For our last meeting before Christmas – our 'party' – Frank Banfield presents another of his very popular evenings with a further selection from his extensive collection of archive 16mm ciné film, but with a bit of a festive twist.

Previous evenings have included documentaries, BTC publicity, vintage adverts, cartoons, and excerpts from home movies. Films mostly feature railway subjects, but trams, buses, canals, docks, heavy road haulage and air travel may also make an appearance.

There will also be party food (please 'bring and share'!) and hopefully the beer train will make its annual appearance on the model railway.

Experience John Coke's unique style of auctioneering, join in the witty banter, and bag yourself a bargain, or ten... Yes! It's nearly time for the legendary SWRS Auction!! (raising money towards the upkeep of Slough Estates No.3).

So, dig through your cupboards, lofts and shelves for any spare railwayana, unwanted Christmas presents, and all those other things you never use.
Bring it along on the night, for us to sell...
...and don't forget your wallet: we need you to buy things as well!

Further Details: eg what kind of things to bring...

Frank Banfield presents another of his very popular evenings with a further selection from his extensive collection of archive 16mm ciné film.

Previous evenings have included documentaries, BTC publicity, vintage adverts, cartoons, and excerpts from home movies. This time, Frank will be concentrating on vintage railway films from the 1950s.

Situated on the picturesque Settle-Carlisle railway line, and opened in 1877, Dent is the highest mainline railway station in England.

In 2006, Robin Hughes purchased the station buildings with a view to restoring them to their former glory. "Ticket to Dent" is the story of this remarkable place.

An 'Anything Goes' evening: big screen video, ciné, projected prints, or slides, presented by SWRS members and featuring railway or other transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

If you have films or photos to share with fellow enthusiasts, please bring them along on Friday. (And if you contact info@swrs.co.uk in time, we can advertise your contribution in advance.)

Stepping into the breach once more, our very own Rob Holder will be giving us another evening of transport-related subjects. These usually feature a varied mix of recent railway trips, local history, behind-the-scenes views at Heathrow Airport, trains, boats, planes, and more. Always very enjoyable.

PLEASE NOTE:
Peter Davey is unable to give his presentation Clifton Rocks Railway this evening. Hopefully it can be rescheduled in next year's programme.

Camping coaches were offered by many railway companies as accommodation for holiday makers in rural or coastal areas. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to provide basic sleeping and living space at static locations.

Railway historian and published author, Mike Fenton, has undertaken much research into the subject and will be telling us about their history and operation.

The Ken Nunn photograph collection covers British railway history from the earliest years of the pre-Grouping companies, with views of trains, road vehicles, buildings and more, and is now in the care of the National Railway Museum.

Graham Stacey makes a welcome return to The Manor to share further examples from the collection.

Windsor is unusual in being the terminus of two branch lines, only built after much battling on the part of the GWR, the residents of Windsor, and the LSWR.

Local historian, Malcolm Lock, looks at the difficulties encountered with Eton College and the Crown and how they were eventually overcome by the companies paying to reach the town, doing so in 1849.

The second part of the talk deals with some of the events which took place throughout the lines' history up to the rationalisation which led to the service provided today.

In the days of steam traction, engine sheds were a hive of activity throughout the day and night, with locomotives returning for coal, water, and essential cleaning and maintenance. Ken Norris will be telling us about those times.

A compilation of archive film of steam railways in Southern England, 1897-1970.

Peter & Bruce Davies will be taking a close look at shipping, on Friday.

The title view shows shipping from a bygone age: the SS Avonmoor being manoeuvred by a couple of tug boats at London's Surrey Docks in 1950.

In February, Mike Dickson visited The Manor to give a presentation about The Gloucestershire - Warwickshire Steam Railway.

This evening will continue the story, covering the northern extension to Broadway station. Opening in March 2018, it made the G&WR one of the longest heritage lines in the country.

Our own John Fowler has been on several New Zealand holidays in recent years, visiting many heritage railways and parts of the national railway system.

This evening John will show us some of the more characteristic oddities he has found on his travels – many of them railway-related – and give a summary of the current loco stock of Kiwi Rail.

Something a bit different to start the new season's programme: Rob Poole will be showing us some Railway Curiosities.

Whether his evening will include the extraordinary Lartigue Monorail at Listowel in Ireland (as pictured), or even more bizarre engineering feats, you'll just have to come along to find out.

'Anything Goes' evenings: big screen video, ciné, projected prints, or slides, presented by SWRS members and featuring railway or other transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

If you have films or photos to share with fellow enthusiasts, please bring them along on Friday. (And if you contact info@swrs.co.uk in time, we can advertise your contribution in advance.)

This overview of some of the railway museums, preservation centres and tourist lines in France makes an interesting comparison with those in the UK.

Primarily looking at the standard gauge scene including main line specials, a brief look at special events and narrow gauge railways is also included.

Michael is secretary of the French Railways Society and makes his ninth visit to SWRS.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been restored. Please contact a member of the SWRS Committee for details.

