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- Created on Sunday, 11 April 2010 11:52
Magnettes & Steam 2010
This year’s Magnettes and Steam event was at Shackerstone station on the Battlefield line in Leicestershire. Having a geographically central location again proved a popular choice, with 24 Magnettes attending, as well as various other MGs.
The line runs through about 5 miles of open country between Shackerstone (the main depot) and Shenton. Although neither village is particularly noteworthy in itself, Shenton is close to the site of the Battle of Bosworth, which ended the War of the Roses in 1485.
After a very wet start from Surrey on Saturday morning, the weather turned out rather better than forecast, with no rain at all during the event. The Register regalia stand was set up at one end of the station platform, where some of the cars were parked. Acting as a meeting point, it was conveniently placed next to the period tea-room, and attracted considerable attention from casual visitors, who were also interested in the unique convertible Magnette. I was interested to talk to John Beesley about progress with his bare-shell rebuild, which sounds like it will be the most researched and complete Magnette restoration when finished !
The line was not running a steam engine due to boiler problems, however the diesel-hauled service still had authentic rolling-stock for the journey of about 20 minutes. From Shenton I had a leisurely walk around the Battle of Bosworth site, which is well provided with information boards and an extensive visitors centre/museum. The exhibition does point out that the actual site of the battle is still being debated and may in fact have been a couple of miles from the marked location. Nevertheless it was a good way to spend an afternoon, and several Magneteers were staying locally for the weekend to make the most of the area.
Thanks as usual to Alan Slack. He’s no doubt busy working on the location for the 2011 event, but would be quite entitled to rest on his laurels for a while after another well-organized and enjoyable Magnettes and Steam.
Stephen Tickell
pictures by Malcolm Eades & John Harris
Stephen added some more pictures...