A Grand Day Out - Havenstreet Railway 1940s Weekend

A few weeks ago now (goodness how time flies) I went down to visit my parents on the Isle of Wight. It's not often that we are all able to get together, only at Christmas really so it was rather nice, especially as for once it managed to coincide with the beginning of some lovely weather! I have taken far more photos than is healthy, so rather than bore you all with them here's a quick collage.

As you can see my time was mainly spent wandering in my parents beautiful garden, taking long country walks and eating alfresco, it was bliss!

The main reason that we had chosen to get together was to attend the annual Isle of Wight Steam Railway's 1940s weekend. I've wanted to go for years, but due to other commitments I've never been able to be down on the island at the right time. This year everything worked out wonderfully and rather sweetly my parents and brother decided to join in on the dressing up too! My Dad had his Christmas pullover to wear and both Mum and I sported 80s does 40s dresses I had found on eBay a few weeks earlier.

Before we left I ensured we got a proper family photo to mark the occasion, my brother I think had last minute nerves about dressing up (we've all been there) so chose just to wear his Wartime Farm pullover, which I had literally just finished 10 minutes before this photo was taken (more on that tomorrow). As you can't see it in the above photo here is a close up of the lovely new brooch I bought recently, from the lovely Jo of Mrs B's Brooches.

I was thrilled that I got the chance to properly show off the fabulous 1940s inspired brooch and I think it went perfectly with my dress.

On arriving at the station, we could tell it was going to be a fun day as the station looked wonderful decked out in its 40s regalia and there was an impressive turnout of people all ready to have a good day!

We were all issued with an identity card which we had to fill out before entering the station, which I thought was a nice touch!

First off we checked the schedule, to ensure we didn't miss anything!

First stop was the was the events field where there were lots of vintage stalls...

...a Spitfire...

and lots of vintage vehicles, including a Seaview Services PD2 bus that naturally I just had to pose in front of *cough* blame the day job :-)

It was then time to escape the heat for a bit and take a ride on one of the two steam trains running that day.

As lovely as it was to have some glorious weather, dressed as we were in our 80's polyester and acrylic fair isle woollens, the heat had become a little overwhelming, so we had a blissfully cool hour travelling up and down the line.

It was then time for lunch, so we stopped off at the refreshment rooms and dined on some Corned Beef Hash and chips, which was rather good, if very filling. We even had Viv The Spiv offering to sell us some more wooden cutlery while we ate wich was fun!

After lunch, we had another wander and caught 'The Three Belles' singing one of their many sets of the day and I have to say they were really rather wonderful, so much so I bought their CD as soon as I got home, which is also wonderful!

After a quick sit in the shade and a much needed ice cream, it was time to head home, not before we caught a few minutes of the 'Cinque Port Lindy Hoppers', who I really did feel for, it must have been exhausting to dance and jive in such heat, but they did an admirable job.

I think it's safe to say we all had a great time, and we've even discussed going again next year! I think the highlight of the whole day for me, had to be entering into the Isle of Wight Girl Guides raffle and winning a...

A can of Butter Beans!

Wendy x