Hurt cyclist rescued by Avon Valley Railway steam train

Hurt cyclist rescued by Avon Valley Railway steam train

Here's a story with a happy ending and a novel but effective way of getting an injured party to the hospital. Once again it is steam power to the rescue!

In all seriousness it was a unique set of circumstances, to have a cycle path right next to a heritage railway line but too far away from either a road or field for the emergency services to access, and with a steam engine just handy. Hats off to both the paramedics for their quick thinking in coming up with such an original solution to a difficult problem and also to the train operators for getting a train to the cyclist and conveying him to a place where he could be easily transferred to hospital with all possible speed.

All's well that ends well and it sounds as though the fellow is well on the way to recovery. An "interesting experience" for everyone involved and not just the paramedics I'll warrant, plus an extra bit of glory for an old and worthy locomotive!

Steam train's snow rescue glory

Steam train's snow rescue glory

This just about made my day, I can tell you, and is my favourite story of the year so far without doubt. In a week that has seen modern transport seriously disrupted by heavy snow (which, contrary to what the TV and papers may tell you, we have most certainly experienced before without all this fuss) a piece of sixty-year-old technology is able to cope perfectly well while more modern, supposedly "superior" locomotives are stymied. That a group of passengers, who might have otherwise been stranded at Christmas in a cold railway station far from home, were rescued and given a taste of railway travel as it should be is just a superb bonus.

Vintage lorry more than 60 years old makes it through flood waters

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Vintage lorry more than 60 years old makes it through flood waters

Readers outside the U.K. may or may not be aware that this country is currently going through what has variously been described as an "unparallelled natural crisis" and "the worst storm in 100 years" (taking the title from 2013's "worst storm in 100 years) as continual heavy rain and strong winds leave whole communities in the [south] coastal regions of the country badly flooded, wind-damaged and generally counting the cost of severe weather that shows no signs of letting up.  The low-lying Somerset Levels have been among the worst-hit; Surrey, Berkshire and Worcestershire are also feeling the effects with the Rivers Severn and Thames, amongst others, at their highest levels since records began.  Yesterday the Bristol-Somerset Clifton Suspension Bridge was closed for the first time in its 150-year history due to high winds.  I doubt many of us will forget the images from Dawlish in a hurry either.

It makes the roof leak in my flat's building pale in comparison and I'm forever thankful that the part of the country I live in has remained largely unaffected.  My thoughts go out to all those who are going through tough times, whose homes are flooded and livelihoods turned upside-down.

Amid all the doom and gloom the "Dunkirk Spirit" lives on, however, and there are one or two positive stories to be found.  It is looking increasingly likely that old sections of railway branch line on the main Devon and Cornwall route, dormant since the Beeching Cuts of the 1960s, may be rebuilt and reinstated while the Dawlish section is repaired (and possibly continue on afterwards to help mitigate any further potential damage).

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While in Norfolk the Locks Inn pub near Beccles, close to the River Waveney, has also experienced flooding.  Instead of being cut off and starved of oil fuel for the pub, however, the landlords were saved by a local supplier and his 1952 lorry!  In shades of the 2010 Tornado steam train snow rescue, Berry Oils Ltd's 62-year-old Morris Commercial LC4 was able to cross the depths of floodwater with ease and save the Lock Inn from a nasty situation.

Proof once again that old technology can still have its uses in times of crisis, this titbit of vintage-related news is a welcome piece of positivity in these damp and sodden times.

Ukraine finds British WW2 Hurricane planes outside Kyiv

Ukraine finds British WW2 Hurricane planes outside Kyiv

Back to Hawker Hurricanes again for this next story, featuring the extraordinary recovery of eight airframes that have been found buried in woodland just outside Kyiv, Ukraine.  While the almost-too-good-to-be-true story of Spitfires and Mosquitoes buried in Burma a few years ago turned out to be just that, with no physical evidence of such aircraft being found, this tangible discovery - as first reported back in July 2023 - is far more promising and all the more remarkable since it is occurring in the middle of an active warzone.

Hawker Hurricane II ’11 white’ recreation, on display in ‘Victory Park’,
Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Poklonnaya Hill, Moscow, Russia.

That has not deterred the members of the National Aviation Museum of Ukraine who took advantage of an unexploded bomb disposal nearby to locate the remains of the eight aircraft and begin excavations, with the aim to retrieve as many parts as possible in order to hopefully recreate one complete aeroplane.  How far they have progressed in the intervening eight months it is not possible to say; the museum is unsurprisingly closed for the duration so I expect work is severely limited but it would be nice to think that the parts could eventually be reassembled into a full-scale display once all the unpleasantness is over. 

A Hawker Hurricane Mark IIB, Z5253 'GA-25' of No. 134 Squadron RAF
taxies out past Russian sentries at Vaenga, near Murmansk, October 1941. 
Several British squadrons were originally sent out to train Russian pilots
before handing the Hurricanes over to them. 

I take my hat off to the museum's volunteers, who must have been working under immense pressure - and probably not a little danger - to get these relics to safety and so begin the job of sorting through the parts needed to create a complete Hurricane.  Cleaning, repairing and cataloguing are strenuous undertakings at the best of times but what it must be like with the evils of war hanging over you is almost unimaginable.  That these men are driven to rescue these long-abandoned machines, with the desire to return one to period condition in honour of the brave [Ukrainian] pilots who flew them on the Eastern Front during the German invasion of Russia, is more than admirable and I wish them every success in their endeavour (when the situation permits) - stay safe, gentlemen!