Grand days of steam revived in south Shropshire

A stunning 1930s steam train chugged through south Shropshire for the first time this weekend on a nostalgic rail journey.

The 6024 King Edward I had never before visited stations in Leominster, Ludlow, Craven Arms and Church Stretton.

The luxury restored locomotive, also known as The Cathedral Express, was carrying 500 passengers on a round trip from London to Shrewsbury, stopping for lunch and shopping in towns along the way.

Marcus Robertson, whose Steam Dreams company ran the trip, hoped it would be the first of many through the south of the county, with the train having already visited Shrewsbury several times.

Mr Robertson said: "It's a beautiful part of the world and it gives us many good places for our guests to relax and enjoy themselves.

"We are actually already planning to do it again later in the year, so we can get to Ludlow for the market at Christmas time."

The King Edward I train was one a batch of 30 built by the Great Western Railway. It is now limited to a maximum of 75mph, but in its prime it would have regularly hit three-figure speeds.

It was rescued from a scrapyard in the 1970 by the King Preservation Society and restored by 1989, when it was recommissioned by the Duke of Gloucester.

The Cathedral Express left London Paddington at 8.04am on Saturday and travelled via Bristol to arrive at Shrewsbury at 2.43pm. After a two-and-a-half hour stop in the county town, it returned to the capital, arriving in at 11.32pm.