Castle Class 4-6-0 no 7025 Sudeley Castle, collecting water at speed on the North Cotswold line with a Worcester-Paddington express at Charlbury water troughs, 18th May 1963. Much of this line was singled in 1971 but is now being doubled again to cope with increasing traffic and improve punctuality. The work includes making provision for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway to eventually use Honeybourne station and you can read about this project in Latest News. (Photograph: Paul Riley/Restoration & Archiving Trust)  


Glorious Sudeley Castle at Winchcombe has teamed up with the GWR to offer special family tickets valid for both the GWR and the Castle. The visits can be made on the same day, or different days, over the August bank holiday weekend, 29th to 31st August (Photograph: Jo Ward)  

Two of Gloucestershire's top attractions have joined together to give families a fantastic opportunity for a unique experience this August bank holiday.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway and Sudeley Castle are offering a limited number of families the chance to ride on the GWR and visit magnificent Sudeley Castle at Winchcombe - and all with a whopping £20 discount on a family ticket!

The very special joint ticket, which will be valid for any days over the August Bank Holiday weekend (29^th - 31^st August) allows a family of 2 adults and up to 3 children to visit both attractions.

Says Malcolm Temple, the GWR's volunteer commercial director: "This is a fantastic opportunity to combine visits to the two biggest attractions in the area and we're delighted to be able to bring visitors this joint offer. You can visit both on the same day or visit each on separate days. The joint ticket costs just £35 - that's a credit crunching saving of £20 per family off the usual ticket prices."

The GWR is running steam trains over the bank holiday weekend to the Red Timetable, between Cheltenham Racecourse, Winchcombe and Toddington. The ticket enables you to take as many trips as you like during the day.

Sudeley Castle has a huge amount to offer - apart from the stunning Castle set in beautiful award-winning gardens which will be bursting with colour, there is an amazing play area for youngsters with a wooden fort, slide and zip wire.

There is a poster you might see around Gloucestershire as August Bank Holiday approaches. It shows not just Sudeley Castle, but a Castle class locomotive on the GWR! Download and print a copy to put up in your local shop or at work!

Tickets are on a strictly first come first served basis, to book yours either call Sudeley's Visitor Centre on 01242 604244 or visit either Sudeley or any of the GWSR ticket offices at Toddington, Winchcombe or Cheltenham on the day.

Sudeley Castle: Castle Class locomotives

Sudeley Castle is a name unusually carried by two of the Great Western Railway's Castle class locomotives. The two engines in question were no. 5061, built in 1937, but only carried the name a few months before being renamed Earl of Birkenhead, along with other members of the class named after Peers. It wasn't until 1949 until the name was again carried on a Castle class locomotive, this time on no. 7025 which was completed by British Railways in 1949.

These very successful four-cylinder express locomotives were no strangers to the route of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and were the usual locomotive for 'The Cornishman' express that ran daily in each direction between Wolverhampton and Penzance, through Toddington, Winchcombe and Cheltenham.

No. 5061 spent much of its life at Shrewsbury but was withdrawn from Cardiff Canton in 1962 and scrapped at Cashmores of Newport. 7025 was one of Old Oak Common's fleet of Castles, working trains out of London Paddington but it was finally withdrawn from Worcester in 1964. It ended its days at being broken up by Birds of Swansea.