Chairman: Bill Davies Click to E-mail
Secretary: Chris Jones Click to E-mail
In normal circumstances, 13 meetings are held each year at 19:30 - 22:00 in
St John's Church Hall, St John’s Street, Bedford, MK42 0DL (unless otherwise stated)
Admission £2.00 Members, £3.00 Non-members (includes free tea or coffee). Refreshments are served at half-time
You can buy new and second-hand books and other items at all indoor meetings.
Meetings Programme 2024-25
| 2024 | |
| 3rd December | Slides from the late Derek Cross collection, presented by David Cross A welcome return visit with a further selection of his father’s classic photographs. |
| 17th December | Christmas Meeting. A further selection of films from Frank Banfield’s extensive film library with food from the local chippy |
| 2025 | |
| 7th January | Bedford – Cambridge. Presented by Stephen Owen. The talk covers the history and building of the line, we then take a trip from Bedford to Cambridge and finish with looking to the future! |
| 4th February | British Rail a New History. Presented by Christian Wolmar. The authoritative and fascinating history of the rise and fall of the state-owned British Rail. You think you know British Rail. But you don’t know the whole story! |
| 4th March | Stuart Underdown’s Southern Memories. Presented by Jeremy Harrison The late Stuart Underdown was a member of both the LCGB and the RCTS, and an accomplished photographer, who put together several presentations, including this one of his ‘Southern Memories’, of his own photographs covering the period from the 1960s through the 1970s, together with some much older images that he collected, ranging from Kent to the ‘withered arm’ lines in Devon and Cornwall |
| 1st April | The Deltics – Worthy successors to the A4s? Presented by Michael Smyth The Deltics and A4s designs sprung from a quest for higher express speeds on the East Coast Mainline. Both designs trace their origins to technological developments in Germany in the 1930s. This presentation explains these connections and continues with photographs of the Deltics in BR service, including the enthusiast frenzy as the final withdrawals took place at the end of 1981. The story continues with pictures of preserved Deltics on the mainline and preserved lines to the present day. A presentation to stir memories and promote discussion |
| 6th May | The Stockton & Darlington to the North Eastern Railway. Presented by Ray Schofield The forging of the East Coast Mainline. The Story began 200 years ago. |
| 3rd June | Making Tracks? Presented by Sean Devaney Keeping Track - Plain line and S&C renewals Post Privatisation. Sean managed post Privatisation S&C and Plain Line track renewals between 1998 and 2014 for Jarvis, Grant Rail (now Volker Rail), Carillion, Amey and Balfour Beatty on the ECML, Anglia, WCML, and Balfour Beatty. During his time with Balfour Beatty, he worked in Brazil on the track duplication of a 600-mile heavy haul aggregates railway running from an open cast mine in the Amazon to the Northeast Coast of Brazil, along with the planning of a new 350 mile “branch line”. |
| 1st July | Great Central Railway Re-Unification. Tom Ingall from the GCR talks on what has been said is the UK’s largest Heritage Rly project, the re-unification of two parts of the long closed Great Central Railway – Nottingham to Loughborough and Leicester and the connection to Network Rail at Loughborough. |
| 12th or 19th August | Chairman's day out. Where (and when) will we go this year? |
| 2nd September | Scottish Railways in the 1960s. Presented by Michael Clemens. The presentation uses film, B&W and colour images. Michael covers many of the mainlines & branch lines across Scotland and the steam locomotives that worked over them during the 1960’s. |
| 7th October | The MR Heads for Swansea part 2: Brecon to Colbren Junction. Presented by Chris Jones The continuing advance of the MR towards Swansea. This time encountering a pastoral valley and a crossing of bleak uplands. On the way recounting the filming of the rail scenes in "Young Winston" and an Italian opera diva's attachment to the “MR” |
| 21st October | Annual General Meeting; & The Mid Norfolk Rly (MNR) Our annual outbreak of democracy is followed this year with a presentation about the MNR by Bert Etherington (MNR volunteer and LCGB Branch Leason Officer) |
| 4th November | A Broad-Gauge Journey, Part 2. Presented by the Rev. Canon Brian Arman (President of the RCTS) We continue our historical, photographic, journey from Swindon along Brunel’s great mainline towards the Southwest and Wales |
| 2nd December | Tracks in the Mist. Presented by Colin Brading A look at small but remarkable railways long-since lost in the mists of time, each with its uniquely fascinating character: The Brill Branch (Wotton Tramway); Wantage Tramway; Swansea & Mumbles Railway; and Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Railway were all colourful and sometimes quirky enterprises that served their communities with abundant charm. They are still remembered with great affection. |
| 16th December | Christmas Food & Films. Food from the local chippy whilst enjoying our usual entertainment. |