Home»All my photos»Clun down the Marches and the long way home 5 March 2022

For their first steam excursion of the year, Vintage Trains chose to take their pristine GWR 4-6-0 No 7029 Clun Castle for a run down the Welsh Marches. But as you will read, we didn’t just turn round and come back again, we took a wide anticlockwise sweep along several iconic GWR routes, arriving back (fittingly) at Birmingham Snow Hill after nearly 300 miles of steam.

Some 11 hours earlier we had set off on a lively run north to Wolverhampton, where we turned left to pick up the old GWR route from Paddington to Chester and Birkenhead. The sun was shining on us as we headed briskly westwards, passing Oxley at 60, Bilbrook at 67 and 72 at Albrighton. We hammered on downhill for a while through Cosford until the gradient up to Shifnal restrained us a bit, but we were nine minutes early by Shrewsbury.

We were held on the triangle awaiting a departure from the station, and revelled at the view of the massive manual signalbox in full sun. Then it was off down the old North and West route towards Newport. Straight into the climb, we were doing 35 at Bayston Hill, 40 at Condover and 50 at Dorrington. As the gradient steepened we were down to 35 at Leebotwood and 31 at All Stretton, but made it back to 37 at Church Stretton and 36 over the top. We cantered in the 50s and 60s on the mostly downhill stretch, and by Shelwick Junction had made up for our four minute late start from Shrewsbury. So we had an on-time arrival into Hereford for a 2.5 hour break, with more photo opportunities in the continuing sunshine.

On the restart we made gentle progress, reaching 64 at Pontrilas but then the climb to Llanfihangel began to take its toll. We were down to 44 at Pandy: the speed gradually degraded and we went over the top at 30. We roared away downhill and were well up to line speed by Abergavenny, but slowed after Nantyderry by the next uphill stretch. Little more of note on the following saw-tooth stretch, and we were soon at Maindee where we would join another great GWR line, from Paddington to South Wales, now electrified.

Heading east now past the derelict Llanwern steelworks site, we dawdled along with time to kill before our path through the Severn Tunnel. When the time came we stormed away down the hill, presumably to gain as much momentum as possible. We gradually slowed on the upward 1 in 100, emerging at 18 mph, averaging 57 mph over the tunnel stretch. Slowly onward through Pilning, Patchway and Bristol Parkway, we passed Westerleigh Junction at 51 and came out of Chipping Sodbury tunnel at 56. Then away we went. Downhill from Badminton we burst out of Alderton tunnel at 70, our speed rising steadily upwards for ten miles down the 1 in 300 through Hullavington and Little Somerford. But the brakes went on after Brinkworth and we passed sedately through Wootton Bassett Junction: the excitement was over. After a pathing stop at Swindon (our engine’s birthplace) we chuffed along in the 60s over Brunel’s billiard table to our water stop at Milton, then turned left once more at Didcot to head back north.

60 through the middle road at Oxford was an exciting new experience, but it was getting dark now and I was enjoying the conversation in the coach, so my records got very thin. At Aynho Junction we returned to the southern section of the Paddington to Birmingham and Chester main line. On through Banbury and Leamington Spa, then slowing to 18 through Warwick for a known speed restriction. We whizzed back up to 39 in the mile to Warwick Parkway and I suspected shovage, so took no further notice of the climb to Hatton. Then in through the suburbs , past Tyseley and Moor Street and up through the tunnel to another iconic GWR location, Birmingham Snow Hill. This was where I alighted, after an excellent day of sunshine and steam. Many thanks to all who made it possible.