Traffic Movements at Bloomfield Jn, 1962 (Part 1)

There's an introduction to Bloomfield Jn. (with a signalling diagram) here.

Bloomfield Jn. Saturday 24th March 1962

A few locomotive notes:- T235 comes down hauled by 70004 'William Shakespeare'. Sad to think that a few years ago this was a regular engine on the 'Golden Arrow'. She returned up in the early afternoon with T347.

The London (1B08) was hauled by 'Princess Marie Louise': the first 'Princess' I've seen working over the Stour - I rather thought they were prohibited.

The Stockport parcels has 70026 'Royal Star' at the head end.

Note the entries in my register on this date by the coloured trainee. First time I've had a trainee!

Bloomfield Jn. Saturday 7th April 1962

The down Crewe local at seven o'clock was behind a 'Sulzer' Bo-Bo - these engines don't do much working over the Stour. The same loco. returned on the up at 2.40 p.m. (passing time) with a train from Liverpool.

T348 is what I know as T235 but it evidently runs as T348 on Mondays and Saturdays. It arrives with one on and stops main line. Whilst it detaches one in the down sidings, the following Diesel Parcels Unit is drawing towards our down home. Having completed its shunt, T348 disappears towards Deepfields as 'Engine and Brake' ('Horse and Cart'). The Parcels closely follows and is, in turn, closely followed by the Saturdays Only local.

T172 goes onto the Up Branch at 9.15 a.m. with a 'Super D'. Earlier, at 7.15 a.m. the 'Duck 8' had come off the Curve for Spring Vale, propelling its brake.

T206 is an early bird today at 9.15 a.m., not a '3' as signalled but Engine and Brake. It's a diabolical small diesel shunter (as in the 'Airfix' series with a chimney (!) and propelling the brake. She stands outside the box while T342 coasts by sedately with a 'Blackie' then backs over the crossover onto the up. This movement caused the box and the instrument shelf to tremble violently.

Bloomfield Jn. Saturday 11th August 1962

Another summer Saturday, to try to build up a fair picture of rail traffic in the Midlands area in '62. Posterity, please note!

(1) On the way to Bloomfield, I'd passed a Class 8 engine and brake on the down.
(2) By the time I arrive at the box, another down light engine is standing at Bloomfield's Down colour light starter.
(3) As Spring Vale accepts this engine (under the Warning), we take on another light engine from Tipton. When this arrives, he has to be loosed down to the starter to await the road. It's a 'Jubilee' - 'Canada', carrying the mysterious headboard '1D41'. This train, we afterwards discovered, is the 8.0 a.m. SO (SX-Q) Euston - Holyhead via the Trent Valley. No theories to offer, but quite an intriguing problem.
(4) We've already received the 'Shunt' for the mystery engine and, as he steams towards the starter, we take on the following Manchester. There is a slight panic when Spring Vale says he can't have the engine (as you can imagine, the Stour Valley was somewhat over-populated with motive power at this time). The fireman phones in from the starter just as an Up Local approaches and then, as the down Manchester moves towards us, Spring Vale takes the engine with a sudden '3-5' (actually 2-1 followed by 2-3). We clear the starter and almost immediately, it drops back behind the rapidly-departing engine.
(5) This allows the Manchester (1H03 hauled by a 'Type 4') to be sent on down to the starter. After a couple of minutes, we're able to get the road for the Manchester.
(6) Down and Up locals pass with their bread-winner passengers.
(7) 'The Vicar' (Harry Harris) at Spring Vale offers T37 (pronounced 'two-five-seven' by real railwaymen!), pulls off with one hand and sends 'special section' with the other. While the train pulls through the section, Deepfields opens and complains on the 'phone a few minutes later that the freight has no tail lamp. We loose the train down to the starter to await the opening of Tipton Curve - the fireman on the 2-8-0 is only mildly interested in the absence of a tail lamp. The train of coke wagons, with the high boards round the top, rumble past and the brake appears, with side lamps and tail lamp - on the wrong end of the van! 'The Curve' opens, the train is offered on and disappears towards Bescot with the tail lamp corrected.
(8) '235' (now called T73) rushes through on the Down for Spring Vale - a Class 8, 1 van, 4 mineral wagons loaded with scrap and the brake.
(9) 1G02, from Crewe, passes on the Up, right time, headed by a Type 4 with a 4-wheel, long wheelbase van (as modelled by Hornby-Dublo) bringing up the rear.
(10) A twinset forms the Down Local.
(11) The Up Parcels passes - as usual a 2-6-0 tender first with one 4-wheel van and one bogie parcels vehicle.
(12) An express is offered right behind the Parcels but Tipton can't get rid of it on the Down because he's already accepted 1D27 and sent it on to Bloomfield. The 'Black 5' heading the Up, a relief from Holyhead (1Z24) is already 35 late as we draw him towards the Starter. As he creeps towards the bridge, Tipton 'knocks out' and we just keep the special moving.
(13) The Local is offered right behind the special and 'Section' comes almost immediately. We clear the Home and Starter for the train just as the front of the DMU appears under the bridge towards Deepfields, passing with a 3-minute headway.
(14) T342 is already approaching on the Up before the Llandudno (1D27) roars towards us, heavily loaded, with a 'Black 5' working hard.
(15) T42 (as we should no call T342) roars past with a Stanier 2-6-0 and a varied selection of wagons.
(16) T34 (as we should now call 244) is offered right behind.
(17) After 'Section' for the Up, the Down Local passes.
(18) '206', offered as a 'horse and cart' follows close behind the local.
(19) '244' and '206' approach simultaneously. '206' sounds the Annunciator and is loosed in; immediately '244' sounds the annunciator and is also loosed in. '206' carries on past the top crossover, preparatory to backing into the Western Sidings.
(20) The driver of '244' wants to put off his dozen wagons here and 'brake-up' but he's been misinformed. Tipton Curve opens (entry missed in the book) and the Class 8 drags off its train towards Bescot.
(21) At 9.25 a.m., '206' comes out of the Western, propelling three mineral wagons of sludge (next to the engine) and the brake. The brake was at the other end of the engine, that is the Wolverhampton end, when it arrived from Tipton. '206' is brought through the top crossover onto the Up and the brake is backed onto 2 Road, crashing into the wagons there (although 1 Road was clear. The engine and mineral wagon pick up old locomotive-type sludge tenders off 3 Road and then backs them onto the brake. As the wagons stop, the white, liquid sludge slops over the end of the rear end of the last sludge tender in a cascade which Randle, the guard, is fortunate to miss! '206' then roars off round 'The Curve', its spam-can Drewry shunter at the head end and the guard signalling in friendly acknowledgment from the end.
(22) On the Down, '1K10' is already over ten minutes behind time, well-patronised with a 'Black 5' making a nice exhaust sound as he tries to clip-off the lost minutes.
(23) '1B08' on the Up was initially refused, since 206 was out main line without a block-back (all running moves, of course!). He passes (about 3 minutes late, 5 miles from his starting point) behind 'Scot 6'.
(24) At the same time, the Manchester passes on the Down, only 5 minutes behind the previous Liverpool.
(25) After these two expresses '206' is taken off 'The Curve' and the Drewry shunter returns, propelling his brake. We cross him to the Up and he goes into 8 Road, to pick up one van for Cross and Blackwell's Depot. As Tipton Curve closes, '206' comes out main line and goes through the bottom crossover and back into the Western Sidings to position the van. He returns through the top crossover, stops outside the box to say that the Depot is closed and then disappears, fast, for Watery Lane.
(26) I was suspicious of the engine Tipton offered at 9.58 a.m. and, sure enough, it was cancelled off! So we wind the mis-named Emergency Release on the block control (It is NOT an Emergency Release, since its use is authorised for traffic purposes such as this).
(27) 1G05 from Manchester, steam hauled by a 'Black 5' carries a suitable headboard and is running almost to time.
(28) The 3-car DMU from Newcastle follows right behind, with a 3-minute headway.
(29) The Down Local passes shortly before the Up Liverpool, 1G06 about 12 late, rumbles past with a 'Type 4' as the skies darken and the rain starts to fall.
(30) A quarter of an hour later, 1G07, a 3-set DMU, sweeps past six minutes late from Stoke.
(31) The Down Local is taken on and a '3' is offered from 'The Curve' but refused (but just when did 'The Curve' open and close? The booking on this score is reprehensibly incomplete). 2G59, the local to Wolverhampton, is a 2-car DMU and, as it heads towards the down Starter, the junction points are turned over to the Curve and we have the offered freight 'off the top'. (Note that the Down Starter being 'Off' does not back-lock the junction because you can have the required 1/4 mile clearance beyond the Down Branch Home to accept a train from Tipton Curve whilst a preceding train is still approaching the Down Starter, as in this case). The '3' is 'T61' (formerly two-six-nine) to put off. We decide not to leave him main line, as there isn't much time before 1S61, so we put him on the front road and shut him in.
(32) We're surprised when 'T90' (formerly one-five-three) is offered on the Down, 'Rightaway Catchems'. But he takes his time coming and is, eventually, cancelled off. Somebody with cold feet, eh?
(33) So, we let 269 put off - one mineral on No. 2 and back up ready for off.
(34) 1S61 passes, about 4 late, but rushing away with a 'Type 4' on the front end. The third blind of the 4-character headcode indicator is missing, revealing the two bulbs which illuminate it.
(35) After giving 'T.O.S.' for 1S61, I waited for a couple of minutes to give Watery Lane a chance to turn '153' out and give him a run. Nothing is offered so, instead, '269' is turned out and sent on, as Deepfields clears for the express. And still '153' doesn't come, so we made the right decision. We changed the description of '269' to a '1-4' so that Mr. Almond (at Deepfields) wouldn't think it was '153' coming. For once, he didn't telephone (as he always does) to ask what was coming. Instead, he just pulled off, because we heard our down Starter change to green.[Whenever the aspect of the colour light changes, the lamp current is momentarily interrupted. This briefly releases the lamp proving relay (ECR), causing the 'Lamp Out' annunciator to give a 'burp']. We then informed Deepfields by 'phone that the train was 'T61' for 'The Vale' and he promptly throws his pegs back, just as the driver rounded the curve and the colour light came into sight! Oh Well!
(36) Control 'phones to ask us to keep an eye on '153', as the Pilgrimage Special (1X68) is running early. Heaven knows what Watery Lane is holding '153' back for. The train crew will be pleased, I'm sure.
(37) 1Z23, the second relief from North Wales ex-Llandudno, passes at 11.38 a.m. only about twelve minutes late behind 45395.
(38) The Empty Stock rushes past on the Down and the Up Local makes its way to Birmingham.
(39) At noon, 1X68 is offered on the Down. This is the return Pilgrimage Special from Folkestone Harbour, terminating at Wolverhampton and running ten minutes early. It speeds past with a 'Black 5', full brake, green Ambulance Car, 3 Open Seconds, Kitchen Car, 2 Open Seconds and a Brake End. I presume it had been to Lourdes.
(40) and then, at last, '153' comes down, rushing away to Catchems' with a 'Crab' 2-6-0.
(41) At 12.20 p.m., 1G10 passes on the Up from Rhyl, with Class 5 5354 on a rake on dingy stock.
(42) Six minutes later, 5313 coasts by with 'Seven On' from Manchester.
(43) A 'Black 5' passes with 1G12 with some mixed stock, including one W.R. coach. This train was one of the few without a headboard.
(44) 1T66 struggles by from Blackpool with 5574 on a long train with an 8-minute headway.
(45) Control are in an informative mood and say that the Down Manchester is 50 late with the local, 2K60 to follow.
(46) 1B13, the SO Llandudno - Leamington, comes Up early before the 12.40 p.m. local.
(47) 1G13 arrives at our Up Home only 4 minutes after the local has passed and we loose him towards the Starter. 'Zanzibar', with '8 on' from Morecambe is stopped for a moment waiting for the local to clear Tipton.
(48) 1H13 eventually passes on the down behind a 'Type 4'. All the passengers somehow seem alert. It's strange how a mishap enlivens passengers and gives a sense of cameraderie.
(49) Five minutes later 2K60 rushes past, formed by a three-set.
(50) After the Up twinset, the second Local arrives at our Down Home and is loosed down to the colour light, three minutes behind the previous Local. The Local is two 2-car sets and, as he passes the box, the train is accepted forward and the traffic is kept moving.
(51) A relief from Liverpool, 1Z74, rattles past with a 'Black 5' on the head end.
(52) The 8.20 a.m. SO from Carlisle (1G14) is heavily loaded behind 6116.
(53) 1H16, in the hands of a 'Type 4' is a long heavily-loaded Manchester-bound train.
(54) The Liverpool is offered right behind. Class 5 5347 heads out with 1K28, making white exhaust clouds in the grey, rainy sky.
(55) At 2.14 p.m. the next Up is belled. Oh, the joys of manual block! 1G15 stops at Deepfields and comes up with a 'Black 5' whistling for Tipton's Distants. He sees one clear Distant as he rattles past with some clean Midland region stock, two Southern region coaches and three elderly Eastern region coaches.
(56) 1G17 ex-Liverpool comes up right behind with a 'Type 4'.
(57) A little later, '200', now called 'T78' passes with a 'Class 8', and handful of loose-coupled vans and Billy Cook on the Brake.
(58) The Liverpool to Coventry (1Z70) comes up with a 'Black 5' heading a mixture of Midland, Scottish and Western region stock.
(59) 2G86, masquerading as an express, is formed of two 3-car sets.
(60) A 'Special' train of coke for Spring Vale comes off the top behind a 'Class 8', right in front of the SO Down Local.
(61) The Local, made up of three twin sets is stopped at our Down Starter for five minutes because Deepfields has closed early. This means that, instead of the 'Special' being turned into the 'Loop' at Deepfields, it's gone main line to Spring Vale and then backed clear of the main line. The driver of the Local has time to report in from the telephone at the Starter before we get him away.
(62) 'Comet' brings 1G20, the 12.15 p.m. from Blackpool, through with a heavy train.
(63) A little later, the 'Class 8' off the 'Special' to Spring Vale re-appears on the Up, tender first, bound for Bescot. Tipton Curve box has closed and so the engine is sent to Tipton, to enter the Princes End branch from that end.