A chance to munch on a burger or hot dog in the sunshine, chat to fellow enthusiasts, and watch the trains go by.

The Manor forecourt has a grandstand view of Slough Railway Station and the trains passing on the GW main line – an ideal venue for our annual barbecue.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been restored. Please contact a member of the SWRS Committee for details.

Another of John Coke's legendary SWRS Mystery Trips!!

We will meet at The Manor from 6:45pm – note the earlier time – leaving at 7pm, so don't be late! You will need to bring £8 to cover the rail fare and costs.

Can't give you any more details than that, or it wouldn't be a mystery...

...but previous trips usually included a visit to a pub somewhere along the way, so it's worth coming along for a drink (don't forget your beer money!), a natter with friends, and a journey into the unknown!

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been restored. Please contact a member of the SWRS Committee for details.

In a welcome return to The Manor, Bob Bunyar will be telling us about another convoluted route on Britain's railways. Expect photos of steam and diesel traction.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been restored. Please contact a member of the SWRS Committee for details.

It could be argued that railways enabled the First World War to happen. The rapid deployment of men, ammunition, machinery and supplies was crucial -- on both sides -- for maintaining the fighting force.

Andy Savage is the Executive Director of the Railway Heritage Trust. Prior to that he was Deputy Chief Inspector of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport, following a long career in railway civil engineering.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

An 'Anything Goes' evening, featuring slides or video footage projected on our large screen, presented by SWRS members, and featuring railway or other transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

No idea what might be shown, so you'll just have to join us and see for yourself.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Author and historian Paul Joyce is well known to SWRS members for his talks about canal restoration and the railways around Reading and the South.

This evening was publicised as Dunkirk Evacuation: Reading's Role, but it transpired this week not to be the subject of Paul's talk. Unfortunately, tonight's actual subject is unknown, except that it will undoubtedly relate to Reading's railways, and will be entertaining. So come along and be surprised with the rest of us!

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Lord Richard Faulkner of Worcester will talk about the relationship between railways and Parliament, putting that into an historical perspective.

Lord Faulkner is a lifelong railway enthusiast, particularly in the heritage sector. In addition to having been an adviser to the British Railways Board for over 25 years, he was Chairman of the Railway Heritage Committee and is the treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Railways Group. His belief in sustainable transport is demonstrated by him holding the post of Vice-President of the Campaign for Better Transport (formerly Transport 2000) and being associated with this environmental transport body for over 20 years.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland was formed in 1964 to preserve Irish steam locomotives, carriages and rolling stock and to operate them on the Irish railway network for everyone to see, appreciate, enjoy and travel on.

Leslie McAllister is a founder member of the RPSI, now in its golden jubilee year.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

An 'Anything Goes' evening, featuring slides or video footage projected on our large screen, presented by SWRS members, and featuring railway or other transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

No idea what might be shown, so you'll just have to join us and see for yourself.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Anthony Babb B.E.M. served for 23 years in the Royal Navy as a weapons systems engineer and is a 1982 Falkland's War veteran. [Website: "Tales of a Seadog"]

Tonight's talk is about the involvement of the railways in World War 1, as Tony explains:

Railways were fully involved in WW1, as was my grandfather, a platelayer by trade who was sent to France as a Royal Engineer Sapper. The Royal Engineers Railway Troops story reveals the critical part that the railway played. Everywhere, from home to the front line trenches, the railway did its bit including secret ports and ships. This story tells you all about that important and vital work, laying miles of tracks, supplying everything that the army needed, even directly into the trenches, this was dangerous work.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

John Coke will be using vintage projection equipment to show us archive 8mm ciné films, borrowed from collector Frank Banfield, on the big screen.

Various modes of transport will feature, but there are also likely to be intriguing glimpses of other social history.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

In a late change to the published programme, our very own Rob Holder will be delighting us with another of his varied evenings showing transport-related subjects. (Ken Tilley is unable to present "Aviation Slides" this Friday.)

Even Rob doesn't know what he is showing yet (!), but his evenings usually feature a mix of recent railway trips, local history, behind-the-scenes views at Heathrow Airport, trains, boats, planes, and more.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Experience John Coke's unique style of auctioneering, join in the witty banter, and bag yourself a bargain, or ten... Yes! It's nearly time for the legendary SWRS Auction!! (raising money towards the upkeep of Slough Estates No.3).

So, dig through your cupboards, lofts and shelves for any spare railwayana, unwanted Christmas presents, and all those other things you never use.
Bring it along on the night, for us to sell...
...and don't forget your wallet: we need you to buy things as well!

Further Details: eg what kind of things to bring...

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Southampton & District Transport Heritage Trust is a group dedicated to the preservation of buses and other vehicles from Southampton and the surrounding area. Members of the associated Southampton Tram Project are in the process of restoring several trams once operated by Southampton Corporation Tramways and, more recently, recovered from fields around Hampshire!

