A hidden gem – a wonderful image from Chasewater Railway’s website.

I’ve noticed in the last few days that Chasewater Railway – the little gem of a preserved industrial railway, running steam and vintage diesel trains around Chasewater Park- has won royal recognition for it’s work.

A post of their blog explains that the charity has been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. They posted:

A wonderful award for a great project!

We are extremely proud to announce Chasewater Railway have been honoured by Her Majesty the Queen with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2016, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

This award recognises many thousands of hours of hard work, dedication and tenacity given by our band of volunteers both past and present since 1959.

You can read more about this fantastic achievement here.

Chasewater Railway is a wonderful attraction with regular passenger services at weekends and during school holidays, featuring two excellent cafes and a fascinating museum that chronicles not just railway history, but that of our area and industry.

The whole thing is staffed by helpful and friendly volunteers who are always ready to chat and talk about the railway and rolling stock.

At Brownhills west station there are also a lovely model railway, plus a couple of great vintage and collectible stalls. The railway itself has a shop selling books, rail models, toys and other merchandise.

Please do pop down if you haven’t – Chasewater Railway really isn’t pushed enough; it’s wonderful.

You can check their website here – trains run this and every weekend from 11am to 4pm with the museum, cafes and stations open earlier. I include the Chasewater Railway Museum’s latest newsletter below…