Due to the COVID-19 emergency the Watercress Line Mid Hants Railway is temporarily closed to the public. The safety of our staff, volunteers and visitors is our most important consideration. You will know that the Watercress Line relies on ticket revenue to cover its operational costs, which currently work out more than £75,000 a month. Without money coming in from running services, the railway is eating into its financial reserves to survive. If you can help, please click on the Virgin Money Giving link below which allows you to donate a single amount or pay monthly if you're able to. You can also text WATERCRESS to 70085 to donate £10, texts cost £10 plus one standard rate message. Thank you for continuing to support us during this unprecedented situation. We hope to be able to welcome you back to the Watercress Line soon.
18th Mar 2020
Well, here we are again in the middle of March – a traditional time for writing a blog about the goings-on in Ropley workshop by the world-famous Wednesday Gang. ...
20th Nov 2019
This long-overdue blog is about my recent “journey”. No, not my well-trodden path from Wokingham to Ropley and back, but the thing that fans (and sufferers) of ...
21st Aug 2019
I set out yesterday, with camera and enthusiasm fully charged, determined to write a Loco Wednesday Gang Blog. The event that triggered this was a recent birthday - not ...
5th Jun 2019
Another update from the Ropley Loco Wednesday Gang. Since the last one, we’ve eaten a fair bit of cake, spring has turned to summer, and Urie S15 (30)506 has ...
10th Apr 2019
It’s been a while since I put finger to keyboard, so here’s a quick update on the Loco Wednesday Gang’s activity since February. ...
13th Feb 2019
My last blog was written in mid-December, and showing the Wednesday Gang boarding the Hammy Unit for our Christmas Dinner. The Brussells Sprouts are a dim memory now, and as ...
12th Dec 2018
It’s been a hectic few weeks at home and at Ropley, so I haven’t had a lot of time to take pictures and write blogs recently &...
31st Oct 2018
I’ve been away for a while, enjoying wildlife in Tanzania, so this is a bit of a catch-up. I started the day with a leisurely stroll around ...
12th Sep 2018
It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote one of these blogs – I’ve just been too busy sorting out tender brake gear(s) to ...
29th Aug 2018
Officially Meteorological Autumn so we need to get on with those outside jobs before the weather changes, and at 7.30 this morning it did feel like autumn with a chill in ...
15th Aug 2018
This is likely to be a very short Blog, as although everyone was busy all day, most of the activities were continuations of previous week’s jobs or routine ...
1st Aug 2018
There’s an impending 50th anniversary coming up very soon - my 50th wedding anniversary. I lived in Bedfordshire in August 1968 and steam locomotives had quietly slipped away ...
18th Jul 2018
Another very warm Wednesday might account for the reduced numbers again this week, but just maybe it was the thought of trying to dig more post holes. But more of ...
4th Jul 2018
Dave-2Jags started the tender puns last week with “Love me Tender” so it was off to Google to search for another song with “Tender” in ...
20th Jun 2018
Not quite the longest day and driving through the low cloud and the November like mist, it was difficult to reconcile that Thursday was actually the longest day. However, ...
14th Jun 2018
The day started well as Painless appeared with a huge supply of blueberry cup-cakes produced by Mrs Painless. Perhaps this is the only legitimate use for blueberries - otherwise ...