Watford [WFD]

Welcome to the Watford Branch pages of the RCTS website.
Both physical and online Zoom meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month, apart from August when we take a summer break.
Physical meetings are held at Beechen Grove Baptist Church, Clarendon Rd, Watford WD17 1JJ, in the first floor Conference Room (this is a recent change from the third floor Lecture Hall) – at present, our next physical meeting is scheduled for 7th June 2022, Zoom meetings may recommence for the winter months of January 2023 until March 2023.
Members from all branches are welcome to attend all our meetings, as are non-members, visitors, and guests – and membership is easily available. A door donation, at physical meetings, of £2.00 is requested from members, and £3.00 from non-members, this entitles you to a raffle ticket as well. Refreshments are usually available at these meetings for an extra £0.40 * – serve your own at Zoom meetings (!)… Donations for Zoom meetings, in units of £2.00, can be made via the website if you so wish, to help alleviate costs that still continue in the background, even when we are not having physical meetings
Several members meet up prior to physical meetings at the local Wetherspoons (‘The Moon Under Water’, 44 High Street, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD17 2BS) for a meal and a chat – all welcome to join us, though we may not all get to sit together. We are there from around 17:30.
Meetings start at 19:30, the room is available from around 19:00 and we finish around 22:00. The venue is a few minutes’ walk from Watford Junction Station or Watford High Street and local buses stop outside. There is limited car parking at the venue, generally available after 18:00, also local multi-storey car parks and on-street parking, free after 18:30.
We generally organise at least one outdoor fixture during the warmer months to railway-themed destinations – potentially subject to any further government restrictions with regard to the Covid-19 situation.
* Refreshments will not be available until our September 2022 meeting - in the meantime you are welcome to bring your own supplies for our mid-meeting break.
What's on
Venues
Click the venue name to see more
Contacts
tel: Home: 01844 290226 Mobile: 07710 172758
email: watfordchair@rcts.org.uk
Rosemary Cottage, 13 Rudds Lane, Haddenham, Aylesbury, Bucks HP17 8JP
Secretary
tel: Home: 01386 830502 Mobile: 07803 941531
email: watford@rcts.org.uk
2 Legion Court, Middle Littleton, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 8JH
Meeting reports
7th December 2021 – ‘Members’ Presentations’
7TH DECEMBER 2021 MEETING After a couple of physical meetings it was back to a virtual Zoom meeting, and as usual for December we had an evening of Members’ presentations.…
Read More‘Northern Travels Past & Present’
2nd November 2021 Meeting For our second physical meeting since March 2020 we welcomed Steve ‘Slasher’ Batty, who is the RCTS Branch News Editor, for his presentation of ‘Northern Travels…
Read MoreEast Coast Main Line Part 1 – King’s Cross to York
Presenter: Stephen Gay For our first physical meeting since March 2020 we welcomed Stephen Gay for his eighth Watford visit with his presentation of ‘EAST COAST MAIN LINE – PART…
Read MoreRob’s Years – 1997
Presenter: Rob Freeman This was going to be a physical meeting, our first since March 2020, but our usual venue was unavailable and also after taking a poll amongst Branch…
Read More6th July 2021 · ‘That was the year that Was – 1962’
Presenter: Geoff Plumb It’s July and that means only one thing at Watford, the eagerly anticipated presentation by our Branch Chairman Geoff Plumb with another in his evocative series of…
Read More1st June 2021 · ‘The Grand Tour’
Presenter: Richard Morris We welcomed Cheltenham Branch Member Richard Morris for his presentation of ‘The Grand Tour’ which was a VSOE trip to Venice and Part Two for trips to…
Read More4th May 2021 · North Korea
Presenter: Colin Miell On Tuesday 4th May we welcomed Colin Miell from the LCGB for a Zoom presentation of his ground-breaking travels with the Locomotive Club of Great Britain to…
Read More6th April 2021 · ‘Railway Photographs from Glass Plates’
Presenter: David Postle Adrian White*, our booked speaker for the meeting had to call off the evening before the presentation but he suggested a friend who l managed to get…
Read More2nd March 2021 · This is a luxury I can’t afford
