Forest of Dean FHT Forum - Railway Carriages

Railway Carriages (reply)

slowhands — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:32:32 +0000

there were a pair of converted railway carriages by the river and railway line, down a lane called "The Strood" at Broadoak.

The Strood Broadoak Newnham GL14 1JL {google maps}

It is referred to in the autobiography of the Gloucester Lad - poet FW Harvey.

the Pumpkin Coach (reply)

slowhands — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:17:37 +0000

The Pumpkin Coach, the new novel by bestselling author Susan Sallis, is full of the passion and drama that have won her a huge and devoted readership.

From the Back Cover
For Alice Pettiford, living near Gloucester in the late 1940s, leaving school for a job as a railway secretary makes perfect sense. Most of her family have worked for the railway over the years, and her best friend Hester's father would be in the same office. What Alice does not expect is that she would fall in love with Joe Adair, a colleague, almost as soon as she meets him. But Joe has to go overseas on National Service, and in the meanwhile Hester's brother, the enigmatic Valentine, finds that his fondness for Alice is deepening into something much stronger. When he and Alice discover an old railway coach, long abandoned, hidden in a clearing in the Forest of Dean, Alice realises that it has been a very special, magical place. What she doesn't know is that the coach has played a secret part in the history of Joe's family, and that Joe's mother named it 'the pumpkin coach'. Now her own destiny will also be shaped by this enchanted refuge.

the Pumpkin Coach (reply)

Barbara Lloyd — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:10:53 +0000

Slowhands - how do you do it. Thats the book.

Barbara.

Railway Carriages (reply)

Barbara Lloyd — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:42:03 +0000

Hello Vickki

I cannot help you with any specific information, but a while back I read a book by an author called Susan Sallis, she has written several books, light fiction, not a bad story but nothing to make you finish it in one go. They are all based on Gloucestershire and in one book she mentions a family going to the Forest of Dean to look for the old railway carriage that her Aunt had told her about, she talks of halcyon days of lovely summer weather and streams that they paddled in!.

Here is the rub, I have passed the book on to the Charity Shop I cannot remember the name of the book (which is no help to you) but perhaps if you feel inclined your Library may have a copy. They are currently on sale in W.H. Smith.

I hope this is not a red herring and you do not waste your time.

Barbara Lloyd.

Railway Carriages

vickirussell — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:41:48 +0000

Hello,

My Great Grandmonther Annie Burrows was born in 1873 in Westbury on Severy and later moved to London where she raised her family. My grandmother remembered visiting the Forest of Dean where she visited relatives (aunts, uncles or cousins?) who lived in old railway carriages.

I don't know exactly where this was, except it was near to a railway line. Does anybody have any knowledge of these railway carriages or of anybody living in them.

Thanks for any help.

Vicki Russell