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 evening, at Tilehouse Street Baptist Church, Upper Tilehouse Street, Hitchin SG5 2EE on the second Tuesday of each month except August. Doors open at 19:00 with the featured presentation from 19:30 to 22:00 (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).
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
All meetings are "live" events.
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
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
Tunnel Vision: The History of the Metropolitan Railway
Today we were entertained to a true history lesson, when Colin Brading spoke to us, with the aid of photographs, on “Tunnel Vision – The History of the Metropolitan Railway”.…
Read MoreLiving & 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…
Read MoreEast Anglia in the 2020’s
Iain Scotchman gave us a superb presentation on modern traction, talking about “East Anglia in the 2020’s”. During the afternoon we saw 15 different locomotive types & 16 assorted unit…
Read MoreEdward Thompson, Wartime CME
‘Don’t believe what you’ve seen or read’ – so started Simon Martin at our Hitchin meeting on 13th February. His subject for the evening was Edward Thompson, Wartime Chief…
Read MoreSteam in the Kings Cross Area in the 50s & 60s
For our first WGC meeting of the year, we welcomed David Percival with his presentation “Steam in the Kings Cross Area in the 50’s & 60’s”. David also attracted our…
Read MoreThe Corris Railway – Past, Present & Future
This was a late change to the previously advertised programme. Tonight, our speaker Chris Jones talked to us about “The Corris Railway, past, present and future”. It was a fascinating…
Read MoreIndustrial Action
Geoff Plumb, our final speaker of the year, gave us a fascinating insight into the world of industrial locos in and around the 1960’s. These small work horses were the…
Read MoreA Decade of Home and Away
We were thoroughly entertained this evening by David Jackman with his presentation “A Decade of Home & Away”. The evening started with a look at the Southern Region, showing all…
Read MoreAn A-Z of Switzerland (Part 2)
This afternoon we welcomed back Steve Ollive with Part 2 of his presentation “An A to Z of Switzerland”. We started today’s tour on the line between Locarno & Domodossola,…
Read MoreFive Go To Swansea
This evening we were entertained by Chris Jones with his presentation, “Five go to Swansea”, all about the many railway companies and terminals that existed in this Welsh City. Many…
Read MoreSteam in 1950’s & 60’s
A Presentation by Chris Wright. “Steam in 1950’s & 60’s” turned out to be a quite different evening to our usual presentations. Instead of the speaker talking around his photographs…
Read MoreThe Line from Doncaster to Hull
A presentation by Stephen Gay. Today we welcomed back Stephen Gay from Sheffield with his presentation on the line from Doncaster to Hull. Although many from our area regard the…
Read MoreThe Last Four Years of Steam
A Presentation by George Howe. Nostalgia was the key, when branch member George Howe presented to us his programme of “The Last Four Years of Steam”. George & his camera…
Read MoreJust Like the Old-Days
A presentation by Des Shepherd. A nostalgic trip into past was the theme for our members at this evening’s meeting, Des Shepherd’s presentation “Just Like the Old Days”, took us…
Read MoreMangapps Farm Railway
A Presentation by John Jolly. A thoroughly engaging talk, given without slides (or notes), by the owner of the Museum & Railway at Mangapps Farm, Essex. John, a brilliant raconteur,…
Read MoreA 10th Colour Rail Journey
A Presentation by Paul Chancellor. This evening we were thoroughly entertained by Paul Chancellor, with his “Tenth Colour Rail Journey”. On this journey we looked at photographs of ten…
Read MoreRailtours and Specials from the 1980’s
A presentation by John Day. We welcomed a very good audience to our first meeting in our new venue. They were treated to a superb afternoon’s entertainment with John Day…
Read MoreMore from the Peter Bland Collection
A presentation by Bryan Cross. Following a huge storm causing wide spread local flooding in the late afternoon we thank those members who turned out for tonight’s meeting. In which…
Read MoreEpping Ongar Railway
A presentation by Eddie Veckranges and Gary Sanders. Our presentation this afternoon started with the history of the line. Originally this was primarily a freight line, as in those early…
Read MoreNorthwards from Kings Cross
A presentation by Rob Freeman. This evening we were treated to part of the photographic collection of the late H.C Casserley (HCC) 1919 – 1983. During his lifetime HCC visited…
Read MoreLMS Patriot Project Update
Presented by Colin Hall, Project Chairman. The locomotive 45551 “The Unknown Warrior”, named in 2021 by Falklands hero Simon Weston, is being built from scratch to the original drawings, but…
Read MoreThe Harringworth Viaduct
A presentation by John Hillier. The meeting this evening with John Hillier taught absolutely everything there is to know about “The Harringworth Viaduct”. A good evening with plenty of great…
Read MoreA Railwayman Remembers
A Presentation by Dave Cockle. The talk covered Dave’s career from when he left school in 1968 and joined the railway, being posted firstly to Finsbury Park No.3, (an 80-lever…
Read MoreTrams & Trains on the Isle of Man
A Presentation by Geoff Brockett. This evening we were thoroughly entertained by Geoff Brockett with another of his colourful presentations about the “Trams and Trains on the Isle of Man”.…
Read MoreSwanning Around London in the 1980’s
Presented by Jeremy Harrison For our first WGC meeting of the year, we welcomed Jeremy Harrison of Croydon Branch with his presentation “Swanning Around-London in the 1980’s”. We started the…
Read MoreSiemens-ECML Signalling Project
Presented by Luke Reger (Siemens). Tonight, we had our largest audience since the end of the pandemic to welcome Luke Reger from Siemens Ltd., to explain what was happening along…
Read More150 Years GNR from Wood Green to Enfield
A presentation by Dave Cockle. This afternoon we were treated to a superb presentation about our local area by a local man, Dave Cockle, who came to talk to us…
Read MoreThe History of the Paris Metro
A Presentation by Mike Bunn. This afternoon we welcomed Mike Bunn back with his superb presentation on “The History of the Paris Metro.” The Metro originated in the Transport…
Read MoreThe Southern – Past and Present
A Presentation by Des Shepherd. This evening’s meeting was a comparison on Southern Region between photographs taken 1966 and an attempt to re-take them again 50 years later. Des Shepherd…
Read MoreGWR Locos in Preservation
A presentation by Richard Morris. Richard started with pictures of broad-gauge loco’s with their 8 ft. diameter driving wheels, stored in various museums, and followed with ex-GWR narrow-gauge engines such…
Read MoreA Swiss Railway Trilogy (Part 1)
A presentation by Steve Ollive. This evening we welcomed Steve Ollive with the first part of his presentation on the A to Z of Swiss Railways. Steve had only just…
Read MoreECML Part 2 – York to Edinburgh
A Presentation by Stephen Gay. Today we welcomed back Stephen Gay for what has become an annual event, This time he was talking to us about the ECML from York…
Read MoreHitchin – The Last Few Years
A Presentation by Richard Allen. Local man Richard Allen, this evening’s speaker, gave us an excellent presentation on the railways on our doorstep around Hitchin: The presentation featured the years…
Read MoreThe GN Railway and Kings Cross
A presentation by Ray Schofield. This month’s meeting was on a very local theme to us in Welwyn GC and was a presentation by Ray Schofield on “The GN…
Read MoreFrom Rookie Journalist to Grumpy Old Man
Presenter: David Percival. Our speaker this evening was local photographer, historian and author David Percival, with his presentation “From Rookie Journalist to Grumpy Old Man”. David started “train spotting”…
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