As we prepare this the May issue of Steam Days for press we’ve entered the early days of spring. Woodlands have come alive with the colour of crocuses, primroses and daffodils. Generally bluebells follow some weeks later, although with such a mild (and wet) winter, the earliest examples are already appearing down here in Dorset.
With spring, and the Easter weekend, the preserved railways of Britain are also coming into bloom. Of these the ‘Bluebell Line’ enjoys widespread fame for the violet-blue flowers that carpet its lineside. However, the ‘Bluebell’ isn’t the only railway to be named after a wild flower. In Devon the Great Western Railway’s Kingsbridge branch was known as the ‘Primrose Line’, and another GWR route, that from Ledbury to Gloucester, earned the moniker the ‘Daffodil Line’. This seems the appropriate time of year for us to feature the ‘Daffodil Line’ in Steam Days, with Chris Gordon Watford recalling his visit in May 1954 … some 70 years ago. He reflects that it epitomised the peaceful countryside railway, making it a favourite line of his.
Although the bluebells and primroses may well have attracted an increase in passengers to see the swathe of colour visible from the carriage window, the daffodils between Ledbury and Gloucester created even greater traffic as the flowers were harvested, loaded into vans and attached to local pick-up goods trains.
The hop-pickers special trains which ran from London to Kent are widely known, thousands from south and east London would escape to the country, and head out with their families to earn a few bob … a change of scenery for sure, but no doubt it was hard work too. With the Kent hop-picking season being late summer there was always a good chance of some sunshine. Less well known are t
