VETERAN TANK ENGINES ARE THE STARS AT BRESSINGHAM GALA
Bressingham is now home to two of Britain’s oldest operational steam locomotives, with a combined age of 276 years. The Norfolk steam centre made the return of LB&SCR ‘A1X’ No. 662 Martello and Penrhyn Quarry ‘Port’ 0‑4‑0ST Gwynedd the centrepiece of its 2017 ‘Steam Heritage Gala’ and drafted in two more narrow gauge steam locomotives, plus guest traction engines, steam rollers, steam lorries and other classic vehicles to help over April 29‑May 1. 1875‑built Martello is back in action for the first time in 2011 and has been restored to Southern Railway green livery. Gwynedd, which hadn’t steamed since 2007, also carries a ‘new’ livery. It wears Penrhyn black with red and blue lining for the first time in preservation. The 1883‑built Hunslet 0‑4‑0ST was joined on Bressingham’s 2ft gauge railway by the National Trust’s Ffestiniog‑based Penrhyn ‘Quarry Hunslet’ Hugh Napier and former Bressingham resident Maid Marian, which has just returned to steam at the Bala Lake Railway, with ‘dumb’ buffers and no cab. The trio were joined by fellow Bressingham ‘Quarry Hunslet’ George Sholto and Bressingham‑ built 0‑4‑0TT Bevan on the newly re‑branded Fen Railway. This line was originally called the Nursery Railway, but with the closure of the nurseries at Bressingham and the subsequent ‘re‑wilding’ of the land, a new name was required. There are no immediate plans for Martello to leave Bressingham, but Gwynedd will return to its former stamping ground when it visits the Penrhyn Quarry Railway in August.