The Railway Children on stage

Here is a nice little bit of news I learned from the Facebook page of the Didcot Railway Centre: they will be presenting a stage adaptation of  The Railway Children. I have seen one before, almost ten years ago, which I thoroughly enjoyed.Then I read the novel. Since then, I became a father, and Wolfie has already enjoyed one novel of Edith Nesbit. I suggested we go and watch the play, he is eager to do it, but only once he have read the book. Since it is in August, I guess he has time. So yes, I am not sure if we will go, we will have a busy summer, but this is a possibility. Worst case scenario, it is an excuse to read to Wolfie a classic of children literature.

Autumn Steam Gala

You live in the South East of England and you are looking for a special day out this weekend? You might want to visit the Didcot Railway Centre. They are hosting the Autumn Steam Gala. Or a display of steam engines that happen to be at the autumnal equinox. Otherwise I guess there is no link between old steam trains and autumn, but as I love both, it makes so much sense to me. We already have other plans, but we'll keep this in mind for next year.

The Signalman at Didcot Railway Centre

We went to the Didcot Railway Centre only once, but I have been wanting to go back ever since and I found another very good reason to go there again. On Saturday the 24th of June, Gerard Dickens will be performing a dramatisation of his great, great grandfather Charles Dickens' The Signal-Man. Like in many adaptations, it has been retitled The Signalman, but I digress. I have read the original ghost story and seen a stage adaptation of the story nearly ten years ago. I throughly enjoyed it. Enjoyed them, I should say: I loved both the original and its adaptation. Ghost stories and trains, these are two of my favourite things, here wrapped up together. When technology meets the supernatural. On my countdown to the countdown to Halloween (or my officious countdown that starts whenever I feel like it), this would be the perfect day out. That said, given that Wolfie might be a bit young for such scary story, I will probably give it a pass, even though the shows are in daytime. But hey, maybe some of my readers can see it. If you can, tell me how it went. Lucky you.

Haunted Trains

I took this picture from the Facebook page of the the Didcot Railway Centre. We visited it back in 2020, just before the pandemic and lockdown. They are planning some special events for Halloween and I would love to go there, but Wolfie's mother fears it might be too scary for her son. Old steam trains and old stations are the perfect setting for horror stories. From my limited experience, I think they have been used too little. I know of a few and at least one classic, but I would like to discover more and maybe go to the Railway Centre for inspiration.

Railway Keyring

It feels like forever ago, but shortly before the start of the lockdown, in March 2020, we went to visit the Didcot Railway Centre. It was going to be our last big day out for quite some time and we really enjoyed it. At the souvenirs shop, I bought this keyring, because I could not find a bookmark and because I wanted a super cool keyring. And it is a super cool keyring, almost as cool as the bottle opener keyring, albeit not as practical. All the same, it looks sleek and elegant, it has sentimental value to me, because it reminds me of train travels, the ones we had, the ones we will have once this is all over. My wife is thinking about a short holiday somewhere for us before Wolfie starts school. If we do take one, I don't care where, as long as we can travel by train.

Jouer au train

Photo prise au Didcot Railway Centre, lors de notre dernière vraie sortie en famille. Je me plaignais il y a moins d'une semaine que l'on ne voyagerait pas par train de sitôt à cause de la pandémie. C'est vrai, ça n'empêche pas Wolfie de jouer avec les trains qu'il a: il a décidé de faire un réseau de chemin de fer avec trois systèmes de jeux différents.Alors nous allons voyager en train, mais virtuellement, à travers l'imagination très fertile de mon fils.

Les trains que nous ne prendrons pas

J'ai pris cette photo au Didcot Railway Centre la semaine dernière, juste avant que la situation relative au coronavirus soit déclarée critique. Je pensais alors, avec un peu d'insouciance, que ça serait bien de faire un long voyage en train, juste pour le plaisir de prendre le train sur un long trajet. Nous étions supposé en faire un pas plus tard que la fin de semaine qui vient de se terminer, voir des amis. Ça ne s'est pas produit et ne se produira pas pour un temps. Pour être franc, ça m'attriste beaucoup.

Train compartments

I took this picture at the Didcot Railway Centre. There was no limit to the number of train rides we could take, so we took a few. What made the ride special is that we were in compartment coaches, like in the old days. I do remember that I did travel from time to time in compartments like this one, but it was decades ago. In Austria I think, maybe also in Belgium. I blogged before about how comfortable traveling by train can be. Well, being in a compartment in the journey, with your loved ones and friends is by far the most comfortable and the most pleasant way of traveling by rail. I know they still exist in luxury trains. I hope we can still find compartments in "regular" trains somewhere.

Dark Blue Oxford University Ale

A bit of context: we went today to the Didcot Railway Centre. Our very first trip there, but not our last. We also had lunch there and with my lunch, I had a local product (since we were in Oxfordshire and all). The Dark Blue Oxford University Ale from White Horse Brewery. Sadly, there was no glass to pour the beer in, so I could appreciate its colour, which is dark chestnut, not dark blue. I know I had some from this brewery before, but cannot remember which one or when. I will try to drink some more of them, because it was really enjoyable, although this may be due to the circumstances than the beer itself. A dark ale on a cool, cloudy day, then a few trips on vintage trains. What's not to love? No seriously, I love than in this country, you can have proper brews in museums, not merely some generic beers.

Une (autre) journée consacrée aux trains

Nous avons passé aujourd'hui une journée au Didcot Railway Centre, qui est une sorte de musée et parc thématique sur les trains et le chemin de fer. Cela faisait un bout de temps que nous voulions y aller en famille. Ce n'est pas aussi glamour que d'autres endroits du genre, il y a bien des trucs à améliorer, mais ce fut quand même une journée aussi agréable que fascinante où ça a encore confirmé l'amour qu'a Wolfie pour tout ce qui concerne les trains. Non mais sérieusement, il est comme son père, ses oncles paternels, ses grand-oncles maternels: il ne se blase jamais des trains. Nous y retournerons certainement.