OVERSEAS TRAVEL
In 2018, despite the limitations brought-on by ageing, I'd booked an expedition cruise with Noble Caledonia called 'Across the Tropic of Capricorn’ from Auckland (New Zealand) to Rabaul (Papua New Guinea). The itinerary included a number of days in the Solomon Islands which appealed to me and nobody had heard of Covid-19 at that time. By the time I set off on Saturday 8th February 2020, I had some misgivings but information about the new infection which had appeared in Wuhan, China was sparse. I'd finished the trip and been safely home again for a couple of weeks before the World Health Organisation finally declared a pandemic. It was a good trip, marred by being denied landing firstly in French-controlled New Caledonia, secondly in the Solomon Islands, which allowed us to spend extra time in friendly Vanuatu, and finally (and, we were assured, illegally) we were prohibited from landing in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. This last refusal neccessitated unscheduled cruising to Port Moresby, also in Papua New Guinea where we left the ship in time to fly to Cairns, Australia, for a one-night hotel stay concluding the trip.
Elaborately-masked ‘devils’ in the Rom Dance: Ambrym, Vanuatu.
That was my only overseas trip in 2020. I'd already booked airline tickets to revisit my many friends in Myanmar (formerly called Burma) in April but, by that time, international travel had become impractical. At least the airline refunded the air fare, although it took a while.
To find more about overseas visits I've made in previous years, see:-
Jan Ford's Travels (2001 onwards).TRAVEL IN THE UK
Jan Ford's Travels - The early trips (before 2001).
Jan Ford's Travels: Around the World in pictures
(alphabetic list of countries with links to pictures).
In a normal year, I would expect to make a number of trips (mainly by rail) to various destinations in the UK but this didn't happen in 2020. There was very little local travel either, apart from a small number of business trips for survey work. The most exotic UK journey was a rail trip to North Wales in connection with my work, which did produce an album of indifferent pictures titled Wolverhampton-Hawarden Bridge.
Borderlands Line Up Side (Hawarden Bridge): View from the swing bridge (now fixed) over the River Dee looking downstream
RAILWAYS AND PRESERVATION
All preserved railways were seriously affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. I continued as a member of the Old Locomotive Committee and remained a volunteer at The Battlefield Line but, with reluctance, resigned as a working volunteer at Peak Rail after many years on the footplate there.
The Old Locomotive Committee
The Old Locomotive Committee (OLCO) usually organises two events each year: the Annual General Meeting, normally held at the Museum of Liverpool where the locomotive 'Lion' is on public display and the 'Lionsmeet' event. 'Lionsmeet' enables live-steam models of 'Lion' to be run and members to meet up. This event is hosted at the running track of a different Society of Model Engineers track each time. In 2020, Coronavirus legislation led to both events being cancelled so OLCO's periodic newsletter called 'Lionsheart' has been particularly important in 2020.
All my posts about the Old Locomotive Committee are here and you can find more information (including how to become a member) on OLCO's website here.
The Battlefield Line
Services at the Battlefield Line in the previous year, 2019, had been quite intensive, including the 'Last Train Monmouth-Chepstow Re-enactment' at the beginning of the year, steam-hauled and DMU services throughout the season, the '50th Anniversary Gala' featuring three steam locomotives, Santa Specials using 'Wightwick Hall' and a 'Light Prairie', finally finishing the year with Mince pie Specials with the 'Hall'. On 28th December2019, I was on the 'Hall' (I didn't write-up the day until 2020, so I've included the link to this post in the list below.
The year 2020 started well enough, operating a winter gala in January with 'Wightwick Hall' and a shuttle service using the DMU and 'Light Prairie'. For some reason, the name of this gala was changed from 'Winter Warmer Gala' to 'Cold Turkey Gala', which was to prove prophetic. Following this gala, there was a planned closure of the line until Easter. However, because of the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions, the line was not able to re-open, with reduced services, until August. Volunteers and supporters were thus deprived of their 'steam fix' at the Battlefield Line for over six months, rendering the title of the earlier winter gala strangely appropriate ("Cold turkey" refers to the abrupt cessation of a dependence and the resulting unpleasant experience). Government pandemic restrictions changed frequently during 2020 but the Battlefield Line persevered with a modified and reduced service of 'Santa Specials' although I wasn't involved this year. On 30th December, a DMU 'Mince Pie Special' was run but, that afternoon, the government announced tightened pandemic restrictions effective at midnight that day, resulting in the remaining 'Mince Pie Specials' being cancelled, so I lost my booked DMU turn on 31st December.
