TRANSPORT HISTORY GROUP
Transport History Group
Two trips are proposed for this autumn, if there is sufficient interest. If you are interested in going, please contact Mike Hurst, or send an email via our Contacts page.
Proposed visit for September: Bekonscot Model Village Beaconsfield
A visit to probably the best model village in the UK was all planned when the virus struck. Once again the owner has promised us an afternoon when he will not book school visits. We can go any day except Mondays. Bekonscot is now open until Christmas.
To get there we have two realistic options:-
1. Car sharing is possible for those still wary of public transport. Parking is provided as long as we do not take too many cars.
2. An adventurous 2 hour train ride changing at Didcot and Oxford, completing our journey on Chiltern Trains. It is just a 200 metre walk to the Model Village from Beaconsfield station. The trains should not be too crowded.
There is a decent cafe at Bekonscot Model Village, and we are not that far from the town centre eateries.
Proposed visit for October: Didcot Railway Centre
This is a bit of a busman's holiday for Mike, but he is happy to guide us round. He has been quoted £12 per head. It is a short train ride to Didcot. He has been going all summer, and has only had to share his carriage with another person on a couple of occasions. Wednesdays are the only non-weekend days.
Apart from an Edwardian steam train, Didcot has lots to see, notably the Museum which dwells on the social history of the GWR, and the signalling centre where one can operate full size signals. The Transfer shed contains Brunel relics including 2 locomotives and an 1840 train. This shed enabled the railways to transfer passengers and goods between gauges.
Refreshments are available in the cafe.
Responses please! (by 23 August)
Bekonscot understandably would like Mike to provide an estimate of numbers. Mike needs 15 or so to justify them turning away other business. For Didcot there are no such constraints, but advance bookings are still required there.
Please let Mike know (by email or via our Contacts page) if you are likely to want to come to one or both of our trips. Please also indicate which way you would travel to Beaconsfield. Then Mike can firm up dates and times. If there are not sufficient numbers, the visits will be delayed until the spring when one hopes things will be easier. Mike will also be looking for other places to visit.
_ _ _ _ _
The villages of Goring and Streatley have been shaped by modes of travel - from ancient trackways, horse-drawn waggons, stage coaches and motor vehicles, to the river and railways, transport features strongly in the history of Goring and Streatley. The Group has made history too, by arranging Goring's first ever Blue Plaque (for Sam Saunders, the founder of Saunders-Roe) as well as the first steam train to stop here since the 1960s.
The Transport History Group (THG) is open to any member interested in the history of transport and incurs no extra subscription. Those who have signed up receive details of all the outings and a regular illustrated newsletter.
How does it work?
Members keep in touch by email, phone and letter. Activities cover all forms of transport including rivers, canals, sea, road, rail and air. Ten monthly outings are usually arranged each year and most trips use public transport, starting from Goring and Streatley Station. Sometimes travel is by minibus and/or shared cars. Venues include:
Members pay as they go on each outing, often at preferential group rates for both travel and any entry charges.
Recent past outings have included: a visit to the Royal Mews, a guided tour of the Farnborough Air Sciences Park, a walking tour of Chimneys and Tunnels along the Thames, and an outing to the Black Country Living Museum.
To join the Transport History Group
Become a member of Goring Gap Local History Society by sending us an email via the Contact Us page. and ask to join the Group.
Two trips are proposed for this autumn, if there is sufficient interest. If you are interested in going, please contact Mike Hurst, or send an email via our Contacts page.
Proposed visit for September: Bekonscot Model Village Beaconsfield
A visit to probably the best model village in the UK was all planned when the virus struck. Once again the owner has promised us an afternoon when he will not book school visits. We can go any day except Mondays. Bekonscot is now open until Christmas.
To get there we have two realistic options:-
1. Car sharing is possible for those still wary of public transport. Parking is provided as long as we do not take too many cars.
2. An adventurous 2 hour train ride changing at Didcot and Oxford, completing our journey on Chiltern Trains. It is just a 200 metre walk to the Model Village from Beaconsfield station. The trains should not be too crowded.
There is a decent cafe at Bekonscot Model Village, and we are not that far from the town centre eateries.
Proposed visit for October: Didcot Railway Centre
This is a bit of a busman's holiday for Mike, but he is happy to guide us round. He has been quoted £12 per head. It is a short train ride to Didcot. He has been going all summer, and has only had to share his carriage with another person on a couple of occasions. Wednesdays are the only non-weekend days.
Apart from an Edwardian steam train, Didcot has lots to see, notably the Museum which dwells on the social history of the GWR, and the signalling centre where one can operate full size signals. The Transfer shed contains Brunel relics including 2 locomotives and an 1840 train. This shed enabled the railways to transfer passengers and goods between gauges.
Refreshments are available in the cafe.
Responses please! (by 23 August)
Bekonscot understandably would like Mike to provide an estimate of numbers. Mike needs 15 or so to justify them turning away other business. For Didcot there are no such constraints, but advance bookings are still required there.
Please let Mike know (by email or via our Contacts page) if you are likely to want to come to one or both of our trips. Please also indicate which way you would travel to Beaconsfield. Then Mike can firm up dates and times. If there are not sufficient numbers, the visits will be delayed until the spring when one hopes things will be easier. Mike will also be looking for other places to visit.
_ _ _ _ _
The villages of Goring and Streatley have been shaped by modes of travel - from ancient trackways, horse-drawn waggons, stage coaches and motor vehicles, to the river and railways, transport features strongly in the history of Goring and Streatley. The Group has made history too, by arranging Goring's first ever Blue Plaque (for Sam Saunders, the founder of Saunders-Roe) as well as the first steam train to stop here since the 1960s.
The Transport History Group (THG) is open to any member interested in the history of transport and incurs no extra subscription. Those who have signed up receive details of all the outings and a regular illustrated newsletter.
How does it work?
Members keep in touch by email, phone and letter. Activities cover all forms of transport including rivers, canals, sea, road, rail and air. Ten monthly outings are usually arranged each year and most trips use public transport, starting from Goring and Streatley Station. Sometimes travel is by minibus and/or shared cars. Venues include:
- Transport and industrial archaeology museums
- Preserved railways
- Old boats and planes
Members pay as they go on each outing, often at preferential group rates for both travel and any entry charges.
Recent past outings have included: a visit to the Royal Mews, a guided tour of the Farnborough Air Sciences Park, a walking tour of Chimneys and Tunnels along the Thames, and an outing to the Black Country Living Museum.
To join the Transport History Group
Become a member of Goring Gap Local History Society by sending us an email via the Contact Us page. and ask to join the Group.