Clifton Rocks Railway Open Day 17/18 May 10-4

Clifton Rocks Railway will be open all weekend on 17 10-4, 6-8 and 18^th May 10-4 for our seventh open day.

On Saturday evening the Military Vehicle Trust will be repeating their highly successful display of World War 2 equipment outside the station as part of the Museums at Night event just like they did last May.

On Sunday only, visitors will also be able to take a free vintage bus ride every hour between the Lloyds Amphitheatre in Anchor Road (between 10am and 4pm) and the Railway in Clifton as part of the Transport Rally taking place in the docks to celebrate 100 years of the Bristol bus. Do note though that for insurance reasons no children under 14 will be allowed entry.

Volunteers have come a long way since they started work at Easter 2005. Come and see the artefacts from under the refuge ledges, including items left behind by children. They have also been busy making models. Since May they have retrieved a large clack valve from the bottom station water tank (too heavy to get to the top station!), and some pulleys, cleaned weeds off the bottom station façade again- this time abseiling down. Bristol City Council also gave us permission to paint the bottom gate. 

A fullsize ‘end’ of a railway car painted in Sir George White’s tram colours of blue and cream with maroon and gold lines has been placed on the rails to give a good impression of a car disappearing down the tunnel.

Also on display is the original Victorian electric telegraph system used to relay signals to the bottom station where an electric bell rang to signal the top car was about to descend. This enabled the engineer to establish the necessary balance of water needed for the cars.

Visitors will be able to see our “new” tunnel under Sion Hill where a full bottle of Sunrise Brand beer (from between 1885 and 1930) made at Ashtongate Brewery was found

Booklets for sale will be about the railway, the BBC usage, and about barrage balloons in Bristol (because the Railway was also used to repair balloons during the war).

We also look forward to visitors filling out a survey about the Railway itself, and hear from anyone who has any memories of the wartime and trips on the railway. All work so far has been done by volunteers using donations from the public. We are now a limited company “Clifton Rocks Railway Ltd” and hope to become a Charitable Trust this year. We have also been raising funds by taking groups of visitors down the tunnel.

For more details, look at http://www.cliftonrocksrailway.org.uk , and http://www.cliftonhotwells.org.uk where you will see a diary of progress and monthly photos.