up with former RCTS Vice President…