Bluebell Steam Train Ride ~ Sussex ~ England

The Bluebell Train is one of largest tourist attractions in Sussex.  The railway is operated by “Bluebell Railway PLC” and through the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, is majority owned by the volunteer membership, who also supply the labor necessary to keep the Bluebell running.  We may not have arrived early enough to see the beautiful fields of bluebells in the springtime in England but I can enjoy a ride on the Bluebell train.

Welcome to Sheffield Station

We chose to ride from Sheffield Park station for a return trip, which also offers adequate parking space, not always the case in other stations.  We parked and took the short walk to the rather grand looking entrance to the station, although the food adverts are slightly distracting! Lol

Stepney Special

Steamworks is the onsite museum that houses several steam engines and their history.  We had time before our train was to leave so we spent some time wandering about and learning some history.  I must admit that Stepney Special meant nothing to me, but lesson is coming. 

Tomas the Tank Engine

Now there is a familiar face.  So the story continues……Stepney was a real steam engine and became the cartoon train who befriended Thomas the Tank Engine who entertained our kids and grandkids on Saturday mornings for years!  It would have been great had his face been mounted on the front of the engine but this is real life and not cartoon world!  I am sure Thomas comes out on special occasions but here is the idea. 

Bluebell train arrives

Our train awaits us at the Sheffield Station so we get on board and get settled into our ‘compartment’.  There were four of us in a 6 seat until ‘Steve’ joined us at our stop in East Grinstead and entertained us with his stories for the rest of the ride! 

Students on travels

Out our window we see a class of students who are on an outing to honor D-Day and dress appropriately for the 75^th anniversary of that special day.  They will be on the train for this ride today, although we won’t be hearing them while in our ‘compartment’.  I think the kind porter was well aware of that when he showed us to our non-reserved seats. 

Steam hangs over the view

We are enjoying the views and the ride on this old steam engine train.  The puffs of steam are visible out the window as we ride through the countryside of Sussex.  At one point this ride crossed the line between East and West Sussex.

Friendly waves

There was a lot of clearing being done along the rails and every group we passed took the time to wave to the passengers of the train.  It is likely these men are part of the volunteer team that so willingly give up their time to keep this Bluebell going. 

Steve

Here is Steve, an obvious regular on the train, who invited himself to join us and continued to tell stories until we finished our ride back.  He was very chatty, had quite a history to share and some of the stories seemed to be a possible ‘tale’; he must have told them before and he wasn’t going to stop now.  He was happy to pose for the photo. 

Pub lunch

What day would be right without stopping at the pub for a late lunch after that train ride.  Most pubs have been added on to since the original one was built but are still very old buildings.  They are so interesting, lots of ‘things’ to look at that can go back a long ways.

For more info on the Bluebell, click here to see their webpage. 

Sheffield Park and Garden ~ England

Sheffield Park and Garden is one of the many that are managed by the National Trust in England.  They are a large non-profit charity that was founded in 1895 to preserve Britain’s buildings, landscape and coastline.

Lily Pads

We are having a springtime visit to Sheffield Park and Garden to enjoy a different season than the autumn visit we had before.  We are here just a bit too early to see the water lilies that will be covering this middle lake about two weeks after our visit.  That would be stunning.  They offer a Water Lily Photography workshop, which would also be great. 

Pulham Falls

Interesting that Victorian engineering is still being used to pump the water around the garden.  They are now having Waterfall Walks this year.  They aren’t charging for it but one must book to walk along the bottom of the waterfall as it cascades down and give you a different perspective of the falls.

Rhododendrons

Although the day wasn’t sunny, as I’d love every day to be, the beautiful bushes of Rhododendrons brightened up the gardens. There were several large bushes around the Park as well as so many other trees and bushes, that visiting anytime would offer some beautiful sights.

Sheffield Park House

Privately owned, this was the home of the owners of Sheffield Park and Garden, who changed many times over the years.    One of the most memorable owners would be Arthur Soames, who is given much credit for introducing many of the treasured flowers still living in this garden.  Still privately owned, it has now been converted into several condos or flats, as they call them in England. 

Beautiful floral displays

This is a sampling of some of the flowers we saw on our visit this day.  The colors are gorgeous and they are blooming all over the Garden. There are several walking paths to follow, I am sure one could spend a week wandering the different Garden trails in order to see and enjoy it all.  This Map illustrates them and will give you an idea of the size of Sheffield Park and Garden. 