And so ends a hectic Summer Saturday in 1962, with a walk to Tipton to catch the Down Local back to Wolverhampton.

More from Sedgeley Jn.

There's an introduction to Sedgeley Jn. box (with a signalling diagram) here.

Sedgeley Jn. Wednesday 31st January 1962

Second-hand story, this. The scene: Sedgeley Jn, the signalman: T. Allen, the time: 3.45 p.m.

The diesel twinset, which makes a trip from Dudley to The Port (Dudley Port) and back as a ‘1-3-1’ (parcels), is signalled on its return journey and the pegs (signals) are ‘off’. Drizzle has made the rails nasty and the diesel slithers with great difficulty towards the junction. The struggling train comes to a halt with the driven bogie stuck in the crossing of the diamond.

When the unit starts off again, a most singular occurrence takes place. The driving bogie goes off ‘bang road’ towards Dudley!

This blocks the Up and Down Main. The Western Region start running their locals out of the other end of Dudley. The Up Loop is ‘converted’ (allowing use by passenger trains) and two Up Walsall locals reach Dudley via the Up Loop. One of these returns on the Down for Dudley Port, creeping past ‘the wreck’ at Sedgeley Jn. with about ½ inch to spare. After the driver changes ends, it reaches Wednesbury via Tipton Curve. The driver changes ends again and travels to Dudley Port Low Level. Changing ends again, the driver returns ‘wrong road’ to Great Bridge under the authority of a ‘Wrong Line Order’. At Great Bridge, the diesel can regain the right line and continue to Walsall.

Sedgeley Jn. Saturday 3rd February 1962

The parcels trains are little 2-6-0s and bogie parcels vehicles, occasionaly with 4-wheel vans, apart from the Leamington Parcels (3H47) Diesel Parcels Unit which comes up at 9.16 a.m. returning at 11.7 a.m. on the down. This DPU has bright yellow gangway boards!

Note the ‘1-1-3’ and ‘2-3-1’ (engine and brake with engine and brake assisting) which are two Black 5s

Sedgeley Jn. Saturday 17th January 1962

(1) One of the units on the Western service is a ‘Swindon’ 3-car set. Two ugly windows to the driving cabs and large vestibule windows along the side.
(2) 3H47 is a Western single-unit parcels car with gangway boards painted bright yellow. It looks just like a runaway coach!
(3) I then have an interlude at Dudley Port box [described elsewhere].
(4) Back at Sedgeley Jn. at 1.30 p.m., an EBV [Engine and Brake Van] is belled from Dudley. When it comes into sight, we can see it’s just a light engine, so it is suitably re-described forward.
(5) The Up diesel parcels at 4.0 p.m. is accepted by Dudley under ‘Regulation 5’ [section clear but station or junction blocked]. Thrills all round and pass the green flag! [This was a fairly unusual occurrence. The train is ‘brought under control’ before clearing the home signal and then the green flag displayed from the box indicates to the driver that the line beyond the home signal of the next box may be blocked].

Traffic Movements on the Stour Valley, 1961-1962 (Part 3)

There's an introduction to each of the signal boxes (with a signalling diagram):-
Tipton.
Watery Lane.
Mond Gas.
Dudley Port.

Watery Lane Thursday 16th November 1961

6.45 a,m, finds me at Wolverhampton High Level Station buying ticket number 5199 to travel on the 6.55 a.m. Wolverhampton - Birmingham to Tipton. But a board proclaims 'Passengers for Dudleyport travel by bus'.

'They're off the road at Spring Vale' explains the booking clerk. Outside, a dimly-lit 'Midland Red' double-decker is waiting. The usual passengers climb, bewildered, on board. At 6.55 we move off, by a most unusual route and eventually stop about a quarter of a mile from Ettingshall Road station. The driver, whilst waiting for his extra passengers, says 'I've been on all night. I should be off at six'. A somewhat nightmare ride to Deepfields betrays his fatigue and then a final dash to Tipton, where he parks on the canal bridge. From here, a short walk takes me to Watery Lane box.

A shuttle service is provided from Tipton - diesel multiple units and a single coach corridor brake end hauled by a 2-6-4 tank. However, the down local at 8.44 a.m. gets the distants at Tipton and normal working is resumed. That is, until Mond Gas opens, when the Indian porter-signalman there gets a little confused.

Trip 206, a 'Jinty' hauling an open wagon and brake van has already gone up the goods line to stand outside the box to await its opening. The engine requires water so it's detached, leaving its train inside the home signal, and proceeds to the water column at Dudley Port. But Dudley Port has a '3' [pick up freight] on the block, so he can't 'knock out' out' [give train out of section] and Mond Gas cannot acknowledge a '2-3-3' [wrong road movement] if he wanted to.

Dudleyport sends the watered engine back to Watery Lane on the Down Main and we can offer a '2-3' [light engine] to Mond Gas on the Up Loop. He can accept it permissively, to proceed as far as the waiting wagon and brake. The engine then drags its train outside the home signal where it is 'screwed down' and the engine returns to Watery Lane. It should have been cancelled but Mond Gas was still not quite 'with it'. However, acting on instructions, he managed to put a '3-3' [blocking back outside home signal] on the Up Goods to protect the two vehicles. Watery Lane sent the light engine up the main to Dudley Port, whence it returned 'bang road' [wrong road] on the Up Goods to re-unite with its train. After carry out the shunt, 206 returned wrong road to Watery Lane under a '2-3-3'. How mad can you get?

Things are no better when we offer Mond Gas a '2-3-3' wrong road movement on the Down Goods for the first steam-hauled parcels heading for Dudley Port, having completed his duties at Tipton. Mond Gas acknowledges '2-2-2-3' and gives 'Line Clear' on the Up Goods.

A little later, we have the diesel parcels unit which also requires to travel wrong road to Dudley Port. At first, Mond Gas refuses our offered '2-3-3' and, whilst we straighten this out on the telephone, the DPU, unused to these delays, doesn't wait for our hand signal to proceed and has every intention of just carrying on, until halted by a swift red flag. At last, Mond Gas takes the wrong road movement and we're able to get the DPU moving with a green flag. However, we later learn that Mond Gas didn't bother with the tiresome formality of offering the DPU as a wrong road movement to Dudley Port and the unexpected arrival nearly ran through the traps at Dudley Port!

Watery Lane Saturday 2nd December 1961

Up Main Home Signal failed 7.00 a.m. Could it be detectors? If we have much more of this, they'll substitute electrical detection here! Corrected with hammer, 7.30 a.m.

Tipton Monday 29th January 1962

Second-hand story, this. At 8.00 a.m. trip 312, the steam-hauled Parcels, arrives at Tipton from Wolverhampton. T. Evans, signalman, blocks back on the Down and reverses the crossover road, to allow the parcels to back into the Down platform. The lever is then replaced normal, so that the train can move along the platform in the wrong direction to place the parcels van right alongside the station building for unloading. The train chugs along the platform and drops straight on the floor at the crossover points. The points are standing open! Very tragedial. Services are in chaos. A bus service is instituted between Wolverhampton and Tipton. Then Single Line Working is set up, with Relief Signalman T. Toombes as pilotman,

The coloured guard of 312 claims he looked at the points. Last time I was at Tipton, these points were standing open about 3/4 inch but fortunately the guard noticed them on that occasion.

Wolverhampton – Dudley Port Saturday 3rd February 1962

En route to Sedgeley Jn., I catch the 6.43 to London to its first booked stop, Dudley Port.

The Edinburgh – Birmingham train, including Sleepers, departs just before my diesel-hauled London, putting our departure back to 6.45 a.m. We are brought almost to a dead stand at Wolverhampton No. 1 box. The driver then coasts up to the starter (recently moved towards Birmingham, a short tubular post signal replacing the old, tall lattice post affair) which is ‘Off’, encouraging a burst of high speed, although Catchems’ motor distant is ‘On’. Rushing past Monmore Green (now closed), I still couldn’t see Catchems’ home and I thought our speed a trifle excessive.

Red! The diesel’s horn moans plaintively and the driver slams on the anchors. Sparks fly up from the brake blocks. The driver might have just managed to stop but, fortunately, the bobby pulls off the Home as soon as we hit the track and we coast to a halt just short of the wooden platform at Ettingshall Road & Bilston. As soon as we are at a dead stand, the Starter clears and Spring Vale’s distant comes off as well. Seems to indicate that perhaps Catchem’s had shoved a freight out main line in front of us. Certainly, there was something in the loop at Spring Vale.

Our driver has had enough and really opens up. We roar up the bank through Coseley in the morning gloom. As we approach, the colour light changes from Double Yellow to Green. Over the top at full throttle and then shut right off and race downhill towards Bloomfield Jn. A hasty application of the brakes precedes the 15 m.p.h. slack this side of the junction at Tipton. The driver keeps the train moving and is accellerating well before the train is past the ‘T’ board [Termination of Slack] and hooting for the level crossing. A few more minutes and we are drawing into Dudley Port. Then, I spent a happy morning at Sedgeley Jn.

