Let’s bring back Made in Britain... big time!

HAVING been a trainspotter in the 1960s and worked on a number of preservation projects in more recent years, I always find the letters page interesting and informative. Issue 295 was no exception and I was left wishing that railway enthusiasts were running the country, as they seem to have more common sense than most of the 650 elected people in Westminster.

Chris Smith’s letter echoes my thoughts on our rush to zero carbon. Fake environmentalists preach on issues including the mining of coal in the UK, then fly off on holiday or – even worse – use internal flights to get from one UK city to another.

He is also spot-on with his observation that we Brits seem to be the least patriotic population, certainly in Western Europe. When my job took me to towns in France, Italy, Germany etc., it was evident that most council-owned vehicles were those built in that country. Here we scoff at vehicles built in Britain in favour of anything imported.

The same goes for just about everything, from white goods to fashion. I bought a well-known British brand of kettle but when I turned it upside down it came as no surprise to find that it was made in China, like my mower, my pressure washer... If we really want to be ‘green’ we have to start making things here and speak of them with pride. It seems that every country in Europe can build trains except one – the one that gave the world railways in the first place. We’re just good at buying them.

In the same issue, Isabel White has a great solution to finding a new use for the redundant sleeping carriages at the Bluebell. She sensibly mentions people enjoying a drink with a meal not wanting to drive home afterwards; even more useful to people living a long way from the Bluebell who would love to combine a fabulous dining experience with a night in a sleeping coach. For those who get it right, hospitality is still a very profitable industry and the Bluebell would get it right I’m sure, looking at everything else its done.

Successful events

Lastly, Clive Thompson points out that cancelling our plans for wartime weekends is another win for Putin. These wartime events are not really my scene but they have proven highly successful and profitable for some railways and as Clive says, these railways never needed those profits more than they do now!

I often head to the letters page first and the editor’s choice ensures it’s a great read. I’m sure it will continue to be so.

If I could add an observation of my own, I worry at the way our Government runs railways and scraps perfectly serviceable trains in order, it seems, to replace them at enormous cost with new and imported ones that we don’t need.

We are currently scrapping perfectly serviceable Class 365 electric trains that never got old enough to become ‘heritage stock’ simply because our Train Operating Companies are awash with too many new trains. It’s obvious that the money is going to run out soon and the old motto ‘waste not want not’ will once again be apparent. Gerald Creed,

Bristol