The Tram pictured is Southampton Corporation Tramways no.45. This can claim to be the very first tram saved for preservation by amateurs, in 1948. It is fair to say that preserving this Southampton tram was responsible for the founding of the subsequent (enthusiast-driven) tramway preservation movement as it led to the formation of the Tramway Museum Society and their marvellous collection at Crich in Derbyshire

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the reopening of the Watlington branch line at Chinnor, although the extension back to the main line at Princes Risborough was opened only three years ago.

Former C&PRR chairman, Roger Fagg, will be telling us something about this delightful heritage railway that runs through the South Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire countryside.

The British Railways 'Clayton Type 1' (later Class 17) was arguably the least successful of the pilot scheme diesel locomotives. 1964-built D8568 (pictured) is the only survivor of the 117-strong class of Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives, and has been based at Chinnor since before the line reopened.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

All members are encouraged to attend this important meeting. Further details here.

The aim, as always, is to finish the official business of the evening by half-time, so that in the second half (after 'drinks and nibbles') we can enjoy entertainment provided by John Coke.

In previous years, John has usually shown ciné or video on the big screen, featuring Slough Estates No. 3, local railway happenings (eg railtours), or historical footage of Society activities. (But it could be anything...!)

In 1969, Geoff Wallis was a student helping to restore the beam engines at Crofton. Amazed by the ingenuity and courage of the early engineers, he determined to make a career out of steam engine restoration. In time, Geoff became director of Dorothea Restorations Ltd, and surveyed and repaired historic installations such as the engines at Tower Bridge, Elsecar Newcomen engine, and Bristol Floating Harbour.

Crofton Pumping Station (pictured) was built in the early 1800s to supply the summit pound of the adjacent Kennet and Avon Canal, in Wiltshire. It contains an operational Boulton & Watt steam engine dating from 1812: the oldest working beam engine in the world in its original engine house and capable of doing the job for which it was installed.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Frank Banfield presents another of his very popular evenings with a further selection from his extensive collection of archive 16mm ciné film.

Previous evenings have included documentaries, BTC publicity, vintage adverts, cartoons, and excerpts from home movies. This time, Frank will be concentrating on vintage steam footage from the 1930s.

An 'Anything Goes' evening, featuring video footage projected on our large screen, presented by SWRS members, and featuring railway or other transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

No idea what might be shown, so you'll just have to join us and see for yourself.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Gordon Adams hails from the area and will be giving us an illustrated presentation covering the history of main line railways in Southampton from 1841 to the early 1970s, and the development of Southampton Docks.

(Part 1 was in January 2017!)

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Peter Groom makes a welcome return visit to The Manor, having spoken to us previously about the history of London's transport and other topics.

The 1960's saw huge changes in the railway landscape in Britain, with standardisation, rationalisation, and modernisation being keywords. The change of motive power from steam to diesel and electric, changing traffic patterns, and changing liveries make this a fascinating period for historical study.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE:
The West Car Park parking concession for SWRS members has been suspended until further notice. Please remember to pay (£4.50) if you park there, to avoid a fine. Alternative car parks are available a short walk from The Manor.

Jim Ballantyne is our resident expert on industrial railways, Eastern Europe, boilers, and surviving steam-hauled railways worldwide. He is also a frequent winner of the annual SWRS Photographic Competition.

This evening, Jim will be covering the railways in countries further north: the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The Gloucestershire - Warwickshire Steam Railway is one of the longest heritage lines in the country, following the opening of the northern extension to Broadway station, in March 2018. Mike Dickson will be telling us all about it.

A Steam Railway Miscellany? Could be archive pictures of pre-Grouping railways, the Big Four, post-Nationalisation, industrial, overseas, heritage lines, main-line specials, or a combination of them all.

No idea! You'll have to come along and find out for yourself! (Have no information about this evening, sorry.)

A varied evening of transport-related subjects featuring a mix of recent railway trips, behind-the-scenes views at Heathrow Airport, and some other bits and pieces included for good measure.

PLEASE NOTE:
Graham Stacey is unable to give his presentation Kenn Nunn: Further Afield this evening. Hopefully it can be rescheduled for later in the year. Please check website for further information.

Our very own Joke Coke relates his adventures on the high seas during a recent leisure cruise to Greenland.

The image? A member of the crew of HMS Suffolk overlooking an ice flow whilst on patrol in the Denmark Strait during World War 2. Not suggesting John's experiences were anything like this, but in the absence of another photo...

A dip into the SWRS archives featuring video (possibly some transferred from old ciné film) some of which has never been shown before.

An 'Anything Goes' evening: big screen video, ciné, projected prints, or slides, presented by SWRS members and featuring transport subjects from Great Britain or further afield. (It's open to all, not just SWRS members!)

If you have films or photos to share with fellow enthusiasts, please bring them along on Friday. (And if you contact info@swrs.co.uk in time, we can advertise your contribution in advance.)