“Far Away and Close to Home”
Presenter: John Holroyd
Following the completion of the summer season of outside activities the setting up of the first meeting of the 2022/23 indoor season in September became the priority. However, for some of the members that initial afternoon was taken up attending the funeral of a long-standing member of the branch for over 40 years, Malcolm Clark, who sadly passed away at the end of August. His passing was also recognised at the beginning of the evening meeting.
At the commencement of the meeting it was, at the pleasure of the Branch, it’s honour to present an award to Robert Batty, a non-member, who won the photographic competition for the most outstanding photograph taken at the recent naming ceremony of 69003 “The Railway Observer” at Barrow Hill. As a resident of the West Riding Robert was invited to attend the meeting where Branch Secretary Bob Green duly presented Robert with his winnings.
The subject matter of the meeting comprised of a two-part presentation put together by Branch Deputy Chairman John Holroyd beginning with a rail tour of Ukraine taken in 1996. Starting in Lviv this was to take in the Western areas of the country and was a tour organised by a Ukrainian Railway Tour organisation utilising one of the countries luxury trains offering full board accommodation which was to be their HQ and home for a tour of a week’s duration. A fascinating itinerary took the enthusiasts through peaks and forests embracing a number of both narrow and broad gauge systems utilising a wide variation of steam and diesel traction. Photographic run pasts and cab rides were plentiful. Naturally a great number of the engines were naturally of Russian and Eastern Bloc origin.
In contrast part two of the meeting was to remind the audience of the long-lost days of trolley buses in the U.K. Innumerable pictures of trolley buses seen across the length and breadth of the country were shown illustrating many examples of action in over two dozen varied locations. It was most appropriate that a fine collection of photographs was shown of the trolley bus system across Bradford and West Yorkshire as 2022 is the 50th year since the system was closed down forever. For local members this was a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Appreciative closing thanks were expressed to John for the excellent show that set the season off in fine style.