Wolverhampton – Dudley Port Sunday 4th February 1962

Up to Dudley Port on the 7.3 a.m. with ‘Byron’.

Down on the 9.30 a.m. with ‘Kitchener’, whistling like mad for the distants and continuing to sound off having got them. Obviously a driver who likes the sirens on the ‘Standards’!

Wolverhampton – Dudley Port Saturday 17th February 1962

Once again, I catch the 6.43 to London as far as Dudley Port.

The 6.43 a.m. stands in Platform 3 at Wolverhampton High Level, headed by a whining diesel electric. We have to wait for 1M16, the Glasgow Sleeper, which precedes us along the Stour Valley. We miss Catchems’ distant but he’s got the road before we reach his home signal. Spring Vale’s distants are ‘On’ and we are brought very nearly to a stand at his home but, once moving, his starter clears. ‘Two Yellows’ on the colour light at Deepfields and we rumble down the bank to Bloomfields, finding Tipton’s distants already off. A curt slowing over the slack just before the junction with the Princes End Line and we are soon approaching Dudley Port. Then on foot to Sedgeley Jn.

Traffic Movements on the Stour Valley, 1961-1962 (Part 2)

My original notes appear in italics with minimal editing, followed by my recent comments attempting clarification. In some posts where a number of movements are only briefly described, numbers in brackets have been added to assist in locating entries.

There's an introduction to Watery Lane (with a signalling diagram) here.

Watery Lane Tuesday 17th October 1961

At 2.23 p.m. T347 is offered from Tipton. Great fun! The up express is right behind him. What nit loosed this joker onto the main line? T258 was already in the Up Loop and 347 was far too long to be sent in behind 258. T347 arrived with 'Western Star' and put off 18 wagons on the front road of the down sidings. He then drew the remainder of his train forward over points 30 and reversed it through the crossover onto the down main. By the time the whole train was across, the brake van was almost at Tipton's crossing gates. Since T347 had a van to put off at Dudleyport, we despatched the train 'bang road' on the Down Loop to Dudleyport. [Wrong direction movements were authorised on the Down Loop to Dudleyport]. The express was stopped at Bloomfield Junction only for about 4 minutes. Pretty swift working! Cheers for 'The Team'.

Watery Lane Saturday 4th November 1961

T200 goes up the loop with the irate guard, Billy Cook, complaining 'We're right away Albion!' The loop points are put back to allow us to pull off for the following express 1G20. The signal lever comes half-way over (dropping the Block Stick) but the signal detectors hold the lever back. [The Block Stick Relay ensures 'one needle, one pull' to minimise the risk of a confused signalman ending up with 'two in a section'. The signal detectors at the points prevent the signal from being cleared if the point blades or facing point lock are not fitting-up accurately]. Oh well, display a green flag, the Black 5 chugs past. When the train has cleared the section, we attempt to free the signal, obtaining a fresh 'Line Clear' from Dudleyport so that we can test the signal. But, to no avail. The whole thing is failed and flag working was instituted on the Up until 8.00 p.m.

Traffic Movements on the Stour Valley, 1961-1962 (Part 1)

My initial interest in railways developed around signalling and traffic movements, as described in Visiting Signalboxes. I spent a lot of time on the Stour Valley Line, which still connects Birmingham and Wolverhampton and in this series of articles I'll try to reconstruct some of the events I witnessed 50 years ago.

Working Time Tables of the period are a valuable starting point but, at present, I've not sourced this period. There's some general information in a post on Railway Working Time Tables.

Signal box Train Register books can give a mass of information. When I visited signal boxes, I had my own Train Register book in which I copied the details from the official Train Register each time I was unofficially working the box. The 'Remarks' column would have explanatory notes to clarify what was going on. Although I've now located my train register book for a later period, I've not found the one for 1961.

Encouraged by the interest of some of my friends in this period, I have found various notes from the period which I called my 'Occurrence Book' in which I tried to write more detailed explanations of the movements. The notes frequently refer to times in the Train Register (which we don't have) so interpreting these notes is not straightforward but I hope these articles will be of some help.

So, all I have to do now is transcribe the notebook and write an intelligible description of the movements. Watch this space.

You can find all my posts describing Traffic Movements on the Stour Valley and South Stafford Line in the steam era here.

[Link to all 'Traffic Movements' posts added 10-Nov-2015]

Agecroft No. 1

Agecroft Power Station near Manchester, now closed, was coal-fired. There's a brief history here. Before the construction of a conveyor from the adjacent colliery, the coal arrived by rail and there were three 0-4-0 saddle tanks called (logically if unimaginately) Agecroft 1, 2 and 3 to handle the shunting. These locomotives were built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn Ltd in Newcastle to a standard design dating back to the early 1900s. This design, with 14-inch cylinders, was adopted as the standard small shunter by the British Electrical Authority and similar locomotives were used in various power stations across the country. Agecroft No. 1 (works number 7416) and Agecroft No. 2 were delivered in 1948 and Agecroft No. 3 (with minor differences) followed in 1952.

By the time I became involved in railway preservation, Agecroft No. 3 had moved to what was then called 'MMSI' (the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry) where it provided train rides to visitors at the weekend. Agecroft No. 3 was the second locomotive I drove. Sadly, when the locomotive required extensive repairs, the museum disposed of her to Swindon Museum.

Agecroft No. 2 is now at the Ribble Steam Railway.

After partial restoration in private hands, the 'kit of parts' for Agecroft No. 1 was acquired by the museum, now called 'MOSI' (Museum of Science and Industry). The restoration has been completed mainly by museum volunteers and there is, once again, an 'Agecroft' to provide train rides.

Initially, Agecroft No. 1 is being used to cover periods when the 'Planet' replica is off-site, visiting other railways. 'Planet' was at the Great Central Railway for the Spring Bank Holiday weekend and so my driving turn at Manchester on the 28th May was the first time I'd had 'hands-on' with Agecroft No. 1, operating with a B.R. suburban coach, formerly used on the lines out of King's Cross and a 20-ton brake van.

Pictures of Agecroft No. 1.

Peak Rail Steam & Diesel Weekend 2011

The Steam & Diesel Weekend featured two-train running, with a 6-coach passenger train and a loose-coupled demonstration freight train. The two trains passed one another at Darley Dale.

The diesel diagram was performed by D8 alternating with 37152. This weekend was the inauguration into revenue service of 0-6-0 'Austerity' class 'Lord Phil', following restoration at Statfold Barn. During the day, 'Lord Phil' and Peak Rail stalwart 68013 worked the steam diagram, either alternating, top and tailing or double heading. In addition, both steam and diesel diagrams called for the traction to swop from the passenger train to the freight, so the many photographers who'd turned up had plenty of variety during the day.

I was one of the steam drivers on Saturday 14th May. Due to a last-minute change, I was on 68013 with Dave as fireman for most of the day but we swopped to 'Lord Phil' for the last round trip. More pictures of the event.

Visit to Brewood by 'History Walks'

For a number of years, Margaret George has organised a series of popular educational walks in Staffordshire. The walk around Brewood on 8-May-2011 finished with a visit to Brewood Hall.

Whilst the 41 people on the walk enjoyed a cold drink in the Dining Room, Jan talked about the history of the Hall. Then, the party was divided into two groups. Jan took the first group on a tour of the principal rooms and the second group either explored the garden or simply relaxed. The second group were then given the tour, giving the first group the opportunity to look around the garden.

Some of the vistors had been on the previous visit to Brewood Hall by 'History Walks' which they said was eight years ago.

The weather was kind and everybody seemed to have a good time. Thanks are due to Marion and John for their assistance during the visit.

More pictures of the visit here.

Old Locomotive Committee A.G.M. 2011

My friend John Archer and I visited Liverpool on the 7th May 2011 for the 26th Annual General Meeting of the Old Locomotive Committee. Like last year's A.G.M, the meeting was held at the Liverpool Museum Store - there's a report on last year's meeting here. The 2011 AGM gave OLCO members a final chance to closely inspect 'Lion' before she is transferred to the new Liverpool Museum, later this year. There are a few pictures of the 2011 meeting here. OLCO now has its own website here. My own posts on the history of 'Lion' and OLCO's activities are here.

The preserved Liverpool Overhead coach I admired last year has already moved to the new museum, but there are no current plans for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board shunter or 'Cecil Raikes' to go on public display so I've added more pictures to the sets I started last year.

Although steam-powered road traction doesn't really do it for me, I also took a few pictures of the preserved 'Sentinel' steam tractor which are here.

Oops!

Some of the Links to Photographs in my blog are not currently working.

Initially, this was because my pictures, which were hosted by Fotopic for a number of years, became unavailable because Fotopic stopped trading early in March 2011 and the parent company, Snappy Designs, went into voluntary liquidation. The pictures actually embedded in my blog posts continued to work because they were stored in 'Picasa'.

The servers containing the Fotopic site were purchased by a former director of Snappy Designs and there were suggestions that the pictures would become available in the future but (as you may imagine) that didn't happen.

So, the only alternative was to re-create the on-line picture archive with another host from my backups. This was a major task and there are some pictures for which I didn't find backups so they're currently regarded as lost.

Apart from the 'lost' pictures, most of the photographs have now been re-loaded on 'Flickr'. I've concentrated on making the images themselves available and many photographs either lack individual titles or the titles are still in the title page of the Set.

There are hundreds of links from the blog to the photographs, most of which should now be working again, but I'm afraid some may have been missed. But you can go to my Flickr Home Page and browse from there.

I'm sorry about the inconvenience.

[Updated 3-Aug-2011, 29-Jun-2012, 19-Aug-2016]

Midland Railway Centre, Butterley

At the beginning of May 2011, my friend Keith visited from Australia. Together, we made a visit to the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley.

In the museum section of the large locomotive shed at Swanwick Junction, we were both taken with the elderly Midland 2-4-0, number 158A. The Kirtley design was built in Derby in 1866 and spent a couple of years working Midland trains to King's Cross, before the Midland opened their own London terminal at St. Pancras. The locomotive underwent a number of rebuilds during its long life and was finally withdrawn from local passenger train service in 1947.

Midland Railway Centre in pictures.

Ascension Island

Saturday, 30th April on Ascension Island was a day of great contrasts - I arrived by sea in the morning and departed, later the same day, by RAF Flight. Ascension Island is only small but it turned out to be one of the oddest places I've visited.

I went on deck first thing and the island was in sight, with proper mountains dotted around. Artificial lights were apparent in places and, as we approached, various structures became apparent. Each hilltop was crowned by a 'golfball' - the radome provided on some radar and communications antennas to protect them from the weather - so it was clear that Ascension's role as a 'listening post' in the Atlantic remained significant.

At seven o'clock, I went below to the dining room for the last opportunity to enjoy the cooked breakfast. By the time I was back on deck, the crew were preparing the gangway and a motorised pontoon was making ponderous progress towards us through a somewhat more lively sea. We learned that there was some sort of problem lowering the anchor and we eventually hove-to further out than is usual. At last, the first pontoon was able to come alongside by the gangway for transferring passengers but it was a little off-putting to note that one moment the end of the gangway was neatly touching the deck of the pontoon and, seconds later, there was a gap of a couple of feet between the end of the gangway and the pontoon. Various other pontoons now appeared to deal with the cargo containers and a passenger launch tied up at the first pontoon, discharging a number of dockers who would assist the ship's crew in the unloading process.

