War On The Line

I’m well overdue a big catch up, with all my unwritten blog posts! I’ve been to quite a few fabulous vintage events this year and still haven’t got round to blogging about them. With Twinwood only a few hours away and lots of other exciting events on the vintage calendar, I thought I’d get to work writing about some of the fun things I’ve been up to.

I’ve always wanted to go to one of the many 1940s days that happen at Britain’s many heritage railway lines. My dad is a big steam train enthusiast and we’ve always enjoyed visiting railways together. Mixing my love of history and vintage with his love of trains seemed like the perfect day out for both of us. We decided to visit War On The Line, a WW2 themed event on the Mid Hants Railway also known as the Watercress Line.

The event had a bit of everything from re-enactors, to vintage clothing stalls, live music and of course the trains themselves. There was also plenty of interesting demonstrations, which gave a fascinating insight into the war.

I decided to not bring my big camera with me, as its sometimes nice to just enjoy a day out without trying to get perfect blog photos. So I just took a few on my phone this time.

There were plenty of gorgeous classic cars on display, I especially loved the fire engine.

I couldn’t resist a good look through all the fantastic vintage clothing stalls, there were so many gorgeous 40s and 50s dresses.

Of course there were wonderful steam trains running all day. It was really fun riding between the stations and sitting in different carriages. It was great having my dad with me to tell me all about the trains.

There was even a bridge, that had appears in two of my favourite films The Thirty Nine Steps and Harry Potter!

And the views were beautiful! The Mid Hants Railway, sits in beautiful countryside and it was lovely to get away from London for the day and enjoy the fresh air.

I loved all the vintage details on the stations, it was like stepping back in time. I even got a brief sighting of Winston Churchill himself!

There were loads of fantastic reenactors  at the event and it was really interesting chatting to them, they all knew so much about the war and their passion for the past was incredible.

It was an absolutely brilliant day out and I will definitely be going again next year. I’d also like to check out more railway events in the future. The atmosphere was fantastic and even learnt a bit of history while I was there.

Find out about future events on The Watercress Line website.