In the Bleak Midwinter

Totnes Station at 8pm, on a miserable cold wet night. A nostalgic old steam train with dimly lit third class carriages stands idly in the constant drizzle, and a Salvation Army band plays outside the waiting room. I am back in the 1950s.

We travelled on the South Devon Steam Railway tonight from Buckfastleigh to Totnes and return. It was the annual Carols Down the Line, which is all in aid of charity, and we were with our walking group. We sang carols at both stations as well as Staverton and all the money went to various charities. Coffee and mince pies were served by the Rotary Club and the clergy so I suppose the GWR motifs on the rolling stock really did mean God's Wonderful Railway.