Tag Archives: railway

Docks Heritage Weekend 2025

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On 4th and 5th October, M Shed hosted Docks Heritage Weekend (one of my favourite events of the year) with the support of Bristol Port Company and the Show of Strength Theatre Company.
This is the time when we bring the quayside back to life and give a flavour of what a working port looked like in the 1950s.
Featuring cranes lifting appropriate loads, the capstan in operation, boat trips, and this year we re-jigged things a little so that the steam engine was part of the quayside demonstrations as it shunted wagons around.
The Bristol lorry suffered a leaking radiator hose on Sunday morning which will need repairing, so Henbury did a bit more shunting on the second day. The freshly-painted MOGO van took pride of place.
The storyline of Mr. and Mrs. Purnell this year revolved around their tin wedding anniversary and involved a mop bucket and a tin of beans!
Thanks to Bob Edwardes and Adam White for taking some of these photos.

Portbury Progress

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Now Portbury’s boiler has been detubed, work moves on to the next job. Today we started the process of removing the wheelsets.
First, the eccentric rods were taken off the centre axle.

Then the brake rodding was dropped out and the brake blocks and hangers removed (fronts have been left on for now until we can move the axle due to clearances on the slide bars).

With all the gubbins out of the way, the process of jacking the loco up can start. 2 hydraulic jacks (one at each end) with 4 screw jacks (one on each corner) and plenty of timber packing. By the end of the day, we had nearly lifted the loco enough to drop the axleboxes out of the hornguides.
The weekday team will be picking things up next.

Last Operating Weekend of 2024 (Sunday)

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That’s it! Another season of passenger operations finished. Now the winter maintenance can begin.

This includes getting the tank of the Sulphiric Acid Tanker rubbed down and repainted. The chassis is still in good condition but the tank has suffered a bit from flaking paint and rust bubbles.
The Coles Crane was used to bring the tanker out of the yard and set it down on to Henbury at the end of the working day. The steam loco then propelled it onto the quayside to be pressure-washed. Earlier in the day we did a test lift to ensure the crane would be able to slew it into the warehouse.

Henbury was then ashed out (the plates in the ashpan were removed at the same time) and taken back to the shed as the light faded.

Thanks to Katie Richards for the photos.

Docks Heritage Weekend 2024

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One of my favourite events of the year, DOCKS HERITAGE WEEKEND took place over 28th and 29th September.
This event featured our friends at the Show of Strength Theatre Company once again, this time with a new storyline (featuring George and Sheila of course) with more jeopardy and a longer run time (and some singing!).
Sheila’s ordered a new television on hire-purchase, but she’s not told George about it! Will he find out?
John King was on duty giving rides around the harbour, 2 cranes were working (one for visitors and one loading the lorry), the capstan was in operation again and Henbury was in steam for cab visits. Saturday also featured live performances from the choir in L Shed.

Thanks to Katie Richards and Bob Edwardes for these photos.

Docks Heritage Weekend 2021

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It’s been a week since the first public outing for the working exhibits in over a year, Docks Heritage Weekend. What a blast! So great to have the volunteers working with the public again. Both Portbury and Henbury were on display and the capstan was back in operation both days, and crane 30 was kept busy loading and unloading the lorry.
Quayside operations were bolstered with audience interaction from the Show of Strength Theatre company.
Thanks for Bob, Bruce and the M Shed social media channels for these photos of the weekend.

Before the BHR

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Before the Bristol Harbour Railway as we know it today was opened, the locomotives ‘Henbury’ and ‘Portbury’ travelled around a bit, spending some time at Radstock before relocating to Bishop’s Lydeard on the West Somerset Railway.

Whilst looking through the Cornwall Railway Society’s website I found these two photos by Ron Kosys showing the motley collection of industrial locos in 1976.

Click the images to go to the website. The photos are the copyright of Ron Kosys.

Poor Portbury looks in a rough state, Henbury had last been in steam at Radstock in 1973, and would not run again until the opening of the BIM’s line in 1978.

The BHR in 1978/1979

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As the 40th year of the BHR’s operation enters Autumn, here’s a look back to 1978 and 1979.

These photographs were taken by Tim Venton, to whom I am very grateful for allowing them to be reproduced here.

The first two are from May 1978 and show ‘Henbury’ and the TOAD brake van at rest outside the Bristol Industrial Museum.

27th May 1978
The first two items of rolling stock to operate BHR services, 27th May 1978

The second batch of photographs were taken on 16th September 1979. These are fantastic as historical references as they show the extent of track on the quayside and the difference to the present-day.

Almost everything visible in this photo has now changed but the location can be identified by the previous photo. The sidings on the left (and the wall of sleepers are the site of the SS GB car park). 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
Amazingly most of the buildings in this photo are still extant. The TANTRA building is derelict and covered by sheeting as of 2018. The line on the left heads toward Albion Dockyard, and bits of track in the concrete can still be seen today. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
At this time, the branch off towards the New Cut on the Left was double track under the bridge. Apartments now occupy the site of the sidings. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
A brake van on the New Cut line. In the distance is the site of the Lloyds Building. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
A familiar scene to many is the crossover. The buildings on the far end now form Brunel’s Buttery. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
The line for the Western Fuel Co.’s is off to the right. Just visible is ‘Western Pride’ the Hudswell Clarke diesel. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
The yard. Some of the stone setts on the left are still extant as part of the cycle path. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
The weigh bridge in the sidings. This area is now the yard for the BHR, where the goods stock is kept. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
The sidings. This area is now the yard for the BHR, where the goods stock is kept. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
The buildings on the right now form the Olive Shed and the Art Gallery. The track layout here has been simplified but the area is easily recognisable. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)
‘Henbury’ in action pulling the TOAD loaded with passengers. 16th September 1979 (Tim V)