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Published: April 4th 2007
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Steaming ahead
Taken at Bodium station after I disembarked. What a beautful and charming trip down the country side.
Started at the Tenderton town station - wonderful little old English station meticulously preserved with pride by the local volunteers who are rightfuly proud about their herritage railways. The station has a small ticket office and a waiting room with 1930s pram parked in the middle of it to create the ambience of a bygone era ! The staffs attired in vintage style uniforms and dark hats, were eager to please and serve.
When I entered the station, the steam engine was just being coupled to the main carriages. What a pleasing sight - the engine looks and feels alive indeed with all its huffing and puffing of steam from various ports underneath and at its sides. I peeped into the drivers bay and asked the proud driver about his gears and handles. He was very pleased to oblige and gave me a didactic lecture about how that glorious steam creates all that power and presence of a steam engine. He showed me the boiler and its furnace blazing with red hot flames heating the water producing the steam. He went on to show the water levels, forward
and reverse gear, the breaks and ofcourse, the steam Hoot whistle. He gave a gentle pull and the whistle blew a brisk and ernest tooooooooot...tooooooooot.
I looked around the station - it has been painstakingly refurbished with very old luggage trunks and rather heavy and cumbersome porters wheels. The light lambs on the platform are modeled to mimic the victorian age and to complete the ambience - old and disused carriages parked on the side disused track.
The ticket for the whole day roaming service cost me 11 pounds sterling which allows you to use it for the whole day. And for a pound extra you get to travel by the first class carriage with sumptous soft seats to rest your back and large windows - offering the pleasing and charming views of the kent&Sussix landscape which awaits you in this unique trip. Victorian folks really knew how to travel in great style and comfort, indeed.
When I took my large comfortable seat by the window I looked around the carriage - the seats are made of soft cushions facing each other with a large table in between. The roof was tastefuly decorated with small lights
with cup like shades. The windows were large providing a unintrupted view outside. The old carriage might have lost its sheen but none of its old charm.
The flag-master sporting a old fashioned stationmaster hat, waited outside patiently for the time to start waving his flag - and when the time arrived he waived his green flag proudly and fervently along with a sharp whistle giving the signal to the driver to start. As the engine started to pull she huffed and puffed lot of smoke that billowed past our carriages in clumps of white clouds in the blustery wind outside. The old carriges creeked and sqeeled before it started the motion and settled down for the smooth gentle rocking run ahead.
As the service is just begining this year's season, there were lot of local children who gathered to wave us goodbye with a smile. We waved them back and settled down for the sumptuous scenic run down the rustic ways of sleepy Sussix. With in minutes we were rolling past the vast wide expanse of lushious green farming lands dotted with great oaks still in their stark winter mood bereft of leaves.
As the smoke
bellowing beast majestically prowled down the country-scape like an arrogant bully, it
-Startled the birds to take flights off of the trees and bushes
-frightened a timid rabit which sprinted off for cover,
-Chased off the pheasant birds to take flight with all its glorious colorful plumes on display,
-disturbed the grazing sheeps to scamper and scurry about.
Out the window there was the rustic country side -charming and lovely lush green rolling hills and flat lands with raviens and canals full of gracefull swans and restless ducks. Beautiful pheasant birds with all its elegance pottered about in great cocky confidence. Birds of prey such as falcons forrayed the marsh with their effortless flights and sharp dives. White fluffy sheeps in groups grazed the garsslands of the idelic country side. At the far end were the villages where range-rovers and farm jeeps hurried about. In between villages were the farm houses and their hop-brewery with its quaint beak shaped white chimnies mounted on a cone shaped roof. And at one such village was a magnificent windmill of the medieval times, blended with the landscape gracefully and yet stood-out with all its strong sails proudly displayed and ready to
spin.
What more a weary urban traveler could ask for - a cup of tea perhaps. Sure that was duely provided by the cattering staff with a warm smile and a Danish pastery - Lovely. During all the 45 minutes of this gentle rustic run - the flag master kept us informed about the next stop or event such as taking of water for the steamer. It was so nice and pleasing. These folks know how to treat their guests and cutomers. And they ought to because to keep this steam running is a costly hobby indeed. They need steady stream of customers to run this herritige train.
To talk about herritage this train has bucket loads of herritage values - Only light train to be managed by a local businessman Colonel Steven not by the big train companies cattering for big cities. The villagers are so proud of colonel Steven for his contribution that they have a railway museum at Tenderten station full of Colonel steven's biographical artifacts such as his letters, cloths and his old office preserved with care.
After about 40 mts of pleasing and sumptous ride - we arrive at Bodium Castle. This
maginificent medieval castle comes into view from a distance perched up on a small elevation providing an imposing and yet gentle ambience to the countryscape. Its a short distance walk from the Bodium station.
It was a bright sunny day but rather blustery and cold. I regretted leaving my warm anorach behind while walking towards the castle. Down at the castle the refreshment rooms with warm tea pots were inviting. Nice cup of tea and I was ready to visit the glorified medieval knight's moated castle. The knight's name is a strange tongue twisting Sir David Dungigery, a royalist who served his king with such loyalty that he was granted permission to build a castle for himself. And so he duely built a magnificent and rather romantic castle complete with a large moat filed with water to its brim. The only way in is by a wooden pier which leads to the entrance of this strong stone walled castle. The large mott has a lazy feel to it with few ducks and along with the great oaks surrounding the moat they provide a tranquil and romantic ambience to the castle. Indeed Lord Curzon, ex viceroy of India who loved
this castle for all its looks and beauty, bought it and preserved it for posterity.
For all its beauty and majesty outside, the inside was rather disappointing because most of it all has fallen into ruin. Nevertheless it would have been a great castle fit for a great knights of the realm. It was built with very strong and heavy stones. The center has a large square shaped open ground and all along the border is the castle rooms. There are 3 floors to the top which can be accessed by a narrow spirling stairs which takes you up verticaly to give you vertigo and also great views at the top.
I spent about an hour to visit the castle and returned to the refreshment shop on the entrance. Had lovely soul warming lunch - Scotish sausage with mash and cup of tea, great for the cold blustery day. Then took the short walk back to the Bodium station to greet the arrival of the steamer again for the return journey. When it duely arrived, as an observant lady in the waiting room put it - "Here they go all the the grown-up kids" - we boys went
to the platform in ernest to take photos or simply to stand there and marvel about. And you know what I was one of those grown-up kids and I rushed out to greet the great beast on its arrival.
The return jouney was as pleasurable as the onwards with full of charm and rustic beauty. When I arrived back at Tenderton I felt very pleased and longed for the journey to last little bit longer - an excellent testimony to the wonderful journey that this little light steam-rail provides and the magnificent volunteers who make it all happen. Well done all you folks and I had a wonderful day out to show for it.
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gordon perks
non-member comment
being a volunteer
hi i live in hastings and have retired age 54. i have always been interested in steam engines. i,ve worked in engineering for 37 years doing grinding,milling,lathe turning and so on. i would like to be a help in the work on restoring engines, and eny other work required.