People with low-numbered landing passes (including the writer) were summoned to the gangway and we hastily made our final goodbyes to passengers and crew we'd leave behind. There was plenty of assistance to aid our transfer from gangway to pontoon and then from pontoon to launch. The secret, of course, was timing. The boatmen would hold us back until gangway and pontoon or pontoon and launch were suitably aligned and then command us to move. Within a few minutes, the launch was full and we pulled away from R.M.S. 'St. Helena' with her cranes already working on the cargo.

The launch was headed for a stubby jetty with a single road-mounted unloading crane. It was strange to recognise the scene as, before my trip, I'd looked at the Ascension Island Webcam which shows the jetty and crane from the landward side. We approached a set of steps cut into the jetty and the vertical motion between boat and jetty was rather off-putting. Again, the boatman timed our movement and there were plenty of hands offering support so regaining dry land was easier than I expected.

A short walk across the jetty took us to a stone-built shed with double doors and a sign 'Welcome to Ascension'. Inside the shed, our luggage was waiting for us so, having successfully found both my bags, it was on to immigration. Formalities were pleasant and brief so I was soon back in the sunshine meeting up with my Texan friends. We were met by the friendly driver of the people carrier from the Obsidian Hotel and he took our luggage. We'd booked a brief tour of the island and Natasha, from the Conservation Department, was waiting with a Land Rover. We bundled into the Land Rover for the five minute drive to the Obsidian Hotel to check-in and pay for our day rooms. Within a few minutes, we were back in the Land Rover. The 'bug-hunters' from England had decided to join our tour so, having picked them up, Natasha drove through the town on the road leading to the air field.

A well-maintained road soon brought us to the start of the United States base on Ascension. A neat, illuminated sign read 'U.S. Air Force Ascension Auxiliary Air Field'. What was lacking was the usual surrounding fencing and a Guard Post. We just carried on past what looked like accommodation blocks and administration blocks. We knew we were in the heart of the camp when we passed the 'PX' (Post Exchange), but everywhere appeared deserted as we drove by. A side road lead to what was signposted as the airstrip passenger terminal but we continued on the main road passing another sign, facing the other way, reading 'U.S. Air Force Ascension Auxiliary Air Field' so we'd left the Base.

Natasha said that she would take us to nearby Mars Bay. The well-made road ended and we were soon bouncing over volcanic rocks and sand, heading towards the sea. The only reminder of the base behind us was a substantial earth cable laid on the surface and leading to the ocean. We parked near a small fenced-off area protecting an unusual flora which was attempting to establish itself and walked under blazing sun across the lunar landscape. We passed a sign saying 'Sooty Terns Nesting - Please Do Not Drive' and stopped short of a huge, noisy colony of birds either standing on the rocky ground or swooping through the air. The incessant calling of the birds gives rise to their local nickname 'wideawakes', the name given to the nearby airstrip. The birds were flying low over our heads, but it did not seem to be threatening behaviour to drive us away - rather, they simply ignored us. As we walked back to the Land Rover, we came upon a number of abandoned eggs and, scurrying through the rocks, a centipede about five inches long. Whilst exploring the foreshore, we'd been surprised by the brief roar of a jet engine. As we drove back through the camp, we saw a large Air Italy passenger jet had arrived - we'd heard the noisy reverse thrust as he landed.

The road now took us around the landward side of the camp and airfield and we passed many different designs of radio antenna presumably eavesdropping on many different frequencies. We passed the diesel-powered generating station which supplied the base and airfield and caught sight of a group of modern wind generators further inland.

The well-kept road led us to a plateau looking down on the airstrip. Here, the American base commander had a spacious, single-storey home. The runway had been built between a number of hills and the airfield control tower looked odd perched on one of these hills (although it must command a splendid view). The earliest standard night time aid to landing aircraft was the 'Pundit' - a rotating beacon alternating white and green. Usually, this is mounted on the roof of the control tower but I was intrigued that, at Ascension, it is mounted on a tall post near to the Base Commander's house.

We drove back to the main road and continued our tour. Each turn in the road revealed a stunning new vista and, as we climbed Nasa Road, the temperature dropped and the vegetation became lusher. At one point, we were driving above the clouds which swirled between the hills. The road ended at the Challenger Centre, originally build by NASA as a tracking station in connection with the Apollo Space Flights but long since disused. The antennas have been removed but the substantial concrete main building found a new use, converted as a weekend centre by the First Ascension Island Scouts. However, it appeared that Nature was taking over again. We clambered back into the Land Rover and moved off, but Natasha suddenly stopped because she'd spotted a Land Crab in the grass at the side of the road. The crab was a remarkable sight - pale blue with orange legs and two claws - one enlarged and capable of delivering a nasty injury. It didn't take kindly to being closely observed by humans and scuttled away sideways. When a tree blocked its path, to our amazement, it backed up the trunk until it was about five feet above the ground where it just stayed until we'd all taken photographs and returned to the Land Rover. A remarkable encounter.

Next, we made our way to Traveller's Hill, where the RAF personnel and families live. The larger single-storey houses would not have been out of place in a modern English development but there was also simpler accommodation which appeared to be shipping-container sized units supplied fully installed and then provided with an overhanging steel roof because of the fierce sun to be expected. There were also a number of large buildings containing shops or other community facilities. This really looked like England with numerous families engaged in Saturday shopping.

We carried on through Two Boats - more pleasant houses and the Island's school - and then One Boat. Once, disused boats had been set up at these locations, giving rise to the names. The originals are long gone but a replacement has been set up at One Boat decorated, for some unfathomable reason, with bowling trophies. One Boat is home to the Island's Golf Course. The volcanic terrain is not conducive to golf course design and at one time the course had the distinction of being called 'the worst course in the world'. From here, we took the road to English Bay, passing more exotic aerial installations.

Improbably, this is BBC territory (yes, the British Broadcasting Corporation). A series of tall transmitter masts radiate the World Service to Africa and, I think, South America. Two satellite dishes form the BBC Atlantic Relay Earth Station. The BBC operate a large, modern desalinisation plant and a diesel power station which both serve the island. English Bay has a beach of white, fine sand which was blowing everywhere when we visited surrounded by black volcanic rocks. It's a popular spot for swimming and diving. Natasha drove us back to the Obsidian after a brief, but fascinating, glimpse of the contrasts on this small, remote island.

At the hotel, the lady receptionist advised us that our flight to Brize Norton would be two hours late and so our transfer to the air field would be at 5 p.m., not 3 p.m. She advised us that there would be no food available at the hotel until the evening and that the 'Tasty Tucker' Cafe a couple of hundred yards away would close at 2 p.m. Reception then closed for the day so there was no opportunity to find out about their advertised internet service or puchase books or souvenirs from the Hotel Shop!

My accommodation was fine for a few hours stay. There was a rather spartan shower room with wash hand basin and W.C., a bedroom with a decent double bed and a sitting room with settee, an odd assortment of furniture and a small television. I didn't switch the television on but my Texan friends reported only three channels of indifferent technical quality. There were open french windows with closed screen doors in the bedroom and sitting room and, aided by a powerful portable electric fan in the bedroom, the temperature was quite comfortable although it remained hot outside.

I'd agreed to join my Texan friends for lunch so we walked across to the 'Tasty Tucker' before it closed. I had a decent omelette and chips, not knowing quite when I'd eat again! A number of the passengers who'd landed from the R.M.S. 'St. Helena' seemed to be eating here. In fact, it was the only place in town showing any sign of life apart from the St. Helena Club across the road. After lunch, my Texan friends were made welcome in the Club but I decided to explore on my own. I showered and liberally applied sun block before venturing into the afternoon sun.

My Hotel seemed to be one of the largest group of buildings in town. The main block with Reception was of two-storey, concrete construction. I was in the adjacent older single storey building which included the Anchor Inn, the Anchorage Restaurant and a number of bedrooms. When we first arrived, there had been a number of people sitting in the open verandah section of the Anchor but, by the time I started my exploration, they’d disappeared. In addition, there was at least one more building with accommodation forming part of the Obsidian. In addition to the hotel name appearing on the front of the main block, superimposed on a blue silhouette of the island’s coastline, a large ship’s anchor had been set up on the approach road lettered ‘Obsidian’.

There was also an old buoy lettered ‘The Anchor Inn’ which fascinated me since it retained its original owner’s brass identification plate marked ‘Eastern Telegraph Company Ltd. London No. 263’. At the start of the telecommunications era, Ascension was an important relay station and I believe the first submarine cable via Ascension was completed in 1899, operated by the Eastern Telegraph Company. This company later became part of Cable and Wireless which still has a major presence on the island, operating a large satellite ground station and the local telephone network.

Looking along the main road to the airfield, I could see the nicely-proportioned Ascension Island Government building, two storey with modest arcading and cement quoins, Union Flag fluttering from the flagpole. The building looked quite handsome painted white, although I was not so sure about the pink quoins and details. Next was the large utilitarian offices of Cable and Wireless and, further away, the Conservation Department building. I started walking in the opposite direction, towards Long Beach and the sea, passing the St. Helena Club. The music emanating from the club was the only sound disturbing the quiet of the hot afternoon. On my right was the Magistrate’s Court, in typical colonial style with a long verandah at the front. As decoration, two bomb casings stood sentry (at least, I hope they were bomb casings, not live bombs). Next, I passed the white-painted building of the St. Helena Police Service (Ascension’s civil administration, like that of remote Tristan da Cuhna, is provided through St. Helena). I detoured to look inside St. Mary’s Church. Building commenced in 1843 when the British military presence was strong. Next to the church, there’s a large parade ground surfaced with the black gravel that appears everywhere. The arcaded, white-painted barracks, complete with bell tower, faced the parade ground but is currently unused. I continued towards Fort Hayes, passing a neat estate of rather utilitarian housing.

The Fort and the adjacent Museum, I knew, had closed at 12.30 but there was still a little to see. I’d assumed that there was no ‘railway’ on Ascension but the Museum had 2 foot gauge wagons and a length of track on display outside. Apparently, in 1923 the English Bay Company started digging out guano from Boatswain Bird Island for export as fertilizer. The tracks extended from the mining site to a jetty at the south end of English Bay. There had also been a railway at the Pierhead in Georgetown.

Climbing the hill behind the Museum, I passed the Ascension Hospital, which looked like another relic of the British military put to good use. I rejoined the main road by Cable and Wireless and continued past the government building towards Long Beach. I assumed that the comfortable-looking house with verandah and another Union Flag flying was the residence of the Island Administrator. On the hillside, I noticed two black and white striped poles, presumably ‘day marks’, to be lined up by an approaching ship to find a safe channel. There was also a pyramidal obelisk but I did not discover whether this is memorial or daymark. I passed a rather bleak-looking shop in the nature of the ‘Company Store’. It was, of course, closed. Finally, I came to Long Beach, regarded as a globally important nesting site for the endangered green turtle. The females come ashore at night to lay eggs so there was no danger of disturbing a turtle. Long Beach is a exquisite, timeless spot. The view of the R.M.S. ‘St. Helena’ at anchor a few hundred yards out did not jar, only the white sphere of the radome at the far side of the bay seemed out of place.

As I made my way back towards the Pierhead and the remains of Fort Thornton, I passed a sewage outfall pipe (probably abandoned) which was being used as a highway by a procession of small green crabs heading for the sea. The remnants of the Turtle Ponds are a depressing reminder of man’s relationship with nature. In the 19th century, turtles were captured and kept alive in the ponds until required to re-supply ships. Having made brief inspection of the stone buildings on the Pierhead, I returned to the hotel across the Parade Ground. The walk had left me tired and rather sticky, so I had another shower, a couple of cups of tea (the sitting room had the means to make tea or coffee) and a brief lie-down before completing my packing.

