On St. George's Day evening a train headed by nr. 70000 Britannia stoped at Cholsey station a few miles from here. Regular steam-hauled services ceased here in 1963.
Moments after I took this photograph it seemed as if much of the population of the village had turned out to see the spectacle.
It did seem to epitomise a parochial era of steady predictability and reliable British engineering. In those days London was a long way away, not forty minutes by train. No wonder it was popular.
A part of our population is wedded to heritage. The remainder struggle to fabricate an identity. As for me I'll continue to appreciate heritage, of which we have several millennia worth around these parts.
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