Travelling but not Moving ... yet

The Alf Benny Steam engine on the Helston Railway at Truthall Halt

We had made no travel plans for December. Thanks to the horrors of Storms Bert and Darragh along with engineering works, this may not have been a bad decision. Then I spotted the 'Santa Express' on the Helston Railway. I grew up in the Trevarno Valley where landowners in the nineteenth century had agreed to the railway crossing their land on the understanding that the trains would stop to pick them up whenever requested. The train travelled from Prospidnick to Gwinear Road carrying industrial materials, milk and passengers, not to mention the rabbits... The line closed in the 1960s, even before the ill-fated Beeching cuts. My memory of the railway line in the 1970s was an impenetrable tangle of brambles and alder. As teenagers we tried to force our way through but came home shredded and defeated. A group of enthusiasts, less easily deterred and armed with heavy machinery, have restored the line from Prospidnick to Truthall Halt and have ambitions to drive on to Lowertown with its impressive viaduct. My friend Mike who grew up in Coverack Bridges thinks he remembers watching the milk train go by from the Trannack school playground but that he and his dad definitely went on the last train from Truthall Halt to Gwinear Road. There is lots more information on: www.helstonrailway.co.uk/

Sadly, we failed to travel on the 'Santa Express' as that too was cancelled on the weekend we were free. But we did visit Truthall Halt on a windy, grey Saturday to see the train and crew in action. There was an extremely long queue for the 'man in red'; glad we didn't have to join it. But the station and the steam engine are a splendid sight. We'll be back in the new year for sure as I have just learned that Anna Murphy, Tony and I will be doing a small pilot story project about the branchline with the Helston Old Chapel team. Am really looking forward to it as it has been a real pleasure to write down all these familiar place names in one paragraph.

I volunteer as a Literacy Champion for a great small charity called Chat, Play, Read which is about exactly what it says in the name; encouraging literacy with under 5s through family engagement in the Camborne Redruth area https://literacytrust.org.uk/communities/cornwall/ )

With some funding from GWR they are running a project called 'All Aboard' with two toddler groups in Camborne and Illogan and are planning a trip on the train to Penzance in February including a picnic and visit to the End of the World bookshop. I've been invited to go with them and to do a write up on the blog. Joy! So to get into the spirit, I visited Illogan Parish Hall earlier in the month when performers Connie Crosby (yes, my daughter!) and Becca Hulbert were there to teach a song about getting ready to catch the train from waking to boarding, including Makaton signing and lots of movement, followed by a story. The children, and parents, loved it and were so engrossed and engaged. Jo Knuckey who runs the project, told me that last week she ran a Polar Express session, snow included, with all the children sitting in their self-decorated banana boxes, raided from a supermarket, forming a huge long train that snaked around the room. They all insisted on taking their carriage home at the end. Much to Jo's relief!

Connie and Becca

The other special transport event was the Santa Story Bus at Camborne Bus Station. Driver Jess who is also a parent and literacy champion has organised small sharing libraries to be placed on buses for toddlers along with prompt cards to encourage parents to chat about everything they can see from the window. For Christmas she had organised and decorated an open top double decker and persuaded a fellow driver to play the role of Santa, not that he took much persuading. He loved it and was very good at engaging very young children. It was a lot of fun and lots of small people dropped by. To my personal delight, I got to sit in the driver's seat ...

As I wandered later through the main street I noticed a miniature railway enthusiasts shop. This blog is really opening my eyes to how much people love trains in all their diverse forms.

And so we come to the end of the year. I can't finish without a mention of the wonderful Chilean puma that Tony was commissioned to make by Tough Dough for Trengwainton Gardens, near Penzance as part of a lantern walk. Despite some atrocious weather, they successfully created something both magical and beautiful. If you are wondering that you don't remember the role of a puma in any of the Christmas stories, he was there to highlight that many of the plants in the garden come from Chile. Our concern was at her being placed rather too close to the 'three French hens'...

Thank you so much for reading and subscribing to my blog and to everyone who has contributed. I hope you'll stick with me next year. Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and a new year full of travels, adventures and a peaceful world.

Nadelik Lowen ha Bledhen Noweth Da

Warm wishes

Amanda