WE were treated to a very special outing on 17 May when we visited the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam railway.

Beginning at Toddington station, we toured the Flag and Whistle café and the station itself. But the real eye-opener was the Engine Shed. Here we gazed in awe at the enormous locomotives and marvelled at the scale and sheer size of the engineering involved.

It was a real treat to hear how these magnificent machines were developed and especially to meet a lady volunteer who was busily working on one of them. She clearly didn’t mind getting her hands dirty!

We then enjoyed a lovely train ride to Broadway and even glimpsed the single-jet fountain at Stanway House in all its glory. Alighting at Broadway, we admired the rebuilt station, before our return ride back to Toddington.

We thanked the staff and volunteers for a wonderful visit and presented them with a financial donation.

We then had a splendid lunch at the Pheasant Inn and agreed that this had been one of our most enjoyable days out. So well done Bill Underwood and Clive Allen for organising the trip.

Join us. See www.eveshamprobus.co.uk for details.

CHRIS DONOUGH