2023 Calendar competition:  the answers!

There isn't a prize but we hope you enjoy the challenge!  (We still have a few left so if you haven't had one already do ask us - you might be 'lucky' to get one!)

January 2023:  It's Goring & Streatley station, platform 1, when services on the 'relief' line were disrupted.  This Bristol bound 'IET' (Intercity Express Train) made an additional stop at Goring to get commuters home from London and Reading

February 2023:  It's the Isle of Wight, looking towards Freshwater Bay and The Needles, as seen from the top of the 'Island Coaster' double decker

March 2023:  It's the 3 mile long Woodhead Tunnel on Britain's first electrified main line between Manchester and Sheffield.  Closed to passengers in January 1970, and to freight services in July 1981, this route would have been ideal for a 'Northern Powerhouse' link between the two cities.  Sadly the only electricity now passing through the tunnel, which was opened as recently as 1953, are National Grid electricity cables!

April 2023:  Jersey used to have two railways, one in the east from St Helier to Gorey, which closed in 1929, and one in the west from St Helier to Corbiere.  That line closed in 1936 (although revived for short while by the Germans when they occupied the island during World War II) but you can still enjoy the same coastal views as far as St Aubin on this road train, which follows the same route as the former railway.  The remainder of the route is now a cycle path.

May 2023:  One of two bus shelters in South Stoke on our 134 route (but only used by two services a day!) met this sad fate when a van driver decided to take a short cut across the field... you can just see it in the distance!

June 2023:  Brading station on the Isle of Wight line from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin.  These 'new' trains are once again originally from the London Underground (District Line) so are a bit bigger then the ex-Bakerloo tube line they replaced, and don't shake and rattle quite so much.  Efficient but nowhere near as much fun!

July 2023:  It's Waterloo station in Sierra Leone, West Africa.  The railway was shut down in stages from the 1960's and the final section closed in 1975, having already been truncated so that it didn't quite reach the capital Freetown anymore.  Despite the trackbed being converted into a road soon after closure, the buildings at Waterloo survived into the 90's before finally succumbing to one of the rebel incursions.

August 2023:  South Stoke's attempt at rivalling Pisa's Leaning Tower!  Thankfully Pisa's tower hasn't met the same fate as South Stoke's sign... complete removal!

September 2023:  One of two bus shelters in South Stoke on our 134 route (but only used by two services a day!) met this sad fate when a van driver decided to take a short cut across the field... you can just see it in the distance!

October 2023:  This quaint little railway took tourists and holiday makers the short distance along the harbour wall in Wells-next-the-sea in Norfolk but was abandoned after 45 years of summer operation in September 2021, replaced in 2022 by an electric bus.  Beeching can't be blamed for this closure!

November 2023:  It's a view of beautiful Barmouth on the amazing Cambrian Coast of Wales.  The ferry across the Mawddach estuary links the town to Fairbourne beach where a narrow guage railway runs from a station nearby on the sand dunes.  Not sure Health & Safety would approve of stepping off the boat into the water and clambering on to the beach, but you can also take a bike if you're mad enough!

December 2023:  The church is in Goring and the pub is in South Stoke - so the answer must be the 134 (although it doesn't run on Sundays!).

Our 2024 calendar is now available - no competition this time but do please ask for one if you would like (subject to availability!)