At five o’clock those flying out assembled, with luggage, at the hotel reception and the driver who’d met us at Pierhead in the morning loaded up the suitcases and drove us to the airfield. The town and military camp seemed as deserted as ever but, as we pulled up at the Passenger Terminal, there were quite a few people apparently queuing to enter the building. With a sinking feeling, I joined the queue but, after a few minutes, a member of the RAF Operations Staff came out to give an apology. With camouflage dress and boots, he wasn’t quite what I’m used to at airports but he regretted that the ‘Rapiscan’ baggage scanner had broken down, introducing some delay because bags were having to be hand searched. This prompt information lifted the mood and it wasn’t long before an employee from ‘Serco’ (the security contractor) was searching my bags. He was also so pleasant that it was impossible to be cross. Another RAF man was manning Check-In and he displayed the same courteshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify. When planning the trip, I’d tried to book their ‘Premium Economy’, because I was a bit worried about a long flight with a narrow seat pitch. I’d been told it wasn’t possible so was resigned to making the best of things. I was thus surprised and delighted to be told I’d been allocated what they call a ‘Wide Seat’. I passed into the Departure Hall provided with seats, wide screen television, a ‘NAAFI’ Shop and ‘NAAFI’ Snack Bar. Even better, there was an outdoor waiting area provided with seats and tables giving an excellent view of the apron. There was a single grey-liveried jet transport aircraft on the apron. I afterwards identified it as a Pratt and Whitney powered C17A ‘Globemaster’ (more information here).

The evening was warm and pleasant and I remained surprisingly relaxed. Our flight arrived from the Falklands and slowly taxied to the stand. Steps were placed against the aircraft and all passengers, including transit, disembarked and joined us in the waiting area. Meanwhile, vehicles moved across the tarmac to deal with luggage and refuel the aircraft. I think a few of the disembarking passengers went through immigration, but most were waiting to re-board for the onward flight to Brize Norton. Servicemen are told to wear ‘civvies’ on these flights so it’s not possible to be sure which passengers are in the forces. I was amused by posters displayed around the terminal warning servicemen not to discuss their activities since they might be talking to civilians! It reminded me of the famous ‘Fougasse’ poster from the second world war ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’.

Eventually, the aircraft was ready for boarding. Since the steps had been placed at the front of the aircraft, it was logical that they called passengers in blocks from the rear seats first. By now it was dark but still warm. Lights twinkled on all the surrounding hills and red aircraft warning beacons marked the location of the ‘golfballs’. As I walked across the apron to the aircraft, I was happy to be going home, but sad to leave Ascension, a tiny island which had served up so many contrasts in just one day.

The aircraft was a Boeing 767-300ER in Air Seychelles livery. The first four rows were laid out with 2+2+2 fully reclining seating and I was in 4A. The seat next to me was empty until just before take-off when a middle-aged lady shot forward from row 5 (the start of the narrow seats) to occupy 4B. This, plus the friendliness of the crew convinced me that she was herself cabin staff or similar. This seemed confirmed when she had a special meal which I notice was marked 'For Auntie Janine'. Although we spoke briefly, she spent most of the flight talking to the cabin crew at the front of the aircraft. We had a simple snack meal and later in the flight a simple but reasonable main meal. 'Up front' we were given portable TV screens which gave a fair range of entertainment. I watched one film (it must have been good - I can't remember the title) and then managed a few hours sleep.

We arrived at Brize Norton about 6.15 a.m. Luggage arrived promptly, formalities were quick and Alan was waiting to take me home. An excellent end to a most enjoyable and thought-provoking trip. The ship was great, St. Helena was fascinating but Ascension made a strong impression.

Ascension is a 'closed' area - although British Territory I needed an Entry Permit to visit the island as well as my full British Passport. The total population ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giff Ascension is around 1,000, most of whom are fairly short-term residents on contract to the U.S. Air Force, the RAF, Cable and Wireless or the BBC. I believe that there is still no 'Right of Residence' on Ascension, even for those born there. When it's so difficult to enter and leave the island (a fact which no doubt appeals to those responsible for the various electronic spying activities), it's perhaps clearer why the base has no obvious security. Then, there's the complication of an American base on British soil. A Wikipedia article here gives some background. I also found the old NASA Tracking Station interesting as 'industrial archaeology' of the recent past. There's more information here and on the Old Scout Site here. Ascension also has a role as a tracking station for missile testing by the Americans in the South Atlantic. Incidentally, Ascension Island has its own Newspaper - the On-Line version is here.

My Ascension Island pictures.

All my pictures from the trip are here.

Last Day at Sea

[Originally posted by e-mail from the ship and edited on my return to the UK]

Friday, 29th April

I woke up during the night due to a change in the engine noise at about twenty past two in the morning. The single engine we were still running on for economy slowed and then stopped. Checking through the porthole confirmed that we were no longer making progress and the ship became more 'lively' as she responded to the moderate waves. I considered getting dressed and trying to get more information but, in fact, I stayed in bed and dropped off to sleep again. Waking some time later, I was relieved to discover that an engine was running again and that we were once again making 'way'. So I went back to sleep again.

Friday was our last full day at sea so it was necessary to make preparations for landing on Ascension. The 'Ocean Mail', the ship's daily 'newspaper' contained, in addition to details of the days activities, information on the collection of luggage for transhipment ashore and details of the procedures for landing on Ascension.

At ten o'clock, a Galley Tour had been arranged. The Chef conducted a party of about eight around his stainless steel domain. With a staff of six, the sheer hard work involved in catering for passengers and crew was impressive. The chef himself starts at 5.00 a.m. preparing soup and, with short breaks, continues throughout the day. Various types of bread are baked daily, using 24 kg of flour a day. Each 'station' within the galley caters for a different type of food. The variety of menu and the consistent quality of the food has been an outstanding feature of this trip.

The public address advised us that there would be a Crew Drill at 10.30 a.m., not involving passengers. Sure enough, the Ships Alarm sounded and the crew moved to their appointed stations. The scenario was that thick smoke had been seen coming from a 'Reefer' (refrigerated container) on deck on the port side. A little later, supplementary information came over the public address that the smoke was toxic and only crew wearing 'BA Sets' (Breathing Apparatus) could approach the incident. From a suitable vantage point, we could see two crew members lying on the deck apparently incapacitated by fumes after having run out a red canvas fire hose prior to tackling the problem. Eventually a rescue party arrived, helped the casualties to their feet and they slowly made their way inside. A party of three firefighters appeared on deck and one was in touch with the bridge by mobile radio. A second fire hose was run-out, fitted with a long nozzle tube which appeared to finish in a spray head. One member of the party opened the container door whilst the second used the spray head to address the supposed fire. Of course, there was no actual fire and no water was used but it was still a fascinating simulation.

There was a Shuffleboard Contest in the morning but I didn't see much of it because I'd agreed to join Roy from Bath in the pool. By the time I was ready for the water, some youngsters who'd joined the ship at St. Helena were making use of the pool so it was a little bit crowded but quite good fun. The water was warmer than on any of the previous occasions I'd used the pool. After the swim, I had a quick shower and then it was time for lunch. My Texan friends and I were joined by a British lady doctor who'd just completed three months working in the hospital on St. Helena and was also hoping to be on the Saturday evening flight from Ascension.

Documentation for landing on Ascension is every bit as complex as at St. Helena. I had to complete a Landing Card and Customs Form in addition to being in possession of an Ascension Island Entry Permit (which I'd obtained before I left the UK), a valid passport and adequate travel insurance. They also charge an £11.00 fee. The Purser issued me with 'Landing Permit No. 3' intended to ensure transfer ashore in the first launch. Apparently, at Ascension the landing by launch also attracts a fee of £5.50! The Texans and I hoped to be taken to the Obsidian Hotel where Day Rooms had been reserved. If all went well, we hoped to get a whistle-stop tour of the island before showering at the hotel and being transferred to Wideawake Airstrip for our flight back to the U.K.

Sailing to Ascension pictures.< /p>

All my pictures from the trip are here.

Sailing to Ascension

[Originally posted by e-mail from the ship and edited on my return to the UK]

Thursday, 28th April

Last night, the ship set sail just before 6.0 p.m. and headed NNW towards Ascension Island with 67 passengers and 58 crew. On this leg, the majority of the passengers are 'Saints' (inhabitants of St. Helena) travelling to work on Ascension Island or the Falkland Islands or perhaps the U.K. Only a few were, like me, tourists. The 'feel' on this part of the voyage was a little different, slightly more that of a passenger ferry. But the splendid standard of meals and service was unchanged. With fewer passengers, only one dinner sitting was required and this was at 7.30 p.m. I had been placed on a table with my two friends from Texas and three 'joiners' - entymologists who had been conducting a preliminary study of the unique insect life to be found on St. Helena with a view to specifying follow-up studies to be carried out later. The entymologists, the Texans and I all hoped to catch the 1815 hours flight from Ascension to Brize Norton on Saturday. Originally, I was to stay on Ascension for 3 nights and catch the Tuesday flight but we had all been told some time ago that the flight had been cancelled and this still appeared to be the case - an English couple who had hoped to return to the UK on the Tuesday flight had now been told they would have to stay on Ascension until the subsequent flight on Friday. We were all aware that these RAF flights are subject to delay or cancellation at short notice and we were keeping fingers crossed that our arrangements worked out.

I gathered that we'd been running on one main engine for some time (with the other variable-pitch propeller 'feathered' to prevent drag) both for fuel economy and to ensure that we didn't arrive at Ascension in the middle of the night.

Breakfast on Thursday was the usual full English spread I'd become accustomed to. I realised that returning home would be something of a shock to the system. During the morning there was another cricket match between the Passengers and the Officers. Although the Officers won again, the margin was much closer this time.

After a bit of pottering about, checking e-mails, sorting photographs and completing my write-up for yesterday, it was time for lunch. During the afternoon, I decided to have another swim. The sea was definitely a little more active than it had been south of St. Helena and the movement of the hull meant that the water in the pool was regularly 'sloshing' from one end to the other. The shop had discounted its Easter Eggs, so I decided to treat myself!

Dinner on Thursday had been advertised as a 'Fish and Chip Supper' on the Sun Deck. Around 6.30 p.m. the crew started to set up a serving line in the Sun Lounge and tables with red and white check tablecloths on the open Sun Deck. The Chef had prepared a vegetable soup to start. Fish was served with proper chips, peas and (if you wanted) various other vegetables. There were various sauces and (for the purists) Sarsons malt vinegar. The chef told me they'd cooked 24 kg of fish! There was a dessert to follow, completing another splendid meal.

After the meal, many of the passengers remained at the tables as the evening was very mild. We were joined by a young couple, Marcus and Crystal from Canada who had boarded at Cape Town and were travelling to Ascension where they intended to join an RAF flight to the Falklands. Crystal hadn't been very well on the first part of the journey but recovered sufficiently for them have a Civil Wedding on St. Helena. One or two passengers had given them bottles of champagne or similar and the newly-married couple kindly insisted on sharing a couple of bottles with my table.

Sailing to Ascension pictures.

All my pictures from the trip are here.

Last Day on St. Helena

[Originally posted by e-mail from the ship and edited on my return to the UK]

The day started with an excellent breakfast at Susan's B&B. They'd agreed to transfer our luggage to the dock by the cut-off time of two o'clock so I was able to post the previous blog to this one on the hotel's Wi-Fi before saying goodbye and walking with fellow guests into the town centre. Packed lunches had been ordered from Ivy at the Wellington Hotel so I picked these up before we congregated outside the Consulate Hotel for a ten o'clock pick-up by Corker's tours. We'd already had rain showers so we were not surprised and not too disappointed that they were using a modern 14-seat people carrier.

