25 April 2009 - British Rail To Downham Market

OK, British Rail, First Travel, Network Rip-Off, whatever you call it, was never going to be such a fun event as the smaller railways….

We chose to tick off British Rail as a means to travelling to Downham Market for their St George’s Day celebrations. On the platform to take the 1156 departure, Sam was holding The Banner while I manned the camera. On cue, a party of Yummy Mummies with their children walked by and there issued forth such a blast of “ooooh” and “ahhhhhh” and “Look, how lovely” that you’d think they were watching The Biggest, Poshest Fireworks Display, EVER! One of the Yms offered to snap the pic, and her shot is reproduced here. Thanks Yummy Mummies!

In Downham we were a little late for the events, as most of the fun happened in the morning. That’s not gone well…..

Still, Downham Market has several nice charity shops which we regularly visit, so all was not lost. We found some new videos, and Sam unearthed a Playmobil 4X4 - he has a nice collection of Playmobil toys at his mum’s house, so that’s where the new find will live. We even found one of my favourite films (which I will be watching tonight) - Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure - it’s a fab film but WHY OH WHY did they steal the title from the name of our blog?

In Downham’s fabulous traditional sweet shop Sam bagged up some pick’n’mix while I splashed out on Fruit Salad and Black Jacks - much more expensive these days at 2p apiece!

And thus back to Lynn. Not the most exciting trip that we’ll make in the pursuit of our quest, but another railway ticked and done.

Three down, ten to go….

8 Apr 09 - Bressingham Steam Experience

Bressingham Steam Museum was Stop Number Two on our Excellent Train Adventure.



You can find this cool place not far from Diss, on the Thetford to Diss road. We found it first time, so you should have NO problems (our track record for becoming temporarily directionally obfuscated is deplorable). If you can, try to obtain some money off vouchers before you visit (try Tourist Information offices, libraries etc). We’d got hold of a “One Child Free” voucher so the two of us got in for just £12, including unlimited train rides and Three rides on the steam-powered Gallopers. I think that’s a decent price.




The biggest surprise was the railways. Plural. We’d planned it as just one, but there were two different gauges running. The smaller gauge around the 1,200 metre Garden Line, named because it runs through one of the beautiful gardens at Bressingham, and the 4km Nursery Line, taking you past engine sheds and the nursery for the garden centre - complete with very frequent toot-toots to clear errant partridges, or pheasants, or some-such, off the line. Once again, for me, the smell of the steam was fantastic, while both me and Sam loved getting close to the trains and engines again to see how they work, where the steam comes out, where they get dirty, etc.



Included in our “Steam Day” tickets were three rides each on the lovingly restored steam-fired Gallopers, which have ended up in Norfolk via a colourful journey including Whitley Bay and Fife. I Love the Gallopers. They’re not a white-knuckle experience, they move slowly, they’re old-fashioned. But bloody good fun. Sam enjoys them too, as we “race” each other around the ride. My final ride was aboard something that looked a little like a bald chicken, or an ostrich, and we christened him “Christmas Dinner”. Sam’s horse was painted with the name Jack, and we had fun with dodgy commentary (afterwards finding out that several parents behind us on the ride had enjoyed it just as much). Three rides included in the ticket price is also good VFM, if you go to, say, a country show at Sandringham you’ll be paying £2 each per trip.



Before we went I didn’t notice that there is a permanent Dad’s Army exhibition at Bressingham. Most of the outdoor scenes in the much-loved comedy series were filmed in nearby Thetford Forest, and most of the unusual vehicles you might see on the show were borrowed from Bressingham’s collection. I was Very thrilled to touch the steam traction engine that demolished a row of tents and soldiers’ kit. There’s a recreation of the Church Hall too, plus another recreation of Walmington-On-Sea High Street, and it’s all rather more exciting for an old duffer like me than for a 5-year-old like Sam. He did enjoy it, he likes the Second World War as a subject, so it was very much a win-win part of the day.


