Betton Grange

Betton Grange is back.  Despite appearances, this engine is less than two years old and spent several months on the North Norfolk Railway last year.  It is here for a few months this year to join in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the railway.

I had a few things to do this morning so other than a quick nip into town for some essential shopping I hadn't been out.  By mid afternoon I decided I needed some fresh air so went for a short walk across Kelling Heath to get a shot of this.  It's several weeks since I walked across the heath and I was amazed at how much the bracken and heather had grown up since my last visit.  The railway hasn't been running steam engines for several weeks because of the potential fire risk and along the top of the cutting where the engines climb steeply, most of the foliage had burned away.  I don't know whether this was a result of lineside fires or a controlled burn; it looked neat enough to have been controlled, but either way it's clear there has been a big risk of fires with all the recent hot and dry weather.