We all met at The Barn, where we were staying for our holiday. Tim was already there as he had been on the Air Tattoo holiday previously. Over our dinner of cottage pie we got to know one another. For some it was their first holiday with Options Holidays. For others they had been with us several times before.
We had a lovely sunny day for our first trip out to Cheltenham to ride on the trains. We arrived at Toddington railway station, it is part of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway and is run by volunteers. We travelled by train to Cheltenham race course station, then to the Winchcombe station. At Winchcombe we got off the train and had a picnic in the sun. Later we had ice-cream in the platform cafe and had a good look around Toddington train station. We then caught a heritage Diesel train back to the end of the line and then returned back to Toddington. It was a fabulous day out.
Today the weather was a little overcast with drizzle but we did not let it spoil our day. We went to the quaint Cotswold village of Bourton on the Water. There is so much to see and do in the village. Our first stop was a visit to a traditional Tea Shop for Tea and cake. Next a look around The Model Railway, where we enjoyed controlling the movement of the model trains. It was fun trying to work out which button controlled which train. After lunch we went to The Motor Museum. We loved looking at the old cars, motorbikes and vans. There were lots of old signs too. It was packed full of lots and lots of items related to motor vehicles. In the evening we went out to The Harvester for our meal and we all ate so much we were completely full!
Today was the day we were to drive a steam train! We went to Cricklade Train Station where we met our instructor Jim along with Peter the 'fire man'. We each took it in turn to drive the steam engine up and down the track. It was an amazing day everyone agreed it was the best part of the holiday. We watched them fill the engine with water and then relaxed in the cafe. We had a look around the museum. It was time to go back and pack. We were all tired and dirty but had fulfilled a dream !
Today Tim was going home. He thanked everyone for an amazing time and looked forward to coming back. The rest of us went to Puzzlewood to explore. We were excited to hear it had been used in various film and TV shows such as Dr Who , Merlin and even Star Wars.
We are all looking forward to our next holiday "Trains in Devon".
Some more of our pictures from the holiday
