Home»All Photographs»Year Albums»2023»July»2023_07_16 Wilmcote and the Shakespeare Express

The Shakespeare Express summer season for 2023 began on Sunday 16th July. The weather forecast was not very encouraging and I travelled along the M42 in intermittent heavy rain. My judgment suggested better conditions closer to Birmingham than Stratford and eventually I decided to revisit Olton Station to feature the massive steel bridge where the line crosses the A41 road. The end of the platform was severely overgrown but I thought I could just find an angle that would show what I wanted to capture. It was tight but it worked; see what you think.
After lunch I decided to photograph the afternoon return at Wilmcote. The station is little used but remains popular for photographers looking to feature steam haulage in a classic Great Western Railway environment. When I arrived, there was no one else there so I decided to photograph the infrastructure while it remained almost intact. A Stratford bound DMU called and, eventually, a lone prospective passenger arrived for a Birmingham bound train. How much longer will this magnificent relic survive?
As departure time for the Shakespeare from Stratford approached many more people arrived at Wilmcote Station to watch and photograph the train. Several joined me at the north end of Platform 2 and everyone remained well positioned so that we all had a good view. The photographs at both locations are very repetitive but I have no real reason to select one or two from the bunch. So be it; I’m sure the ‘cloud’ will cope.