Toddington Steam Railway - Wartime in the Cotswolds April 2015

The sound of steam trains and air raid sirens filled the air at #Toddington Steam Railway station and the re-enactors turned up and turned back time to re-create the sights of the 1940's.

 There was also an ARP Post and 1940's beauty salon and Colwell Art Jazz Ensemble put us "In The Mood" with Glen Miller's big band sound.  A marquee provided a popular shopping opportunity, with many stalls dedicated to 1940s fashion and memorabilia.

At Winchcombe Station the activities continued with an Air Raid Shelter display and the Worcestershire Home Guard keeping an eye on the proceedings, checking and stamping WWII ID cards!

With rides on the steam trains, exhibitions, events and re-enactments at the four stations that make up the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, and also a  fly past from a Spitfire on Sunday, Toddington was a great start to the re-enactment season!

What made it even more special was my chance encounter with a Bletchley Park Veteran!  During a journey from Winchcombe to Toddington, I met David who was at Bletchley Park during WWII. Together with engineer Tommy Flowers, David worked on  Colossus, used to decrypt the Lorenze messages used by German High Command. Many consider this to be the start of the computer age. "It was my job to keep Colossus going", David told me. I shall be returning to this story, later in more depth- such an interesting piece of history, and an amazing coincidence!