My, rather limited, activities in the year (with links to my pictures) are listed below:-
A Day on the DMU 11-Oct-2020
Operations at the Battlefield Line in 2020
'Cold Turkey Gala' at the Battlefield Line 4-Jan-2020/5-Jan-2020
Mince Pie Specials at the Battlefield Line 2019 28-Dec-2019
6989 'Whitwick Hall' ready to leave Shackerstone with a 'Mince Pie Special', 28-Dec-2019.
Jan, pleased to be back on the footplate at the Battlefield Line, 16-Aug-2020 (Photo: D. Mould)
You can find all my posts about the Battlefield Line here.
Incidentally, you can find all my posts about Diesel Multiple Units here (or refer to the 'Index' here).
Peak Rail
In July 2020, in view of the limitations brought on by ageing and the travelling involved to and from Peak Rail, I reluctantly decided to step back from an active operating role at Peak Rail whilst remaining supportive of Peak Rail's objectives. Operations at Peak Rail were severely impacted by the pandemic and 'Santa Special' operations in 2020, whilst initially marketed, were eventually abandoned.
You can find all my earlier posts about Peak Rail here with links to my pictures.
Myanma Railways
Because of the pandemic, I was unable to visit Myanmar in 2020 so I've added little about Myanma Railways, although there are three new posts describing events during the 2019 visit:-
A trip to Bago - Technical Notes 6-Dec-20
Power Signal Box, Togyaunggalay 24-Jun-2020
Railway Operation Control Center, Yangon 05-Feb-2020
You can find all my posts about Myanma Railways (in reverse date-of-posting order) here or refer to the 'Index' here.
BREWOOD HALL
The committee which organises the Brewood Garden Party, held in the gardens at Brewood Hall, met at the beginning of the year to plan the 2020 event but after the Coronavirus pandemic was declared and an array of legal restrictions were imposed, it was clear that the event in 2020 would have to be abondoned - a decision reached with great sadness.
There's an album of pictures showing the 1-acre garden through the seasons in 2020 here. There's a separate album (covering a number of years) showing the fungi which appear annually, which is here.
During the year, as always, various repairs were carried out around the property but none, as yet, has spawned a blog post.
You can find all my posts about Brewood Hall (in reverse date-of-posting order) here.
TY GWYN
Ty Gwyn is a small commercial woodland around 27 hectares in area near Corwen in Wales. I made a visit on 29th September 2020 with Dean to meet Will Tomkins from Fountains Forestry who manage the woodland. We inspected the condition of the plantation and agreed the future maintenance programme. Both before and after the visit, Dean and I made the traditional stop at the excellent 'Country Cooks' restaurant at Ty Nant. The owners had experienced a difficult 2020 because of changing Coronavirus regulations and lockdowns. Just a few days after our visit, they had to close again.
There's a report on the visit to the woodland here
Jan at the Pool: Ty Gwyn 2020 (Photo: D. Mould)
To see all my posts on Ty Gwyn, click here.
'ROAD TO MANDALAY' SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION
For a number of years, I've supported the charitable initiatives operated under the above name in Burma. I'm also currently a trustee of the Belmond Myanmar Foundation in the U.K. which also provides support to this work. Educational Support is provided to a wide range of schools and orphanages (including the Orphans & Vulnerable Children Project in Mon State) and Medical Treatment to all ages (centred on the wonderful Bagan Medical Clinic). When I visit Burma, I try to see as much as possible of the projects in hand but, in 2020 this has not been possible.
Like the rest of the world, Burma has been badly effected by the pandemic. Local restrictions on travelling and social distancing resulted in severe limitation on educational support in 2020 and the Bagan Medical Clinic has had to close until the situation improves.
You can find all my earlier posts on Educational Support here.
You can find all my earlier posts on Medical Support here.
OTHER BLOG POSTS IN THE YEAR
This review covers trips and events during the year but doesn't always include other types of post such as:-
Technical articles;PREVIOUS ANNUAL REVIEWS
Historical articles;
Work-related topics;
Recollections of past events;
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
