SEVERN Valley Railway was given the Royal seal of approval on Monday (April 13) when HRH the Princess Royal visited the much-loved heritage attraction to help celebrate its Golden year.

Princess Anne made her first visit to the Kidderminster tourist attraction to help it celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Locomotives were buffed and polished up in preparation for her visit to the Railway, during which she met a range of staff, volunteers, founding members and apprentices, as well as riding on the footplate of one of the Railway’s much-loved heritage steam engines, No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor.

A welcome party of local dignitaries, including Bewdley Mayor, Councillor Derek Killingworth, and SVR representatives welcomed her and her escort, the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, at Bewdley, where she met an enthusiastic group of pioneers and young volunteers before taking to the tracks.

Herself a big fan of steam locomotives, the Princess Royal boarded the footplate without hesitation, to travel the 15 minute journey to Kidderminster through the picturesque Severn Valley countryside. The Princess appeared to enjoy her footplate experience so much; she stayed on board after the locomotive had pulled into the station, chatting to driver Paul Fathers and fireman Ryan Green about the ins and outs of driving and firing a steam engine.

The SVR are currently celebrating 50 years since a small group of young rail enthusiasts gathered in their local pub and decided to reopen the line, which was closed in 1963, and four of those founding members were on hand to greet the Princess Royal on her arrival in Kidderminster and revealed key landmarks in the Railway’s 50 year heritage.

The platform was packed with people hoping to catch a glimpse of the Princess Royal during her visit, including enthusiastic pupils and teachers from Comberton Primary School waving flags and children from the Railway Children Childcare Centre.

Ann Whitby, manager of the childcare centre, said: "The children were all very excited that they were going to see a real Princess.

"All of the children returned to the nursery and drew pictures of the Princess and could not stop talking about meeting her and how many people were there."

Phillip Salisbury, deputy head teacher at Comberton, said: "Our children were delighted to attend the unveiling of the plaque to mark the 50th anniversary of the Severn Valley Railway.

"We took some children from each class, so we had representatives aged three to 11.

"All of them were very excited to see the Princess, although some of the younger children were a bit disappointed she wasn't wearing a crown, and had an experience to remember."

Nick Paul, chairman of Severn Valley Railway, said: “This is a very special year for Severn Valley Railway, a momentous year.”

She was then asked to unveil a plaque celebrating 50 years of the SVR and signed the anniversary Visitors Book. While unveiling the plaque, Princess Anne congratulated and thanked the volunteers and the founding members for all their hard work over the last 50 years and thanked them for letting her ride in one of the engines and said it was “a real treat”. She was presented with a billy can and a whistle as a reminder of her footplate experience and visit to Severn Valley Railway.

Finally, she was given a behind the scenes tour of the Carriage Works at Kidderminster, and met volunteers and some of the young apprentices on the Heritage Skills Training Academy, one of the range of key products financed by the fundraising efforts of the SVR Charitable Trust (SVRCT) and the Share Offer scheme.

The Princess Royal was shown a practical demonstration of the heritage skills taught through the scheme, which are essential in the on-going programme of coach maintenance and restoration.

Keith Beddoes, a founder member, said: "It was a great day. It was really nice to meet her and talk to her about Severn Valley Railway.

"It's so nice because people recognise you, because of the Railway. It has changed the lives of people.

"She was asking how the Railway started and what I do. It really was a fantastic day."

Christopher George, one of the founding members of SVR, said: “It was an absolutely fantastic day. She took the time with every single one of us and she was really quite knowledgeable about everything.

“She made a lot of comments about our lovely new station.

“After all our hard work over the last 50 years, to see this today, I can’t quite explain it.”

Columb Howell, a founder member, said: “It’s been an absolutely great day, absolutely incredible. She was amazed at all the old engineering we had kept going.

“She really excelled herself in her knowledge.

“It was lovely to see so many people here today. This will be something for the local area to remember for a long time coming.

“I was so pleased to see she rode on the footplate too.”

Leonard Warrington, one of the young volunteers at Severn Valley Railway, said: “She was asking me how I started on the Railway and what I do.

“It was really quite moving to meet her. I felt very honoured to be representing the younger members of staff and volunteers here. It was exhilarating.”

Nick Ralls, the SVR’s general manager, said: “It was a true delight to welcome HRH the Princess Royal to The SVR – she is very engaging, enthusiastic and friendly and is extremely knowledgeable about steam railways and engineering.

“She was extremely complementary about our buildings, personnel and achievements and was more than happy to chat to volunteers about steam locomotives and ‘train-spotting’. She seemed to enjoy her footplate experience so much that it looked like she could have stayed up there chatting to our volunteers for much longer if she didn’t have a tight schedule to keep to.”

Judy Fry, who works on the trains providing the buffet, said: “She was very friendly. She was asking me all about what I did on the train, so I told her what I do and said that’s it. She said it was a very big job.

“I was thrilled to bits to meet her.”

To view our gallery of pictures from HRH the Princess Royal's visit to Severn Valley Railway, click HERE.