We set off up the steep, winding road out of the town on the east side of the valley. This road had become familiar from my various walks and the previous day's Napoleonic Tour. When we reached the junction by the bus shelter about a mile out of town, we took the leftmost turn for the high road, with the Cable and Wireless Satellite Ground Station (which had, no doubt, transmitted the blog referred to above) visible below us on the Briars Road we'd taken to reach the Pavilion on the day before. As we ascended, the rain became almost constant. We couldn't take the direct road to Hutts Gate and Longwood because of the road closure for laying water mains which had affected us the day before. Instead, we took a circuitous, winding road rising above 800 metres above sea level in places. We passed close to the site of two former astronomical observatories - Maskelyne's Observatory and Halley's Mount. We reached Hutts Gate with its shop and turned right at St. Matthew's Church, leaving the Longwood road we'd taken before. We followed the contours around the lower levels of the Three Peaks, although, because of the lush undergrowth and the torrential rain, we couldn't see the mountain tops. There's a lot of New Zealand flax around here.

Flax was a commercial crop at one time but I believe the last Flax Mill closed over 30 years ago. There is a desire to restore a mill as a museum but, like everything on St. Helena, the economics of such a project are those of the mad house. The island population is only around 4,000 souls, much smaller than the country parish I live in, yet it has all the machinery of a sovereign state with a written constitution, Governor, flag and its own currency (the St. Helena pound enjoys parity with the English Pound which is equally accepted in shops). Police, fire and Ambulance services are provided. The main hospital is in Jamestown and there are a number of medical clinics around the island visited once a week by a doctor. Occasionally, the remote nature of the island causes tragedies. On the previous day, we'd seen dozens of cars parking in the vicinity of St. Paul's Cathedral. We learned these were mourners attending the memorial service for a young lad of about ten who had become seriously ill. He'd been taken aboard the previous RMS St. Helena sailing for Cape Town but had died en route. The island is not self-sufficient in food and is dependent on the monthly arrival of the ship I'm on (invariably referred to simply as 'The RMS') for food and all manufactured products. There are some sheep and beef cattle on the island, but there is no dairy herd, so all milk is imported.

We stopped at Silver Hill and visited the Silver Hill Shop. This mini-market is operated by Solomon & Company (St. Helena) plc as are a number of commercial enterprises on the island (such as petrol filling stations). In general, prices were similar to England but foodstuffs seemed a little expensive. We carried on, with intermittent heavy rain, travelling generally west, to pass the junction for Bellstone (the name of my cabin on the ship) and, by a devious route, working our way across the southern flank of the Three Peaks with our elevation falling to less than 600 metres. We stopped at the picnic area at Green Hill, near a number of modest houses with gardens carefully tended to provide the owners with various fresh vegetables. It appears that 'The RMS' is relied upon for potatoes as potato blight is endemic in St. Helena.

We then made a visit to the Adult Training Centre operated by 'SHAPE' - St. Helena's Active Partnership in Enterprise. This is a part Government funded venture for the physically and mentally handicapped. We were taken round by the retired principal of Tamworth College in England who is on a 6-month voluntary stint in St. Helena. She explained that they currently have 18 clients but that, given better arrangements for ferrying people to and from the centre, there are probably at least 40 more people who could benefit from attending the centre.

They are engaged in making various products from milled flax but it was explained that, once limited available stocks are exhausted, this will cease unless a way of milling flax can be established. Other products include hand-made soaps and toiletries, necklaces, hand-made paper and recycled cardboard briquettes to burn as an alternative to wood. They are experimenting with wool spinning, since the fleeces of the island sheep are not currently used. We saw a crocheted scarf made from wool spun at the centre.

We were still dodging showers as we stopped at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul. The first church here was built in 1678 but, being timber built, it needed replacing in 1699. The replacement building was reported as being in a 'ruinous condition' by 1732 and the next church was a substantial affair in stone. The present building dates from 1851 and incorporates a number of commemorative plaques from the earlier building, some of which are quite moving.

Our route continued past the Governer's house, Plantation House, and the hilltop location of High Knoll Fort, visible for miles around. Sadly, because of the dangerous condition of the stonework, visits to this fort are no longer allowed. We passed through the modern housing of Half Tree Hollow and descended the zig-zag road descending Ladder Hill to finish our tour outside the Consulate Hotel a little after 3.0 p.m. The rain had stopped temporarily and there was a warming sun.

We were to present ourselves at the docks at 4.0 p.m., so I had time to make a second visit to the charming museum before walking towards the sea front. Crowds of people were waiting on the road to the dock. Some were clearly passengers, some were seeing off passengers and some, perhaps, were just observing the activities. Just after four, the barrier across the road was removed and passengers walked to the customs shed. The same two ladies from the Immigration Department of the St. Helena Police who had admitted us to St. Helena now checked that we were shown on the ship's manifest and stamped our passports as 'Departed'. They no longer seemed as forbidding as they appeared when we entered the island and the one lady, with a smile, said 'Come back again'. Numbered permits were issued and we waited for our number to be called before joining the waiting bus. The same driver took us past the stacks of containers and the two large cranes to the launch. We donned lifejackets and were allowed aboard. This time, the launch was bobbing up and down in the swell. A short trip took us to the pontoon next to the gangway on our ship. Because of the swell, the bottom of the gangway varied from touching the pontoon to being about 18 inches above it. By half past four, I was back in my original cabin, 'home' safely.

My St. Helena Island pictures.

All my pictures from the trip are here.

The Island of St. Helena

Monday 25th April

On Sunday night, the ship's clocks were retarded by one hour for the second time so that we were on GMT. The extra hour was compensation for the fact that we had to arise earlier Monday morning. Only a continental breakfast was available from 7.00 a.m. for we were scheduled to arrive at Jamestown around 8.00 a.m.

I went on deck about 5.45 a.m. and there were already a few early birds on lookout. The dark silhouette of a rugged island was just visible ahead and, with the dawn, this became larger and clearer as we continued the approach. A number of dolphins appeared in the sea alongside, keeping station with us and intermittently arcing out of the water, which remained remarkably placid. We approached the island from SSE. Still on autopilot, a series of waypoints led the ship around the island in a series of 'dog's legs' coming round the east of the island towards our destination, Jamestown, on the northern coast. The final approach was carried out under manual command by Captain Greentree. There are a number of wrecks close inshore but the cliffs to our starboard have two 'day marks' - large white triangles which, when vertically in line, indicate that the ship is aligned on a safe approach. In fact, we were told, we would stay a little to port of the marked course because of a more recent wreck. When we were a few hundred yards off shore, the starboard anchor was dropped, the main engines stopped and we came to rest with our bows pointing towards Jamestown. Perhaps two dozen small boats and yachts were moored in the bay and some of these started to move towards us. There were a number of ungainly looking 'motorised pontoons' and the first of these moored on our starboard side and the ship's gangway was lowered onto this platform. A handsome motor launch tied up to this pontoon and a number of people came aboard. A second 'motorised pontoon' attached itself ahead of the first pontoon, adjacent to the containers loaded on the foredeck and one of our electro-hydraulic 12.5-ton capacity cranes started to perform.

For the passengers, however, it was the start of a frustrating period of waiting. It had been explained that immigration officers would set up in part of the main lounge to process each arrival. We each needed passport, completed immigration form, proof of medical insurance, onwards travel arrangements, proof of sufficient funds and the cash entry fee (12 pounds for a 4-day stay, more for longer stays). Two lady immigration officers slowly processed the passengers, stamping passports and issuing a numbered, re-usable pass card.

The cargo unloading made a faster start and soon a couple of 'motorised pontoons' were engaged in a shuttle service, each taking one or two containers to the jetty where two large cranes hauled them onto the dock. It was as well that the Atlantic was still like the proverbial millpond, as the pontoons seemed to list badly when loaded. After a while, the crane lifted a large cargo netting which was secured in position to protect the side of the ship. A large open basket had been filled with some of our luggage and this, of course, was the cue for rain. After a few minutes, a large tarpaulin appeared and was pulled over the luggage which was then lowered to the waiting 'motorised pontoon' for the journey ashore. At the stern, the hatches had been opened and more luggage was lifted onto another pontoon by the smaller Stores Crane on the aft deck. All this activity only increased the frustration of the passengers waiting to be processed.

An empty, large basket was swung onto the foredeck from a pontoon and it was announced that infirm passengers for the 'Air Taxi' would be the first to disembark. This was apparently a reference to the large basket which would be used to transfer these passengers off the ship. I didn't actually see this process as, by now, I was standing in the queue for interview. I passed muster and was issued with a numbered, reusable pass numbered '63'. Presenting this to the crew, I was told to return to the main lounge and wait for my number to be called. Instead, I watched the unloading. An American WWII landing craft had appeared and this was loaded with a mysterious piece of industrial equipment under a large blue sheet. I never did find out what it was.

Eventually my 'number was up'. Before boarding the launch, we were each equipped with a simpler form of lifejacket. Another immigration official collected our passes at the head of the gangway. The short trip ashore gave us the first look at the entire ship which had brought us safely from Cape Town. Looking ahead, the features of Jamestown were clearer. The town nestles in a deep valley running at right angles to the sea. There's a short, curving promenade which, to our left became the dock with various buildings, mobile cranes and cargo containers. Considerable works had been carried out to the steep hills on either side of the town - it was clear that these hills were none-too-stable and strong fences and wire mesh curtains had been erected to protect the town below.

The signs of the military origins of Jamestown were all around. On our left, there were abandoned lookout stations and batteries clinging to the cliffs. A wall and moat blocked entrance to the town from the sea and the Castle buildings were visible behind the protecting wall. To our right, the cliffs rose up over 600 feet, topped by an impressive-looking fort called Ladder Hill Fort. The 'Ladder' referred to is the famous 'Jacob's Ladder', a vertiginous flight of 699 steps linking the town to the fort. We clambered ashore and were directed to a bus. When everybody from our launch was aboard, we were driven past the cargo unloading activity to the Customs Shed. Hand baggage was passed through the familiar X-ray machine and then we were directed to a collection of luggage from which we could select our cases. Two policemen with an Alsatian sniffer dog circulated amongst us but neither police nor dog showed any interest in the writer. Fortunately, I managed to avoid my normal greeting of 'What a good dog!'. Customs officers were arrayed behind inspection tables but my Customs Form was collected, briefly read through and I was waved outside. About 50 yards further on, temporary barriers had been erected to hold back the crowd of islanders and various passenger names were being displayed. I quickly found my name being displayed by Colin Yon, manager of Susan's B&B where I was to spend my two nights on the island. After collecting a couple from Bath I'd met on the ship, we were driven through the town to our destination. After settling into the room and having a cup of tea with our hosts, I though I'd better explore Jamestown,

The B&B was only a few minutes walk from the single main street. It's amazing how little change there has been since the town was built. Elegant Georgian facades are everywhere although many of the buildings are rather shabby. The effect remains entrancing, particularly since islanders greet each person they pass, friend or stranger. Being Bank Holiday Monday, most premises were closed but the various public houses seemed to be doing a good trade!