We bought dinner from the Gallopers Café, which was just what we needed, then explored some more. Access to the engine sheds in unlimited, and they have some Enormous steam engines in there. They also have some out-of-use Royal Train carriages, which are very luxurious. It’s also bizarre to see a bath-tub on a train! There is a beautifully preserved signal box which you can snoop round, plus the obligatory playground.



We were fortunate to visit on a Steam Day, other days there will be diesel or electric trains running. An extra bonus of the Steam Day is the 1950’s vintage Dodgems rink, which costs £2 per car. The floor is Very bumpy, the cars are Very slow, but it’s excellent fun, especially as the nature of Bressingham precludes hordes of teenagers determined to bump everyone they can as fast as they can go. Great fun.


We loved Bressingham, and recommend it, a lot.

Two down, eleven to go!

3 April 2009 - Bure Valley Railway

The Most Excellent Train Adventure Is underway!

With the challenge beginning on April the first, we made a start riding on every railway in Norfolk on the Third. Our first target was the Bure Valley Railway, which runs from Aylsham to Wroxham.

The kit for Leg One was a map book (more of that later), a picnic made up of ham sandwiches (with mustard, for Dad), apples, pears, crisps and chocolate, emergency downpour wet-weather gear, The Banner, camera, and toys. Somehow one of Sam’s arch-enemies, a monster toy called Metalpants (don’t ask) sneaked in as well.

Just for once we made the trip in adequate time, despite a long and confusing diversion due to an accident near Aylsham. Sam had been up at half four that morning at mum’s house, so he’d had a nice snooze as we were travelling. We bought our return tickets to Wroxham and explored the station.

The Bure Valley Railway is an extremely tidy and well-kept affair, and you can wander almost freely around and get up close to the trains as they wait in the station. Fab! We had a look at our engine for the day - Blickling Hall - which was a splendid small scale version of an old-fashioned steam train, and I loved the smell of the steam, oil and grease, lovely.



We then collared a passer-by to take the first picture of The Banner being held by The Challengers.



Soon we were on our way and tucked into the picnic as we chuff-chuffed our way out of the station. We’d deliberately picked the carriage right behind the engine, and the sound of the steam engine working was loud and enjoyable. The ride on the Bure Valley Railway is way different to your average British Rail (or whatever it’s called) train, and was very wobbly with a great deal of rocking from side to side. All part of the fun! We passed so many fleeting, idyllic snapshots of beautiful countryside, duck ponds, copses, the scenery along this line is lovely.




The trip to Wroxham lasts for a value-for-money 45 minutes. At Wroxham we watched the engine being turned on the hand-powered turntable before leaving the station, walking under the “proper” train track, turning right, and heading into Wroxham, past Roys, Roys and Roys. We also saw Roys. A mere five minutes walk found us at the waterfront looking at the self-same hump-back bridge that we’d driven over on the way to Bewilderwood and our first ever camping trip last year. Down by the river you can barely even hear the traffic and it actually looks kind of quaint, completely different to crawling along the road and over the bridge in the car. We vowed to repeat this trip in the summertime, and to take a boat out onto The Norfolk Broads, and Sam even spotted which boat he wants to hire from a long line of day-hire boats which are currently still wrapped up and hibernating. The ducks, geese and swans are obviously very street-wise, and made a beeline for us on the riverside.

So, back for the return trip. We couldn’t get in the first two carriages, so jumped into the third. I was quite surprised - I don’t know why I should have been - that it had double doors and was obviously designed to admit wheelchairs. Great stuff, I hadn’t even thought about that before. On the return trip we played “Spot The Animal” and Sam saw four from his side of the train (bird, horse, dog, sheep) to my two (bird, dog), another defeat to the prodigal son.



And thus back to Aylsham.

The Bure Valley Railway is Very well run, clean, and a complete joy to visit. A return trip is £11 for an adult and £6 for a child (aged 5 to 16). The boats at Wroxham would be a lot more expensive, but you can book yourself onto a “Train & Boat” trip which includes the rail trip from Aylsham and back, and a lovely cruise around the Broads.

Recommended!

Of course, on the way home we (I) got lost and we ended up doing a lap of Aylsham town centre before finally finding the route homeward.

And of course, it’s one down, a lot to go……