Thames Valley Group

The L&B Thames Valley Group have been given a complete set to date (as at December 2023) of the 37 volumes of the railway magazine “BACKTRACK”  Click here for information about that magazine.

Volumes 1 to 32 are professionally bound. Volumes 33 to 37 are individual magazines.

L&B members will be sorry to learn of the death of Jonathan Hill. Jonny was involved with the L&B from very early days. In particular he was one of the founder members of the Thames Valley Group.

There will be a lunch to celebrate his life on Saturday 25 November in the Millennium Hall, Straight Mile, Horton-cum-Studley, OX33 1AE

For further details please contact Helen Bungay via email address h.bungay@btinternet.com

Members of the Thames Valley Group will be promoting the delights of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway to those who attend the Basingstoke Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March. Please click here  for details of the exhibition.

One of the OO9 layouts is named 'LYNTON' - we are all very much looking forward to seeing that in action.

Members of the Thames Valley Group will be promoting the delights of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway to 'anyone and everyone' at Alton Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 February. Please click here for details of the exhibition.

If you visit the show do please introduce yourself to the folk manning the L&B stand. If you buy a few L&B items and drop some cash in the donation box that would be even better!

Members of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Thames Valley Group were invited to take their Exhibition and Sales stand to the Watercress Line for the recent Mid-Hants Railway Autumn Steam Gala. 

As can be seen from the pictures below, the L&B group were given full use of the viewing gallery in the Carriage Shed at Ropley. Fran Lovelock managed to grab the opportunity to take some photos while there were comparatively few people in the gallery but at other periods the room was crowded with visitors!

The L&B Thames Valley Group was very fortunate to receive an invitation for a group of members to visit the Fawley Hill Museum on 26 June. The museum houses the collection of the late Sir William McAlpine.

Many L&B members have fond memories of Friday 29 September 2017 when Sir William visited Woody Bay Station to unveil the nameplate of the newly built locomotive LYN. L&B magazine 114 carries a full report of the events of that special day. Sadly that proved to be Sir William’s final public engagement as he passed away just a few months later.

On Saturday 12 March and Sunday 13 March members of the L&B Thames Valley Group were busy manning our stand at the Basingstoke Model Railway Exhibition (MRE). The last time we had taken the stand to a MRE was the same show in March 2020 (pre Covid) so it was very appropriate to resume our activity of promoting the L&BR where we had to pause for a break two years ago.

The L&B Thames Valley Area Group will be having a stand at the Basingstoke Festival of Transport on Sunday 22nd August.

If you go to that event do please come and say hello to the L&B supporters who will be manning the L&B stand. You will be able to buy your 2021 Christmas cards. You might even spot an L&B book which you forgot to buy when you were at Woody Bay Station!

I do hope you are keeping well and managing to cope with this current lockdown. It is good to hear the recent positive news about various vaccines - let us hope they will prove to be successful.

A TV programme to watch

A new series of the TV programme “Walking Britain’s Lost Railways” starts next week.

...so we took the L&B to see the FLYING SCOTSMAN!

FLYING SCOTSMAN came to the Mid Hants Railway for a three week stay at the 'Watercress Line’ recently. The locomotive was based outside the engine shed at Ropley Station.