At Didcot Railway Centre we have been enjoying the good weather and our spring Heritage Diesel days.

We are now getting ready for the summer season and looking forward to welcoming lots of visitors.

Over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend we welcome the Great War Society for Rails on the Western Front.

The GWS re-enactors will camp in our picnic area and do a number of demonstrations throughout the day showing the realities of everyday soldiers’ lives.

Visitors can enjoy unlimited trains in genuine vintage carriages of the First World War period and follow our heritage trail.

We are grateful for Heritage Lottery Fund support for the event.

Additional attractions include our famous Black Python Real Ale Bar and we are planning to operate signalling on the Branch Line.

Our volunteers are working hard to complete the Signalling Centre for its opening on the weekend of June 23/24.

At Didcot Railway Centre the history of signalling starts with the Railway Policeman’s hut in our Broad Gauge area.

The new exhibition will complete the story of signalling from then to the present day. Among the displays and interactive exhibits will be the 1960s signalling panel from Swindon, which has been lovingly restored by the Swindon Panel Society.

In June we also celebrate National Volunteers’ Week and Father’s Day. For Father’s Day we are planning to have a number of ‘O’ Gauge models on display for the whole weekend as well as footplate rides for dads on the Sunday. Let’s hope the weather doesn’t disappoint.

The Teddy Bears are joining us again on Sunday, July 8, for their regular picnic, which we run in partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Oxford charity. We will have teddy bear displays in the carriages, a teddy trail, story reading and competitions.

Teddy Crump will be entertaining families throughout the day and as always, children with teddy bears or cuddly rabbits, elephants, tigers, lambs, etc. are admitted free of charge.

We usually welcome the Star Tugs in June but this year they are coming for the weekend of July 14/15. They had a great time in the Transfer Shed last year and are looking forward to meeting our trains this year.

When the school holidays start at the end of July we will be running two steam engines on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays until the end of August. Of course all our other attractions, including the new Signalling Centre and our World War 1 exhibition, will also be open.