Shropshire Magazine

It’s hard to believe that this scene of destruction has been put right inside a year.

Andy Richardson on the rapid renovation of the Severn Valley Railway

The shiny black train roars into the station with a high-pitched roar. Ppphhhhhheeeeeeeeepppp! blows its whistle as it eases to a halt. Steam gushes onto the platform and there’s a wonderful smell of oil and grease, evocative of an earlier age.

The train’s flat-capped driver waves to a group of youngsters on the platform, who respond with cheery smiles. Day-trippers disembark and queues of tourists shuffle forward to replace them. There’s a wonderful sense of theatre as the engine gets ready to depart. Then the signalman waves his flag, toots his silver whistle and the train glides away; ker-chuff, ker-chuff, ker-chuff. Make no mistake: the Severn Valley Railway is back on track.

The picture was very different 12 months ago. Trains were in sheds and the Severn Valley Railway was facing a £3.6 million repair bill. Its track had been washed away by violent storms. Apocalyptic rains caused 45 landslips, rupturing the track in places.

John Leach, SVR marketing manager, said: “The rains struck on June 19 and July 20. They brought devastation on an unprecedented scale, but there was never any notion that we wouldn’t recover. It was a question of when we’d reopen, rather than if.”

In June last year, two weeks’ worth of rain fell in just 30 minutes. Similar volumes fell day after day, saturating the ground. Volunteers began to repair some of the damage but all of their efforts were undone as floods returned four weeks later.

Marketing manager John Leach gives the thumbs-up to progress so far.

John added: “Our volunteers and engineers were able to repair some areas, but the damage was on an unprecedented scale.”

Positive

Remarkably, the rains had a positive effect. Though the line lost more huge sums of money, including £3.6 million for repairs and millions more in lost takings, its recovery was swift. Its efforts to reopen were boosted by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund, which ploughed money into repairs. It was also buoyed by the support of locals, who contributed £600,000 to a fighting fund.

John said: “We managed to keep one stretch of the line open, between Bewdley and Kidderminster, and in February we were able to reopen the stretch between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade. Then, on March 21, we were able to reopen the line entirely. I’m a very positive person and I think we learned a lot when the rains came.

“We have 100 full-time employees and 1,100 active volunteers. As a family, we were very strong. We also learned how much affection the general public has for us.”

John said there was great support from neighbours of the Severn Valley Railway, who allowed engineers access to fallen track. There was support from Bridgnorth District Council, which was keenly aware of the social and economic benefits that the line brings. He added: “It was almost like people not realising what they’d got until what they’d got had gone. People wanted us to start rebuilding immediately.”

The rain brought increased vigilance from staff and neighbours. Now, whenever a tree falls or a drain becomes blocked, action is swift. “We’re aware of Mother Nature’s awesome, colossal power. There’s no sense of complacency,” added John. “A lot of the work that we’ve carried out has been designed to withstand flooding. We have far better drainage, for instance. But you can never say it won’t happen again. The railway runs through a river valley. The Victorians built the railway very well – but, you have to say, they probably built it in the wrong place.”

The Severn Valley Railway’s new general manager, Nick Ralls, started work four days after the June 19 floods. He didn’t get to ride the length of the line until this Easter. When he eventually caught the train from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, he was overwhelmed by the number of people who had crammed onto the beautiful, period carriages. Those huge numbers continue to the present day.

John said: “We thought there’d be a honeymoon period when the line reopened. But that honeymoon period has continued throughout the summer. We’re getting more visitors now than we had prior to the floods. We have private parties, school bookings, people enjoying special occasions by driving the trains – all sorts of people are visiting.”

The line was reopened with a VIP train in March. Celebrity gardener Charlie Dimmock smashed a bottle of champagne to mark the occasion before being joined on a ride by 150 invited guests.

Picturesque

The Prince of Wales chats to Bill and Muriel Bennett, who have lived in the station house at Hampton Loade for five decades.

Three months later, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall travelled on the Severn Valley Railway with the royal train hauled by a gleaming steam engine, the King Edward I, brought in from its home at Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire. Charles and Camilla took the picturesque 16-mile train journey to Bridgnorth to celebrate the reopening of the line and on the way stopped at Hampton Loade, where they were joined by Lord Lieutenant Algernon Heber-Percy and his wife, Jane. The Prince and Duchess also stopped off to greet station master Steve Dockerty and long-time Severn Valley Railway members Bill and Muriel Bennett, who have lived in the station house at Hampton Loade for more than 50 years and were also affected by the floods.

The Severn Valley Railway is, of course, an integral part of Shropshire’s history and culture. It was built between 1858 and 1862, and linked Hartlebury, near Droitwich, with Shrewsbury, a distance of 40 miles. It remained a through-route for 101 years, from 1862 until 1963.

Today’s tourist-orientated Severn Valley Railway Company began operations in 1970 from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade, extending services southwards to Bewdley in 1974, then to Kidderminster in 1984.

The relaunch in 2008 of the newly restored line coincided with the opening of the Severn Valley Railway’s flagship £5 million engine house at Highley. Almost 4,000 people passed through the doors following the centre’s launch in spring to view a new educational centre that houses up to 12 locomotives at any time.

“We’re just delighted to be back on track,” added John Leach. “And we’re so grateful to all of our supporters for making sure we’re thriving after the misery of last year’s floods. We’re very much looking forward to the future.”

• Visit www.svr.co.uk for timetables and other information. An online ticket office will soon be in operation.