Presenter: Bernie Holland We welcomed back former Branch Chairman and Secretary Bernie Holland to host his show by Zoom entitled ‘THIS IS LUXURY I CAN’T AFFORD’ for which we had…
Read More2nd February 2021 · ‘Ramblings of a Head Station Master’
Presenter: Dave Boot For the first Tuesday of February 2021 we had another Zoom meeting with a show entitled ‘Ramblings of a Head Station Master’ by Dave Boot, who worked…
Read More5th January 2021 · AGM, followed by ‘Gems from the Casserley Collection’
Presenter: Rob Freeman This is the time of year for our Branch AGM and we had 23 Branch members in attendance as well as quite a few visitors. There were…
Read More1st December 2020 · Members’ Presentations
Branch Member Humphrey Gillott started the evening off with shots from 2002/03 taken at Forders Sidings on the Bedford to Bletchley Line. He showed the Signal Box exterior and also…
Read More3rd November 2020 · Rail touring
Presenter: Rob Freeman For our 3rd November Zoom meeting we had a return visit from Branch Member Rob Freeman with a presentation about his past Rail tours he was either…
Read More1st September 2020 · ‘The Honeybourne Line’
Presenter: Bernie Holland RCTS Watford Branch members and friends assembled on the ZOOM platform on Tuesday 1st September for Bernie’s presentation which was dedicated to the memory of acclaimed railway…
Read More4th August 2020 · ‘Members’ Digital Slides’
At Watford Branch we don’t normally have an August meeting, but because we are now having Zoom meetings we thought we would have one to make up for meetings lost…
Read More30th June and 7th July 2020 · ‘That was the year that Was – 1963’
Presenter: Geoff Plumb After having our Branch Meetings postponed for April, May and June, due to the virus pandemic, we arranged a Zoom virtual meeting organised by David Jackman (Society…
Read More3rd March 2020 · ‘Capturing the present and re-creating the past’
Presenter: Jason Cross For our 3rd March meeting we welcomed Leicester-based Jason Cross for a first visit to present ‘Capturing the present and re-creating the past’. We saw many locomotives…
Read More4th February 2020 · ‘A Pictorial Review of the 1935-1962 Tube Stock Family’
Presenter: Brian Hardy For our February meeting Brian Hardy paid us a return visit for ‘A Pictorial Review of the 1935-1962 Tube Stock Family’ which followed on from his Standard…
Read More7th January 2020 · Member’s slides
Our AGM on 7thJanuary saw only 14 present plus the four committee members. The fifth member, ‘Mistress of the Urn’ Lizzie Davidson, was absent due to recently cracking two ribs…
Read More3rd December 2019 · Portugal
At Watford we occasionally have to make allowances for travel when Watford FC play at home on a Tuesday coinciding with one of our meetings – this time it happened…
Read More5th November 2019 · European Miscellany
Presenter: Rob Freeman We welcomed back Branch Member Rob Freeman for a European Miscellany and we had a good attendance of 29 to mark the occasion!! Rob was giving a…
Read More1st October 2019 · ‘Titled Trains of the MML’
Presenter: Ray Schofield At our October meeting, 23 hardy souls turned up on a foul evening to welcome Ray Schofield with ‘Titled Trains of the MML’. The colour and B&W…
Read More3rd September 2019 · The Art of Timetabling’
Presenter: Andy Smith For our first meeting of the new season we welcomed Andy Smith who is a consultant with WSP, a Rail Planning Company whose experts are helping adapt…
Read More2nd July 2019 · An evening with Father’s slides – Steam within the M25’
Presenter: David Cross On 2nd July 2019 we welcomed David Cross to the branch for the first time to present ‘An evening with Father’s slides – Steam within the M25’.…
Read More4th June 2019 · Australia
Presenter: Rob Freeman At our June 2019 meeting we welcomed Branch Member Rob Freeman to give us Part 2 of his Australian jaunts, this time between Melbourne and Adelaide in…
Read More2nd June 2019 · Outing to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway
Watford Branch Outing Report. On Sunday 2nd June 2019 I organised a full day out on the GWSR and along with myself there was a healthy attendance of seventeen members…
Read More6th October 2020 · ‘North from Euston in the 1960s’
Presenter: David Jackman On the 6th October we welcomed RCTS Webmaster David Jackman, who went to great lengths at fairly short notice to present the show ‘North from Euston in…
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