A Terrierific Weekend by Graham Baldwin

First published in issue 99 of The Tenterden Terrier Spring 2006
Reproduced with permission of then-editor Mr P.D. Shaw
and current editor Mr B. Janes

General Manager, Graham Baldwin, writes on our highly successful event in May, when we had five Terrier locomotives in steam

To the railway enthusiast Tenterden and Terrier go together like Love and Marriage. As the song goes – “you can’t have one without the other”. As far as the K&ESR was concerned, the same did not apply to Railway and Gala. Since the beginning of the preservation period the four words had not been linked, so 2006 was as good a time to change that as we are likely to get. Thus, from the germ of an idea, I made a request to the Bluebell to borrow one and to Bressingham for the opportunity to have “Martello” for its first outing following restoration. They both said yes, and so I asked the Bluebell for “Stepney” too and they agreed.

The railway press followed the story closely. With the restoration of “Martello” and “Bodiam”, Steam Railway’s editor said 2006 would be the ‘Year of the Terrier’. The excitement was noticeable. The thought of our own gala captured the imagination of most of the team here, many of whom had not been members when the last gala was held. As we started a small event management team some interesting ideas came up including having a dog show, model Terriers and others and out of that came the title All Terriers Great and Small. The rest, so they say, is history.

The weekend of May 6th and 7th 2006 will go down in preservation history, and most certainly in this railway’s records as more than 1300 people visited us over the weekend to see five Terriers returning to the K&ESR, working together to move ever changing combinations of rolling stock.

I was amazed by the numbers of photographers who swarmed at Tenterden for the cavalcade. There was a real buzz and sense of excitement (and terror on the faces of booking clerks when they saw the queues at 9.30am).

“Bodiam” returned to service after a 20 [misprinted 10] year absence – this is too long for such a locomotive and as part of the weekend’s celebrations Councillor Peter Jones, leader of East Sussex County Council, re-commissioned No.3 appropriately at Bodiam Station. The loco ran hot on the Saturday but Adrian Landi – driving the first turn – repaired and worked on it whilst it ran thus ensuring our pride and joy was seen by all. Once we had some decent coal and water in the other Terriers, and with a little help from the Pannier on occasions, the locomotives ran smoothly and although we lost 30 minutes in the mornings of both days, we lost no more time as the event progressed on each day.

The post event press has been staggering. Of course there was no interest from the local papers (and why should there be?) but in the railway press we picked up pages of pictures and more exposure for the K&ESR than we have ever had before. The journalists who came to the event were enthusiastic about it and pleased to be here.

This was a milestone as far as I was concerned, for when I joined the railway our coverage in the enthusiast press was virtually non-existent. In May 2006 we had the cover photo on Heritage Railway and both Heritage Railway and Steam Railway gave us three pages. Putting the K&ESR back on the enthusiasts map is important. This event achieved it in a spectacular way. The small Terrier models attracted a steady stream of visitors across the weekend and Sunday’s Terrier Dog Show attracted a different type of visitor to the car park area. Hugh & Rebecca Nightingale did a fantastic job in organising this. Whilst mentioning Hugh, I must take this opportunity to recognise his efforts, and those of Graham Hukins (timetables and shunting) which went towards making this event so successful. All our staff put in a tremendous effort when the railway was on show to visitors from across the British Isles. They always do their best but for this weekend they gave 110%, and I thank them all.

But what of the commercial realities? We charged a slightly higher charged a slightly higher price than normal for a rover ticket. 1300 people paid it without question, and 800 bought a programme and timetable for £2. I thought Martin Easdown did an excellent job in compiling the programme; it was his first such effort but it will not be his last. We were however gate-crashed by some “enthusiasts” who were determined not to buy an event ticket. We were poor at barrier control because we were so busy, and for next year’s gala free admission whether through the front door or the side door will not be possible, except for our working members. I found this determination, which included some of our own members, disappointing to say the least and I don’t believe it is too controversial to ask people for a few pounds to help them enjoy their hobby or interest, particularly when it cost so much to put the event on for them! We were able to run two photo charters on the following two days which generated some more welcome income.

Our catering department was swapped from the outset on Saturday morning, but coped admirably on the Sunday with 12 staff! The shop had record breaking days (for non-Thomas) and traded well selling, in particular, bottle of ATGAS 2006 ale and Terrier Tails [misprinted Tales] DVDs. We also took into stock Coal and Pewter Terrier models which are delightful.

The costs of such an event though are quite significant and escape notice whilst everyone is having a good time. Transport costs for the locomotives were £5000, and insurance for the guest locos was £1500. A huge amount of time was put into the event by Engineering staff, making sure that the guests were ready for action. This meant that work on other projects had to be stopped.