I readily found the foot of Jacob's Ladder and thought I'd better see about climbing it. Each step is quite deep and there's a lot of them, so I found it a tiring climb. I started off going 50 steps and then resting and taking in the view but later I could only manage 25 steps before a pause was required. But I made it to the top and explored what's left of Ladder Hill Fort. I later discovered that a number of passengers from the ship had noted my ascent (some using binoculars). I suspect it would be difficult to keep any secret for long on this island of about 4,000 residents. Although the conventional wisdom is that it's harder to go down such steps, I had no problems and descended with only brief pauses for photographic purposes. However, going down you are very aware of how easily you could lose your balance so it's not recommended to people who suffer from vertigo. Breathless but pleased with my achievement I arrived safely at the bottom and continued my exploration of the town before joining the first tour I'd booked.

The first tour was a Historical Town Walk organised by 'Magma Way Tours', actually a charming and well-informed resident called Basil, founder member and past Chairman of the local Heritage Society. In addition to walking around the town, we made a close inspection inside St. James' Church (which is always open) and inside the Court House (which Basil arranged to open). The old building has been completely modernised inside. We finished up at a historical hotel for tea or coffee and more questions to Basil. It was a very enjoyable and informative tour.

Tuesday 26th April

I made an early morning walk out of the town with thoughts of visiting Rupert's Bay but it was clear I'd not have sufficient time before 8.00 a.m. breakfast at Susan's B&B so I turned round and made better time than I expected coming back because a local driver gave me a lift into town.

I'd booked the Charabanc Tour to the Napoleonic Sites. Corker's Tours operate a 1929 export model (right hand drive) open-top Chevrolet which was great fun. The island is full of very steep hills and narrow roads but motorists appear relaxed and courteous. We first went to the Pavlion at Briars where Napoleon spent his first 7 weeks of exile on the island, whilst his later residence, Longwood, was being prepared. We then went on to Longwood house where a number of rooms are open to the public. Fascinating glimpses of a strange period in the island's history where a garrison of 8,000 troops were dedicated to keeping Napoleon in captivity. Plantation House is the Governor's Residence in a marvellous spot looking out to sea. We didn't visit the house but did visit the large field in front of the house (called The Lawn) where a number of elderly tortoises roam. We returned to Jamestown along the western coast of the island where a large spacious estate of modern houses has been built, most with sea views. Convenient, no doubt, but not to my taste. We stopped briefly at the top of Jacob's Ladder for photography and then descended to the town via the long, zig-zagging road. It was about 3.00 p.m. by the time we arrived back at Jamestown so I immediately went to the Museum, at the foot of Jacob's Ladder. It's a small, friendly museum with a fascinating array of exhibits nicely laid out.

I then took the cliff path around the headland on the eastern side of the docks to reach the next bay - Rupert's. The path was built to serve various batteries and look-out stations but has now fallen into disrepair. I made it to Rupert's Bay, with views of the oil storage installation (fuel periodically arrives by tanker). There's a single road across the valley bottom past a few industrial initiatives and the noise of the diesel-engined power station became audible. There's a small village there and I would think the noise of the power station is troublesome. The road out of the valley climbs very steeply and I had good aerial views of the power station. By then, I was becoming rather tired and the last few hundred yards to the summit left me winded. I managed the downhill stretch into town and, as arranged, met up with some of my new friends. I took dinner in the pleasant dining room of the Consulate Hotel with two other passengers.

Wednesday 27th April.

Today, the Corker's Scenic Tour is arranged but the morning started with heavy rain. In the afternoon, I embark for Ascension. More when possible.

My St. Helena Island pictures.

All my pictures from the trip are here.

Into the South Atlantic

Tuesday 19th April

On the Munich -Johannesburg flight, in addition to the passenger display of speed, height, distance to run and the rest, there was a camera showing the outside of the aircraft. I've been in aircraft with 'belly cameras' which can be a bit off-putting during landing but this camera was mounted at the top of the tail, giving a God-like view looking down on the aircraft. I noticed they cut the feed during landing, but restored it once we were parked at the gate.

After a meeting with one of our suppliers in Johannesburg, I returned to O. R. Tambo airport. My large bag was already checked through to Cape Town so I only had to find a Bag Drop. I'd already got my boarding pass, so I only had to make my way to the spacious South African Airways lounge to wait for boarding time. The lounge had a fast internet which I made use of. To my surprise, when I embarked, there was a man standing on the air bridge just outside the aircraft door collecting suitcases checked as cabin baggage. He gave me a hastily-completed official receipt, so I made no protest. I assume they were trying to reduce congestion inside the aircraft, particularly during boarding when there are frequently delays as people attempt to stuff baggage into the overhead lockers. I did wonder if I'd ever get the case back.

We had a reasonable flight to Cape Town, during which they served light refreshments. As I left the aircraft at Cape Town, I enquired about my case and was told it would be on the luggage carousel. This had been an internal flight so there were no immigration procedures allowing me to go straight to the baggage hall to see how prompt they were clearing the hold. Within a couple of minutes, both my bags arrived so it was on to the 'meet and greet' point. I wasn't quite sure from my itinerary whether I was being met or not. I thought not and, indeed, having scoured the displayed names decided I was on my own. There were a couple of touts displaying 'Taxi' signs so, too tired to wonder if this was an official arrangement, I spoke to one of them. He immediately directed me to a young fellow standing a little way back and, reaching agreement, we set off towards his car.

Any doubts about how official this hire was were removed when, once we were outside the terminal building, my young man called to a group of people sitting around and one of them threw a bunch of car keys to him. So it was no surprise when we headed for the car park and a rather tatty saloon. You know the sort of thing - the rear window mechanism was clearly broken as the window was being held upright by a screwdriver used as a wedge. The words came back to me (as they often do on these jaunts) 'I wonder if this is altogether wise?'. I was miffed when, without discussion, the driver allowed two (fortunately respectable-looking) young ladies to climb aboard. There then followed a few minutes of pantomime whilst the young fellow struggled to extract a ticket from the nearby parking ticket machine. I was so amused at the obvious irritation of the young ladies at this delay that I couldn't be cross. Eventually our driver returned triumphantly with a ticket and we set off, with me registering a token protest about the uninvited passengers. After a few hundred yards, he pulled up at a filling station and the rear seat passenger got out. We carried on towards the city at a furious pace. I couldn't tell the speed because, as you would expect, the speedometer was broken. On the journey, the girl in the front seat fuelled the young driver with some sort of cooked snack she was carrying. We arrived safely at the Cape Grace Hotel and, clutching his fare money, the young driver took off at his accustomed high speed.

I was expected at the hotel and quickly conducted to my room, this time at the front of the hotel, overlooking the road to V&A Waterfront and one of the docks. Last time I stayed, I'd been booked on a Robben Island trip but it had been cancelled by the tour operator's at the last minute. The Concierge attempted to book me on the early tour to Robben Island on the following day but the Internet booking system said 'fully booked'. We agreed to review the situation the next morning. I decided upon a short walk, around part of the V&A Waterfront and continuing along the other side of the dock in front of the hotel then looping back to the hotel at the landward end of the dock. By now I was fairly tired so I decided to take a meal in the hotel's 'Signal' restaurant and then retire. I slept well in the huge bed.

Wednesday 20th April

Next morning, I took cooked breakfast in the restaurant. The morning 'Cape Times' had an article about work-to-rules by Robben Island tour staff making the tour very unreliable. I decided to give up on Robben Island and, instead, see if I could visit Simonstown (sometimes more properly called Simon's Town) by train. I had the foresight to arrange a late check-out for 1.30 p.m. and I set off on foot for the railway station. It was a sunny morning but, fortunately, I took a hat and lightweight coat.

The station is very unimposing from the street - it just looks like a series of shops - but, passing through the doors, there's a huge concourse linking 24 platforms. I managed to purchase a return ticket (good value at 25 Rand - about two pounds 50) and made my way to Platform 1 for the 08:40 all stations to Simonstown. All the platforms have now been fitted with automatic barriers with two glass doors which part to let passengers through but these have not yet been commissioned, so I was directed to a staffed barrier where the lady pushed the glass doors apart, checked my ticket and let me through. As it was almost departure time, I jumped on in the middle of the train. Shortly afterwards, the doors closed automatically but, almost immediately, a terrifying banshee wail was sent up by a portly black girl waiting to board. To my surprise, the guard released the doors and more passengers got on. A few minutes late, we slowly made our departure from Cape Town.

The train was one of the elderly class of electric multiple units I'd seen before, covered with graffiti inside and out. The plastic windows are hard to see through because of the graffiti but, if you're lucky, the upper window sash can be forced part way down for ventilation and, if you're prepared to stand, you have a reasonable view out. A lot of passengers boarded at the first two stops and, at each subsequent station, plenty of people left and joined the train. Looking at the range of physical appearance of the passengers and the variety of styles and colours of dress reminded me that South Africa calls itself 'The Rainbow Nation'. The suburban stations are very close together, so it was stop and start for around three quarters of an hour before the sky to the east became lighter and suddenly, we were running on a rocky ledge above a sandy beach with regular waves coming in from the ocean which in this area is called False Bay. I counted over 30 surfers practising as we stopped at Muizenberg. The regularity of the surf here has made it a centre for training surfers. We continued running along the coast, usually very close to the beach and fifteen to thirty feed above it. The railway has adopted an interesting method of protecting the foreshore and breaking up the power of the waves - thousands of used concrete sleepers have been dumped along the margin. The line was routed a small distance inshore passing through Kalk Bay which retains a working fishing fleet of small boats, then the railway again ran close to the sea, with masses of exotic-looking seaweed swaying with the surging water and hundreds of birds - geese, seagulls and cormorants. At first, I thought the dampness was spray from the sea but, as it got worse, I realised it was raining. Fish Hoek is a relatively major station. The town boasts one of the best swimming beaches and is one of the county's few 'dry' towns. The land for development of Fish Hoek was donated on the condition that no alcohol was sold here! Beyond Fish Hoek, the line becomes single, following the twists and turns of the coastline through Glencairn in a very attractive manner, reaching the terminus at Simonstown. The late 19th century station boasts three platforms but only one is used by the typically hourly sevice. The departures were crudely chalked up on a board and I decided I had just under a hour to catch an impression of Simonstown before getting the train back to Cape Town.

The main road on the landward side of the railway is the main route into town, so, in what had become quite heavy rain, I started walking along what I discovered is called 'The Historical Mile'. I didn't quite complete the mile but I saw lots of interesting buildings and passed the South African Navy Yard (once operated by the British). The Navy Yard includes various substantial jetties, with one imposing warship and at least two other Navy vessels moored. Just inside the Navy Yard was an old metal structure clearly built for an aerial ropeway. A number of other towers could be seen leading up the steep hillside on the landward side. I learned later that this aerial ropeway had been built to link the Navy Yard to the Naval Sanatorium at the top of the hill. I turned back at Jubilee Square (formerly the Market Place) to ensure I didn't miss my train. I made a small detour to Simonstown Museum. I didn't have time to tour the museum, but I bought a couple of books for later study. Commenting on the rain, the lady in the museum said 'Oh well, it is the beginning of our winter'. I peeked in St. Francis's Anglican church next door, where a number of people were moving chairs around in preparation for some function. One of the ladies enquired where I was from and, referring to the rain said 'We expect this now our winter's started'. Just before reaching the station, I found a short road leading down to a sandy beach, so I had a quick look at what is (accurately) called Long Beach before completing my journey to the station. There were a dozen or so waiting passengers, some in Navy uniform.