Large Gunnera plant

Granted, my sister is not very tall, but these plants are monsters.  There are clusters of them around the Garden, and hopefully I have the right name of this plant.  It is a Gunnera, which grows to incredible sizes.  There is plenty of room for these huge plants to grow here, there are over 250 acres in Sheffield Park and Garden and we have only walked a very small portion of that.

Bridge over Lower Woman's Way Pond

We eventually cross this bridge but we were waiting to see if we would see another waterfall.  We hoped that today they would open the waterworks to allow the water from Upper Woman’s Way Pond to fall down into this lake, and they have a chosen time of day to do that when need be.  As it turns out, the water level was too low so not possible, it didn’t happen. 

Canadian Soldiers legacy

The War Office requisitioned Sheffield Park during WW2 for the British soldiers and it eventually became camp for thousands of Canadian troops, as well.  They lived and trained on the grounds, which surely did some damage that took many years to bring the state of the park back to its’ former beauty, some of which the soldiers helped with.

Canada Geese and ducks

We found some immigrants who obviously came from Canada and had their young here.  The Canada Geese are part of a fairly small flock enjoying this lovely Garden.  Then a little duck decided to perform her ‘drying-off-water methods’ for me when she got out of the lake.  I’ve not spent a lot of time with ducks to know how they think so maybe she was looking for treats from me. LOL  She was in no hurry to stop, little did she know that I had no treats.

Click here to see our autumn visit at Sheffield Park.

Firle ~ South Downs ~ England

We’d been travelling the roads of The South Downs in England and after finding the Berwick Church we moved onto visit Firle.  This historic village was here in very early days then became more permanent by the 15^th century and has been here ever since.   

Wisteria in Firle

The village is basically a cul-de-sac lined with homes that have been here for a very long time.  The entrance to the village has a large parking lot in the trees and once we walked from there, this walkway with hanging wisteria introduced us to Firle. 

Vintage sign and plant shop

Other than residents’ modern vehicles parked on these streets, it feels like we are once again taken back in time. The signs are old carved wooden signs, something we would never see at home and that add to the feel of history.  Firle Place, located down this road has been the home of the Gage family for over 500 years and is a great location available for special events. 

Ginko Biloba tree

The flint cottages and walls, most built back in the early centuries still stand here today.  We wandered down this road and saw a very large Ginko Biloba tree.  Had it not shown printed information at the flint wall, we’d not have known what kind it was.  It is over 150 years old and the story tells the origin of the tree. 

Sights in village of  Firle

Firle was a thriving self-supporting village during the early centuries with a bigger population than it has these days and had all the trades necessary to take care of the villagers.  One of the more famous residents was Virginia Woolf, a famous author of her day and one who has been the subject of plays, novels and films.  She died here in 1941. 

Signs of history

This was a rather unusual way to park bikes and it is permanent.  It took a few minutes but we think it might be there to prevent cars parking on this side of the street. The streets are narrow and it takes very little to create problems.

Another puzzle to ponder.  These steps sit against a commercial building so we were thinking it may have been stairs to help the ladies get into the horse drawn buggy ‘back then’. 

We assumed this red Citroen may have once been for delivery but now appears to be more like a private travel van.  This is only a guess but I would suggest this van is one of a kind. 

St Peters Church

We couldn’t come to Firle without visiting St. Peters Church.  This church was originally built in the 12^th century then has been rebuilt and added to over the centuries since.   Vanessa Bell, her son Quentin Bell and Duncan Grant were buried here.  They were the artists to paint the murals in Berwick Church. 

Thank-you tree

St. Peters is a “Garden Church” which means they wish to “heal our relationship with all that lives on this planet”.  They ask you to take a ribbon, write the name of your favorite bird, animal or butterfly and tie it on the “Thank-you” tree.  Paying a small donation for this ribbon will help do the work of the church.

Preserved from old bell tower

The 17^th century bells were needing replacing so the Bell Foundry that had made the original bells melted the damaged ones in 2007 and made new.  The timber of the old bell frame was in very bad shape also so the headstock and clapper were preserved and put on this display frame. 

Alabaster Effigy

Sir John Gage (1479-1556) was given manorial rights in 1501 and the Gage family has been a part of Firle ever since.  He and his wife Philippa are represented in this alabaster effigy, erected in 1595 in what was once the original stone chapel and is now part of the St. Peters church, called the Gage chapel.