Bartimaeus

The Severn Valley Railway has a terminus alongside the main railway station in Kidderminster.  Trains don't run every day, but they were running today, and the first train in the morning and the last one back were scheduled to be steam engines.

It was less than a mile to the station this morning, though half of that was up a fairly steep hill, but we were in plenty of time for our train.  We found the guard's van and loaded the tandem - one of the advantages of old-fashioned trains.  It turned out that the engine had been substituted with a diesel, much to the disappointment of the young man we shared a compartment with.

At the terminus at Bridgnorth, we eschewed the attractions of that town and headed up river along the cycle path, mostly on the track bed of the same railway line.  Our destination was Ironbridge - a town named after a feat of engineering that was spectacularly remarkable when it was constructed.

The route had been partially shaded, but by the time we arrived I was more interested in lunch than sight-seeing.  We found a spot inside the Bridge View Tea Room.  Our table by the window was just as advertised and lunch was good too.

Following a suggestion from a guide at the Toll Booth on the bridge, we cycled up a little further to Coalbrookdale.  The massive buildings here formed part of the foundry where the iron for the bridge was smelted.  We didn't have time to do the museum justice, so decided not to go in.

We returned to Ironbridge stopping for an ice cream before heading back down the railway path.  We took a diversion across the river through Coalport.  Despite the signage for cyclists, the steps on the pedestrian bridge made it slightly awkward for the tandem.

The crossing back a mile downstream was much easier, though it had height, width and weight restrictions.

We got back to Bridgnorth in good time for our return train.  With the tandem safely in the guard's van again we had time to pick up refreshments for the journey from the bar on the platform.  The return journey was steam hauled - I went to check just as the locomotive was being coupled to the front of the train.

We were on the edge of Bewdley when the train stopped unexpectedly outside the station.  After a while the train staff came through the train explaining that there was a track-side fire at Bewdley station with fire-fighters in attendance.  A while later we pulled forward to the platform, but were still having to wait.  The staff came through with bottled water for the (sweltering) passengers, and later announced that we could wait on the platform if we preferred.

We took that opportunity and also went to the front of the platform where we could see the fire crew at work.  Several of them were high up the embankment with their hoses stretched across all the lines.

We could also see the engine that was reputedly responsible for starting the fire.

There was still no clear information about how long we might have to wait, and it was an easy four mile ride back to the boat.  I joked about Delay Repay with the (volunteer) staff on the platform. We were still weighing up our options when the word came that we were going to be allowed to move on.

The last section of the line in to Kidderminster comes over the canal on Falling Sands Viaduct.  I remembered coming under it yesterday evening.

I was amused to record the view in the opposite direction today.

We got back to Kidderminster about an hour late for the easy whizz down the hill back to the boat.