Our train arrived about right time - this time an electric multiple unit of a more modern design which appeared to have electronic control of the motors. We had gone less than a mile from Simonstown when we were stopped at a red signal. A few yards ahead, a gang of men were working on the track - a fact which was probably related to our stop. After a minute or two, the driver sounded the horn and passed the signal at danger. The rest of the stop - start journey to Cape Town was uneventful, but the rain was continuous. At Cape Town, I had a quick look for taxis but they appear to hide when it's raining just as they do in the UK so I walked back to the hotel, arriving somewhat damp. A quick shower and a change of clothes fully restored me, leaving just enough time to finish my packing and check out.

Improbably, the meeting point for passengers on the 'St. Helena' was the 'Mission for Sailors', just inside the dock gates. The hotel arranged a taxi to ferry me and my luggage there. A crowd of passengers were standing around outside and there were more people waiting inside. My cases were whisked away and two rather harassed shipping company staff marked me as present. A couple of people carriers with luggage trailers were providing a shuttle service between the Mission and the berth for our ship and, after a short wait, it was my turn to be transferred to the ship. We paused at the security station leading to the quayside whilst the car ahead of us was thoroughly searched. The driver of the car was also required to don a high visibility vest before he was allowed to proceed. It appears that Health and Safety procedures are quite strictly enforced. Staff quayside were also required to wear hard hats although I was amused to note that many people chose to wedge the hard hat on top of a baseball cap - I'm not quite sure what that does to the effectiveness of the hard hat! Once the car had moved off, we were waved through with a smile. Our ship was just a couple of hundred yards away and we pulled up next to a short gangway on the starboard side leading to the main reception area on 'B' deck. manned by Purser's staff at a counter in the reception area were quickly checking passengers in and directlng them to the Main Lounge on 'A' deck immediately above for immigration formalities. A rather brusque lady from Immigration asked where the photocopy of my passport was. I apologised and said I wasn't aware that it was a requirement. I returned to reception to enquire about a photocopy but was told 'No - it's only people travelling on South African passports who have to provide a photocopy'. Puzzled, I returned to the Main Lounge. This time, the male immigration officer was also free and he stamped my passport saying 'You don't need a photcopy, the ship have agreed to give us a full passenger manifest'. No apologies from either officer, of course.

I was thus free to go to my cabin B34, also named 'Bellstone' after a location in St. Helena. It's a 2-berth cabin, one single bed above the other with a removeable step ladder to reach the upper bed. When used as a single cabin, the upper berth is hinged flat against the wall, making it reasonably spacious. There's one writing desk with tea-making facilities, four storage drawers and a chair, one chest of drawers with eight drawers, a round table with another chair, two wardrobes, a 'fridge and a separate compartment with wash basin, W.C. and shower. A non-opening porthole provides welcome daylight. All-in-all, quite a reasonable space to spend a few days.

So, half past three in the afternoon on board RMS 'St. Helena' berthed at Cape Town and the Ship's Alarm had just sounded. But we'd been advised this would happen - it was summoning us to the Safety Briefing in the Sun Lounge. Attendance was compulsory, complete with the lifejacket from the cabin. After the briefing, we had to demonstrate that we could correctly don the lifejacket and then we were allowed back to our cabins. Shortly after 4.0 p.m. our voyage started.

A tug, the 'Blue Jay', had attached a line to our bow so as to pull our bow away from the quay. Meanwhile, a shore party was attempting to detach the aft lines from bollards on the quay. Hands on the 'St. Helena' were using electric winches on the stern deck to slacken each line but the difficulty was that, since the 'St. Helena' berthed, another ship had moored astern of us and three of her lines, still under tension, were attached to the same bollard but on top of ours. The shore party managed to get enough slack to remove the loop at the end of each of our lines but it still required the power of our winches to disentangle our lines from our neighbour's lines and pull the loops free. As we sailed towards the open sea, we had good views of the variety of ships using the docks. Shortly, we passed the outer breakwater and the stern deck was crowded with passengers watching the city, with its famous backdrop of Table Mountain, slip behind us. Our course took us somewhat west of north so that we were angling away from the coast north of Cape Town. Once the hills on this section of coast could no longer be seen, we would be out of visual contact with land until we arrived at St. Helena.

At this stage, the ship was moving in the swell in a rather uncomfortable way and a number of people were unwell. Some passengers went to see the Ship's Doctor to obtain an injection to counter motion sickness. Dinner was arranged in two sittings at 6.45 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. I was allocated to the second sitting on Table 18 but only myself and two other guests took dinner on Wednesday. We met the other three table guests on the following day. Once dinner was finished, I was ready for bed and slept quite well.

Thurday 21st April

I enjoyed a splendid breakfast in the dining room with waiter service to your order. I had porridge followed by an English breakfast with tea and white toast. It's free seating for breakfast and lunch so, by moving round from meal to meal, it's easier to get to know some of the other passengers. Many of the passengers were residents of St. Helena returning home, the balance were of various nationalities seeking a more unusual cruise, including quite a few residents of South Africa. There's a programme of events each day but I, like a number of passengers, passed the time exploring those parts of the ship accessible to us, watching the sea from the sun deck aft or just relaxing.

The 'St. Helena' is a working ship, not principally a cruise ship. She provides the lifeline to the Island, carrying food and all the requirements of life. The forward third of the ship is cargo holds accepting normal freight or 20 foot containers. Containers are also carried on deck. Two large cranes on the foredeck allow the ship to load and unload itself without requiring external facilities. Two sections of the sun deck at the stern open to give access to smaller rear holds for ship's stores and there's a smaller crane to load these stores.

Despite having had a good breakfast, I took the three course lunch in the restaurant. The food on board was very much to my taste. At 6.00 p.m we were all invited to the Captain's Cocktail Party in the Main Lounge - a fairly crowded affair and with insufficient seats for all the passengers. Later, of course, there was dinner in the dining room after which I was happy to go to bed. Because we were heading roughly North North West, we were moving into a different time zone so, at midnight, all clocks were retarded by one hour.

Friday 22nd April

Again, I slept fairly well and found quite a few people around when I went up to the sun deck just after 7.00 a.m. The sea state was calm and we were still plodding along at about 15 knots. Once again, I took the excellent breakfast and chatted with passengers. At 10.00 a.m. , I attended a briefing in the Main Lounge for passengers continuing to Ascension from St. Helena. I discovered that two other passengers (from Texas) are, like me, hoping to land on Ascension and catch the R.A.F. flight out on the same day. So, if my arrangements go awry, I should have company! At 10.30 a.m. I watched the 'Shuffleboard Tournament' on the Sun Deck. I know the game as 'Deck Quoits' and that certainly seems a link with the great days of passenger sea travel.

The 'St. Helena' is carrying on part of the tradition of the 'Union Castle' line which formerly provided a regular link between the U.K. and Cape Town, including St. Helena in its ports of call. The competition from air travel caused Union Castle to cease operations in 1977, necessitating alternative arrangements for St. Helena which still has no airstrip. The Canadian-built 'Northland Prince' was re-fitted and, renamed 'St. Helena', started to ply the Cape Town - St. Helena route. That vessel took part in the Falklands Conflict in 1982 and the Blue Funnel vessel 'Centaur' was chartered to maintain the lifeline to St. Helena. In 1989 the present, much larger 'St. Helena' was launched in Aberdeen.

Friday continued the established lazy pattern. I took the full lunch in the Dining Room, although a lighter meal was available in the Sun Lounge. Various other diversions were provided - films, a fitness class. At 6.00 p.m. I was foolish enough to go to the main lounge to watch on on-board Pub Quiz and got dragooned into the 'Kiwi-Mapleleaf' Team. I eventually worked out that the name was derived from two of the team members - a lady from New Zealand and a gentleman from Canada. We came a fairly respectable second in this round of the contest.

It was a balmy evening and the sea was very calm. Despite the ship's lighting rather polluting the sky, a wonderful array of stars was visible - unfamiliar to me because we were in the southern hemisphere. Returning to the deck after the accustomed excellent dinner, I was disappointed to find the stars had become obscured by cloud but shortly, a yellow, flickering light was visible on the southern horizon. After a few seconds, I realised it was the moon, peeking from behind broken cloud. A few of the passengers and I watched, mesmerised, as the moon slowing appeared clearly for a few minutes, before being obscured by cloud again. We stood with a sense of disappointment that the effect had ceased but, after about ten minutes, the southern sky near the horizon took on a silvery hue. The silver colour slowly intensified until a sliver of bright yellow appeared and became larger until the moon was clearly visible as it climbed into the sky - a spectacular 'moonrise'.

Saturday 23rd April

The by now familiar pattern of the day repeated. After an early turn on the Sun Deck, I enjoyed a full breakfast. I expected to be climbing the rigging with boredom by this time but, to my surprise, I was quite relaxed and comfortable.

At 10.30 a.m. the 'Sun Deck County Ground' was host to the South Atlantic Ashes - a cricket match between passengers and ship's officers. Nets had been erected both to protect spectators in the seating laid out across the rear of the Sun Deck and prevent too many 'balls' from going over the side. The 'balls' are made out of rope so as to be less lethal but one of the members of the passengers' team told me he found the officers' team very aggressive players. At least a couple of balls went over the side which appears to render the batsman 'out'. Quite a few balls ended up in the adjacent swimming pool, from where they were retrieved by long-handled net and returned to the bucket of balls. It was a good-natured match and players and spectators alike enjoyed it.

From 10.30 a.m., tea, beef tea and coffee was available in the Sun Lounge followed at noon by full lunch in the Dining Room or a Salad Bar in the Sun Lounge. Once again, I took the full meal, sharing a table with a South African couple. The husband was a retired electronics engineer who'd worked on cable laying ships. In the afternoon, there was a (rather over-subscribed) Bridge Visit and later a briefing on St. Helena. At 6.00 p.m. it was the second round of the on-board quiz. Team 'Kiwi Mapleleaf' didn't acquit themselves very well, coming third.

By the time the quiz had finished, it was dark. I summoned up my courage to try the outdoor swimming pool. So far, I'd only seen two children from St. Helena use the pool. Lowering oneself into the water was a little bit of a shock to the system but, once immersed, I found it very pleasant. Apparently, sea water is pumped aboard, used to cool the engines and then circulated through the pool, perhaps a couple of degrees above sea temperature. After the swim, there was time to have a quick shower before going for dinner which was, as always, excellent. After dinner, I was quite ready to do a little bit of re-packing and then retire to bed.

Sunday 24th April

It didn't feel like Easter Sunday, although the Captain was to conduct a service in the main lounge at 10.30 a.m. After breakfast, I discovered that the morning bridge visit only had four takers so, since the previous day's visit had been rather crowded, I decided to repeat the visit. The question of whether to attend the Easter Service was thus answered since the bridge visit was also at 10.30 a.m. Whereas previous days have been rather overcast, Sunday was warm with bright sun and this encouraged people to sit out on the Sun Deck. Preparations had already commenced for our arrival at St. Helena the following morning. Immigration and Customs forms had been issued, tentative bookings taken for various tours on the island and large luggage for landing was to be collected at 4.30 p.m. I'd decided that I'd manage onshore with a small case which the ship require by 7.0 a.m. Monday.

At lunch time, I couldn't resist the full meal service in the dining room. Afterwards, I decided to try the pool again. The water wasn't very warm but, once again, it was alright once you were in and I spent around half an hour in the water. Nobody joined me in the pool but a lady who lives at Cape Point south of Cape Town sat on the side and bathed her feet.

At four o'clock, they showed an interesting film about the building of the present vessel. The lowest tender for the build was received from an Aberdeen shipyard already in some financial difficulty. None-the-less, they were awarded the contract. During the build, the receivers were called in and eventually Appledore bought out the yard. With a new contract price and new programme Appledore completed the build.

All my pictures from the trip are here.