WELCOME TO THE BUCKINGHAM RAILWAY COVERS BLOG!
This is the first time I've ever done a blog so bear with me...
My name's Sarah and I work for Buckingham Covers. Because I love my trains, I'm head of our Railway Team. The great news about this is I get to research railway anniversaries and carry covers on trains! So if you know of any big anniversaries coming up (steam trains or modern trains), let me know!
I carried covers in the name of work last Saturday on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway for their 80th Anniversary.
I’d been on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway a few times (you can’t live down here and not take at least one trip on it!) but the last time had been over 20 years ago, and I’d only gone as far as Dymchurch on that occasion. To most people in the Hythe area, the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is as much a part of every day life as it is a tourist attraction – the railway provides a school train to take pupils to a nearby secondary school. The train is usually diesel hauled (the “Captain Howey” or “John Southland”) – it would be unusual for the school train to be steam hauled.
The train left just after 3.00pm and it didn’t take long to reach a decent speed – fast enough to feel like it was a good speed but slow enough to enable you to properly take in the surroundings. Some of the gardens that we passed were empty but now and again we’d pass groups of people standing and waving and who’d been waiting for the train to pass by.
The afternoon was bright and warm, almost a perfect summer afternoon and a far cry from the chilly January day when I travelled on the Kent Coast Express. Although the flat marshlands stretch for miles, there was variation in the scenery – fields of corn quickly changed to sheep grazing, and as we left Hythe, I could see
The carriages are almost as old as the locomotives and, although they’d be described as basic, in comparison with modern carriages, they were comfortable nonetheless. And you still get the “clickety-clack” noises that you would expect to hear! The windows in the carriage where I was sitting weren’t intended to open, so doors were kept open to let some air in and it seemed strange seeing the clumps of grass passing so close to my feet (close enough to touch), and hearing the grassing brushing against the carriage.
We slowed down as we approached Dymchurch station but didn’t stop, the reason being that this was a recreation of the original journey, and Dymchurch station hadn’t been built at the time. The same applied to St Mary’s Bay, a little further down the line. At Dymchurch station, it felt like we had stepped back in time – on the platform were members of the Home Guard! However, this was simply a mark in the timeline of the Railway (Hythe being the beginning of the line, represented the 1920’s).
On leaving Dymchurch, we picked up a little speed before slowing down again, this time for St Mary’s Bay. We finally arrived at New Romney at 3.30pm.
The return train would be a little over an hour later so I made my way over to the refreshment area, where a buffet had been set up for passengers on this anniversary train. Afterwards, still carrying the box of covers (they were well and truly carried, by train and by me!) I made my way over to the Running Shed to take some pictures. I took quite a few, so only the best have been chosen for this letter.
On the journey down, the train had been carrying VIPs – local dignitaries such as the Mayors of Hythe and Lydd, and our own MP, Michael Howard. On the return journey, they had been shown directly to “Gladys”, the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch own Bar Car. Presumably this was for extra special guests, as myself and other invited guests (including passengers who had been on the very first train back in 1927) were shown to the next car down. Not that I’m complaining – I’m sure that I was with far more interesting companions!
We arrived back in Hythe at 5.13pm, and found the station empty, but only because everyone else was still in New Romney, where the party was still going on.
This railway line is special to me, as one of the first steam train journeys that I remember taking was on this line, and I’d recommend it to anyone (unless you’re as tall as Tony Buckingham. With the carriages and locomotives being scaled down versions, the carriages could be a little uncomfortable!) For more information about other special events, or just to see pictures of the trains, look at their website, http://www.rhdr.org.uk/rhdr/home_flash.html .
My thanks to everyone at the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway, who work tirelessly to keep this line running, especially Chris Harvey and Tony Clarke for their help in getting the covers carried.
If you'd like one of the covers, they are great! There are 4 different versions and each has a Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway official Rail Letter stamp. But they are nearly sold out when I last checked. You can see them on our website at http://www.buckinghamcovers.com/shop/productdisplay.lasso?product_id=759
Best wishes,
Sarah
