Heritage railway to offer 'hands-on experience'

The train carried its first passengers along Vale of Berkeley Railway on 15 October

Railway enthusiasts and residents interested in local history have come together to restore an old railway line.

The team behind the restored Vale of Berkeley Railway in Gloucestershire started in a shed on the other side of Sharpness Docks 10 years ago, in what chair Howard Parker said was "a very limited environment".

Although the first passenger train has now travelled on the tracks, the line will not be fully functional until next year, with a planning application now submitted for storage and maintenance sheds.

Mr Parker said the plan is to offer a "hands-on experience" of being on a railway, including driving diesel trains, riding in the brake vans, and moving signals, to local people.

Sharpness New Dock opened in 1875 and would receive goods from Africa, with trains transporting chocolate crumb from the dock to the production works of Cadbury's and Fry's.

The land where the dock sidings once stood was leased to the group by Network Rail shortly before the pandemic.

Volunteers, including those who say they are more interested in preserving local heritage than railways, have been involved in restoring the line.

Carolyn Jones began volunteering at Vale of Berkeley Railway three years ago with her son, who is autistic and loves trains.

"I made the mistake of putting my head up above the parapet and being dragged in to being a trustee but it's been fabulous, I love it," she said.

Carolyn Jones got stuck into volunteering at the Vale of Berkeley Railway after visiting for the first time with her son

"I get down, I change sleepers, I move bolts and nuts and fishplates; I know what a chair is now and it's not what you sit on."

The now-restored train, which Mr Parker said "was in a rather derelict state", was bought from Dean Forest Railway four years ago, and carried passengers through the Vale of Berkeley for the first time on Wednesday.

"My joke has always been we're a mental health charity for railway enthusiasts," Mr Parker said.

"All the evidence is that, actually, getting out and about, being with groups of people is actually one of the core things that's really good for people's mental health."