The recent good weather prompted a friend to suggest that we should have a day out and do something we hadn’t done before. She had noticed an article about the Watercress Line heritage railway line which was taken over by volunteers in the 1970’s and has over the years become a big tourist attraction in southern England. It goes via four stations through roughly ten miles of Hampshire scenery, and you can get a ticket which lets you hop on and off as many times as you choose during that day’s opening times.
Because we had got to bed exceptionally late the evening before, we aimed to leave by mid-day so that we could get the train that left at one o’clock. A variety of trains are pulled by steam locomotives and others by diesel engines, and we wanted to make sure that we got tickets for one of the steam trains.
We leave from the station in Alresford. The station building has been beautifully restored in pre-second world war fashion, and all of the pleasant staff are wearing smart outfits. Actually, most are not contracted staff, but are some of the volunteers who are so interested in trains and railways that they pass a lot of their own time being a supporter of the team who look after the many of people who visit whenever it is open.
The train builds up a head of steam and we leave the station and head to the next stop at Ropley. The building here is decorated as a Southern Region station from around 1948. The platforms themselves are perfectly kept and also feature some outstanding topiary. Close to the station is an engineering area, where employees and volunteers in collaboration are dealing with the renovation of a number of locomotives and carriages. The six carriages on the train we’re riding on are all different styles and have already been restored. It’s good to realise that the work is carrying on so that much more of a variety of historic carriages can be involved in the years to come.
Following Ropley, the next stop is Medstead And Four Marks, which is also designed in a post-war way. Medstead is the highest stop on the Watercress Line and is also the railway station which is the highest above sea level in the whole of the south of England, and many decades ago when steam was the only sort of train transport, the drivers and train crew used to mention going over the top at Medstead as ‘going over the Alps’. These days there is a notice at the highest point which details this.
Onwards from Medstead and we are soon in Alton, the final stop, although this station is also used by South West Trains, so you can get the mainline train into London from here. We have a quick stretch of our legs on Alton station platform and then get back on the train for the return journey which is due to leave about fifteen minutes later.
The trip back to Alresford is a little more eventful as the steam engine leading our train has been having problems all through the day and so gives up at last despite the best efforts of the crew to keep it moving. So a diesel engine is deployed to pull both the steam engine and its carriages back to Alresford. So we got the rather unusual experience of travelling, not just on a steam train or a diesel train, but by both types of engine on the same journey!
The Watercress Line does a fantastic job of reminding us of the old style railway network, and to be fair, the old trains have bags of charm when viewed against the streamlined rolling stock that we use nowadays. But then reminiscing is always a pleasure to those who yearn for the ‘good old days’.
To be honest, I can get both attitudes. A steam train is good fun for a leisurely afternoon spent with friends, but if I want to go into London in a hurry for my job, I’d much sooner trust the high speed train link that can get me to St Pancras in under twenty minutes at speeds faster than one hundred miles per hour. And, I’d want to keep my automatic washing machine rather than relying on a washboard and a mangle, given the option I’d opt for Laser eye surgery rather than having to wear glasses which are constantly getting dirty and can be broken easily, and I would certainly much rather send updates to people by email than have no choice than to hand write all my correspondence.
But of course, there are plenty of people who lived during the days of steam and quite possibly long for the friendly service they got years ago. They wouldn’t wish to use a computer to keep in contact with friends because it doesn’t seem personal to them and they couldn’t agree to Laser eye treatment because they are anxious that it would go wrong, all of which is totally understandable for people who were born decades before computers and Laser eye treatments were thought of.
However I would thoroughly recommend a ride on the Watercress Line. They also arrange lunch trips, evening meals and themed journeys for both adults and children, and if you really decide to treat a loved one, you can give them a day helping out on the trains or as a signalman. (That may be where the Laser eye surgery would be a benefit. At least you wouldn’t get soot all over your glasses!)