I did not have much luck with the weather at the 2009 Gala - a marked contrast with 2008!

On 7 October, I went on Matt Fielding's Charter with Kinlet Hall. We had a great day - thanks Matt, Kev and Dave.

In July 2009 I holidayed in California, visiting San Francisco, Alcatraz, Sacramento, Carmel, Yosemite and lots of places in-between. I travelled on the Napa Valley Wine Train, the Skunk Railroad from Fort Bragg, the Sacramento Southern Railroad, the Roaring Creek Railroad, and the San Francisco Cable Cars.I visited the Cable Car Museum in San Francisco and the California State Railroad Museum at Sacramento

In May 2009, I travelled to South Africa again. I went to Sandstone in the Free State, travelled on the Cape Gauge from Creighton to Riverside and Donnybrook together with Patons Country Railway in Natal before travelling on the Avontuur Branch to Patensie and Assegeibosch

In April 2009 I visited steam railways in Australia. Staying in Sydney and Melbourne, I travelled on 2', 2'-6", 3'-6", 4'-81/2", and 5'3" gauge railways

I was away for the SVR Spring Gala, but I saw 71000 on the 1300 ex Kidderminster at Bewdley North today. The last time I saw this engine, was at Barry in about 1973.

I went on Matt Fielding's Charter with 5029 and the toplights. We were blessed (sic) with wall to wall cloud, but it was still a most enjoyable day. Matt was great with the organisation, and Dave and Kev did their usual brilliant job on the footplate.

I went on a charter on the SVR with City of Truro on 16 October. Once again, we were blessed with good weather.

I had a good day out with a charter organised by the 7812 Erlestoke manor Fund (I'm a shareholder) on the 10th October. In the morning we had both locos with a train consisting of 8 GWR coaches and a Siphon G. After lunch, we had both locos separately with some of the SVR's wonderful collection of GWR Goods Wagons.

This was a charter organised by Matt Fielding. We had brilliant weather and a cracking day out.

On 29 September I went on a charter organised by the "Friends of 4930 Hagley Hall" It was great day with good weather, friendly people and excellent organisation.

I joined other members of the Association on the special train which consisted of 3 of the Association's GWR coaches and the only outside framed Siphon G still in existence. The train was hauled by 9017 and 4566 and i was able to ride on the footplate of 9017 from Bridgnorth to Arley. As I was riding the train, photographic opportunities were limited, but I did manage a few.

Fantastic 3 day gala - lots of Great Western locos and fine weather. All the trains were well filled too

I spent some time on Sunday and Monday at Bewdley South - the weather was not brilliant - lots of cloud around, but I enjoyed a few hours there with my book and camera - whilst not envying those stuck in the traffic queues in the Safari Park opposite!

I visited Statfold Barn for the June Open Days in 2007 and 2008 - the 2007 weather was rather better than 2008 - but I include some shots from both Open Days.

In May 2008, I went to South Africa with Geoff's Trains. We started with 3 days of dawn to dusk photography at Sandstone, utilising 7 different locomotives.

A move to Ixopo followed, where we had a day on the Cape gauge line from Creighton (where the Mayor came out to welcome us) to Riverside and Donnybrook with a 19D class.

Whilst at Ixopo we also had two days on the Paton's Country railway - first with an NGG11 and then with two sugar cane locos - where we were able to do real sugar cane cutting and loading.

We also visited (purely on spec) the cellulose mills at Umkomaas in Natal which is the last industrial site in South Africa using steam locos. We were lucky enough to see a 19D bringing a load of timber into the plant from the transfer sidings.

I live about 20 minutes away from Bewdley Station so it's easy to pop over there. These are some of my pictures taken around Bewdley.

4930 Group arranged a charter with 4566 in Feb 2007

One of my favourite lines - lots of locomotive variety and very friendly people. I'm a Member, Shareholder and Photographic Permit holder.

In July 2007, I visited the Isle of Man for the first time since 1974. I was impressed by the excellent state of the railway infrastructure, and the friendliness of the staff, but the operation seemed a bit soulless - I guess that's down to all staff being paid to do a job.

The journey to the island was very easy - a cheap flight from Birmingham - very different to the miserable crossing of the Irish Sea that I endured on a ferry in 1974. I was surprised at the difficulty of getting an meal in the evenings at Douglas - few restaurants offering anything other than fish and chips. I couldn't find a pub that did food - they were all "drinker's" pubs - full of smoke! In contrast the pub by the station at Port Erin was excellent at lunch times.