THE SHAKESPEARE CONNECTION?

Could the GWSR become a main line charter destination, or even a through route? In August last year, Tyseley-based Vintage Trains held a meeting with representatives from Stratford District Council and the GWSR to discuss opportunities which would arise if the national railway network was ever extended from Stratford to Honeybourne. If such a proposal ever got the go-ahead, it would create a Great Western through route from Birmingham to Cheltenham Racecourse, and a circular route through Worcester back to Birmingham, for the ‘Shakespeare Express’. Ian Crowder says: “The concept of running the ‘Shakespeare Express’ to ‘CRC’ and back via Worcester is certainly extremely tantalising. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were possible? “It would seem that the challenge could be overcome - after all, there is only four miles between us and Honeybourne, and track is in use between Honeybourne and Long Marston; and then it is only another four miles or so to Stratford. “But there are significant barriers to overcome. The trackbed north of Broadway is not owned by us and, in any case, it’s in an extremely poor state. The bridges have seriously decayed – at least one is supported by concrete pillars on the trackbed. North of Long Marston there are similar issues, not least crossing the River Avon. Oh, and there is a road on the trackbed in Stratford itself. “It can be argued that, at 15 miles, our railway is the optimum length for volunteer operation and that extending beyond that distance would create greater challenges in terms of management of the railway. “So the challenges are not insurmountable, given money and the will to do so, and right at the beginning the railway’s objective was to ‘restore as much as possible of the former Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham railway line’, and that remains today. “But I suspect that these things are for the next generation to tackle and I doubt whether I’ll be booking on a ‘Shakespeare Express’ between Stratford and Cheltenham in my lifetime. But isn’t that the sort of ambition that the railway preservation movement is built on? There are plenty of ‘impossible dreams’ (including our own railway) that have become reality, and spectacularly so.”