Wednesday 4th May 2022.

Well, here we are again. Out on the open rails with the distinct whiff of syeam locomotive in the air. Ah nostalgia!

Buckle up and settle down. This is an epic tale of pleasure, joy and hope (hope that all will go swimmingly without any hitches) and the inevitable despair when hitch decides to show himself.

On Wednesday 4th may The Railriders Group travelled the Cotswolds on The Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Steam Railway from Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway.

We met at The Metropole in Llandrindod, 16 intrepid explorers. We car shared using 4 cars and set off on a 2 hour journey, Having utmost confidence in his planning abilities Blue Leader One issued satnav directions for folk in case we seperated on the road. More later………….

Of the 4 cars 3 arrived in good time at Cheltenham Racecourse and waited………………. and waited…………….. and waited for car 4 to arrive.adly it did not arrive at all.

I mean, did I not allow plenty of time? Did I not give adequate directions? Worse, had something awful happened?

In due course I received a phone call from the one of the passengers in car 4 and I realised the mistake I had made. The 3 cars that arrived set their satnavs for Cheltenham Racecourse. The 4th used the postcode I gave them in Llandrindod which was for Winchcombe, a staion further up the line. They were in the wrong place at the right time and Blue Leader was in bother – again!

As things turned out the first group set off on the train at 11.30 and the others were able to join 2 stops later. Imagine the banter. Apparently the lady serving coffee at Winchcombe near enough fainted when 4 coffees were ordered while they waited for the train. The most she usually served was 1 or 2. Anyway after much ado and hale fellow well met we journied on to Broadway.

For anyone who has never been to the Cotswoldsthe scenery is picturesquewith rolling downs and green fields. The buildings are built with a lovely Cotswold tone that is yellow – very distinctive.

We passed through Gotherington, Winchcombe, Hayes Abbey Halt and Toddington, finally arriving in Broadway after 1 hour. We split up and went our own ways for 3 hours.

We met up back at the station in time to catch the last train back at 3.30pm, minus 2 who had travelled back down the line earlier to revisit old haunts. They joined us at Toddington on the return, arriving back at Cheltenham at 4.30.

Anyone who has shared our adventures knows that we like to round off our visits with a meal at a public house. I don’t know the area so had to choose a suitable looking venue with a decent menu. I selected somewhere about half way home at a place called Much Marcle. The pub was called the Royal Oak. Having pre-ordered our meals we had to wait for the premises to open before we could even quench our thirst. Now, remember the 4th car? Because it was closer to the pub than those coming from Cheltenham the 4th car arrived well before the rest of us.

How to pass the time while they waited? I am informed that the 4 (2 former teachers included) played ‘I Spy’. I wonder how many different things there are to spy on a rural pub car park. Something beginning with P (pub), C (car), G (grass), F (field), B (bush), H (hill) and don’t forget that old classic T (tree).

The food, by the way, was excellent, as was the service. Good food and atmosphere make merry and mistakes aside (only a tiny little one) we had a great time. What a super day.

Blue Leader One