Tangmere, 34067, climbing past St. Mary's crossing

Sometime ago I'd noticed that a steam train excursion would be coming to the Stroud valley line and had put it in my diary. But I had forgotten about it until today, so was rather pleased to have a good blip opportunity on this rather dull grey overcast day.

I headed to St. Mary's level crossing over the railway, where I had photographed a steam engine last summer, and arrived about thirty minutes before it was due. The level crossing is operated by the adjacent signal box, which is permanently manned, and the signalling for the whole section of line between Gloucester, Stroud and Swindon is controlled from this isolated position.

The crossing itself provides access to St Mary's mill estate from the main road, with a short one hundred yard long lane crossing this main railway line, as well as the Thames and Severn canal and then the adjacent river Frome. A handful of people live there and a couple of small businesses rent space in the old mill buildings.

Another photographer arrived soon after me, who had travelled all the way from Macclesfield, and this was the last time he would see this engine today, having followed its progress all day around the Cotswolds as far as Worcester. By the time it was nearly due to arrive on its return leg to Paddington there were ten people beside me on the trackside, and the signalman popped out of his box to tell us it was running early. Minutes later we saw the smoke in the distance, far away down the twisting railway lines, and I started taking pictures of its approach. We could hear it rumbling as the sound of its powerful engine reverberated between the sides of the narrow river valley. It was driving very hard, as it has to build up good speed to climb up the long and very steep embankment all the way to Sapperton tunnel, about three miles further up the valley.

I had wondered about using my new lens, but swapped it for my long zoom, as I doubted how the lens might cope. But at the last minute I changed my mind again, and replaced the wide angle, which I am now glad about. I had to set a high ISO and it is a bit noisy, but I managed to include the signalbox this time, as well as the operator, who was also keen on photography, whilst also showing the long embankment that holds the main road up above the tracks.

Once again we all marvelled at the power and atmosphere conjured up by the engine's hard work, the sound of its wheels and exhaust followed by the distinctive smell of the coal smoke, which lingered for a long time. I stayed chatting to several of the other watchers and when they had all left, I decided to wander across the canal to look more closely at the various mill buildings and the elegant house, which was where the mill's owners would have lived originally back in the Sixteenth century.

The light was fading as the train had passed at 5-15pm and it was now fifteen minutes later. I wandered about taking a few pictures for practice, and also as part of my record of local mill buildings. At one point, a voice behind me asked what I was doing, and I turned around to answer. It turned out that voice belonged to the current owner not only of the big house and its cottages, but also of all the mill buildings. I think I re-assured her that I meant no harm as a little later she said that if I wasn't in a hurry, she would go and get the key to the mill, so that I could see its old water wheel for myself, which I didn't know was still in situ. Brilliant! A wonderful offer which I couldn't refuse.

A few minutes later she returned and took me down to the lowest level of the mill, telling me that this was the 19th century replacement of the original mill building, which was finally demolished after the Second World War. Its final role was in manufacturing walking sticks, made using local wood from the nearby Lypiatt estate.
Inside was the massive iron water wheel and its associated equipment to transfer the energy from the water power to the mill's machinery on the three floors above. There was a loud noise from the rushing water flowing in the channel underneath the wheel.

I managed to take some flash pictures as it was virtually dark by this time and there was no electricity. I said I would return to get one of the occasional guided tours arranged by an eminent local textile industry historian, Ian Mackintosh, who is married to one of my colleagues from Stroud Preservation Trust. That may happen in the springtime with luck, so I will be sure to try and blip the water wheel then.

So all in all a very good blipping trip, catching the sight and sound of a wonderful steam engine and discovering the existence of industrial heritage which I didn't know still existed. The engine named Tangmere was one of the 'Battle of Britain' Class Pacific engines from the Southern Region of British Railways, and I saw many of them when I grew up loving steam engines in the 1950s. It has this unusual streamlined casing around its boiler, typical of its class which were nicknamed 'spam cans' at the time. Some of the engines were rebuilt to improve their efficiency, and they lost their streamlining, which I always thought was a pity.


My last visit here, to watch 'Oliver Cromwell', 70013, a Britannia class pacific.