Furness lakes and lune meeting
On the 5th January 2022 the branch welcomed one of our own members Mike Ellis to give a presentation on “Hest Bank and beyond”.
Mike started his talk by outlining his early days when he used to cycle to Hest Bank as a keen early spotter, many will know there used to be some holiday coaches at Hest Bank closing in 1970 and we were shown an excellent shot of these coaches. One of Mikes favourite spots here was Green Bridge just south of Hest Bank station and we observed some pictures of the regular Shell oil train from Heysham to Leeds. We were then shown several fascinating shots from this location such as 44767 steaming nicely, several 37s and a special with a 37 on the front top and tailed by a class 57
From this idyllic spot we were taken to a wide range of locations, a Staycatiion express on Ribblehead viaduct,46115 on the Dalesman at Kirkby Stephen and a class 20 @ Lowgill rescuing a failed 47. A class 47 at settle junction with another Appleby -Skipton showed the success of this innovative venture during the pandemic.
Moving south brought us to Williston shed near Taunton housing a class 33and 2 Hymeks. Further interesting shots outlined the problems on the West Somerset railway with the level crossing at Minehead, ironically it had been handed back by Network rail on the day of the photo (oct 2021) and is now fully operational.
We were then treated to a staggering array of European locations Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Of particular note was a picture from 1971 in Germany of a 2 -10- 0 coal train near the river Moselle.
Moving back to our local area; of real interest was a picture of a French loco on a low loader at Carnforth which had taken a week to travel from Southampton as there was no M6 at that time.
Mike moved on by showing us a portrayal of several coastal railways including many classic locations such as Berwick, Dawlish, Colwyn Bay and Penmaenmawr.There was still more excellent pictures to come such as the last steam train at Blea Moor where police attended but were very tolerant regarding healthy and safety.
To finish we watched a fascinating video of Blackpool trams showing many of the older ones such as the open boat built in 1934.
So, a fascinating whirl around a much bigger vista than Hest Bank, an excellent session appreciated by our audience
Alan Sattenstall
7th Feb 2022