A foggy day in London town...: Nobody can do it like a steam train...

Monday the 30th was a Bank Holiday so Hilary and I took the opportunity to catch a steam train along the Severn Valley Railway. The Railway was running a theme day given that it was a Bank Holiday of a trip to the seaside. They had ice-cream vendors on the stops, sand castle competitions, donkey rides, beach umbrellas...the only thing missing was the sea. The Severn Valley is possibly the farthest away from the ocean you can get in England! So the illusion had a minor flaw but it was still a great day out.

The line runs from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth through the Severn Valley with a number of stops on the way (a couple of which are on request only). There was a kid about 8-10yrs old in the same carriage as us on the trip down the valley...I think I was more excited about the whole thing than he was. I was reliving my childhood as the 'Erlstroke Manor' pulled us along. The weather was perfect and the journey took just over an hour.

When we arrived at Bridgnorth it was time for a late lunch. Bridgnorth is an interesting town; half is built on top of 100ft sandstone cliffs around what was a castle and the other half is built at the bottom of the cliffs around the River Severn. A fort was built on the top of the cliff in 912AD then turned into a castle in 1101 then blown up during the Civil War in 1646. There is one section of wall still standing at an angle greater than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

There is a Cliff Railway which ferries people from the Low Town to the High Town and has been operating since 1892!

After lunch at the pub we explored the Low Town before heading back to the station to catch the train back up the valley. To commemorate the day I wore my tweed hat from James and felt very English in the process. A childhood dream come true!

In the meantime, back at home, Martin had completely replaced the ceiling we pulled out a few days earlier and insulated the whole thing...Hilary and I felt a little guilty but had fun regardless!