nferguso
23-09-09, 08:54 AM
This update was published originally on 22nd August but it will act as a primer for further news.
Filming
We have had a BBC film crew at a transformed Wirksworth Station (masquerading as somewhere in West Yorkshire) for five days earlier this month. They have been filming a drama entitled “Five Days” and featured several familiar faces. Importantly, it is believed the crew’s presence in town must have had a reasonable effect on local the economy from patronising certain French-themed bistros in town to purchasing flowers in an abundance for one of the big scenes.
Meanwhile, if anybody has been following Jimmy McGovern’s ‘The Street’ on BBC1, they might have seen our railway and not realised it. The recent episode following the return of an injured soldier (Jonas Armstrong, the BBC’s Robin Hood) from Afghanistan included several long scenes on our railway with the suburbs of Manchester bring portrayed by the rooftops of Bournebrook Avenue! A link which should work for the next two days can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lwdb8 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lwdb8)
We seem to get one or two filming contracts each year and owing to their taking several days to film, they inevitably have an effect on the local economy as a large team remains in town for several days.
The Testing Business
On September 11th (just in time for the Festival), we shall be running another trade exhibition, with a number of rail engineering companies exhibiting their products at Wirksworth Station. Very gently, we have built-up our reputation as a test site for Britain’s Railways and the fact that major players are willing to invest time and resources to exhibit at Wirksworth has to speak volumes for our tenacity.
Details of the event can be found here: http://www.mytesttrack.com/event.html (http://www.mytesttrack.com/event.html) and, hopefully, this should generate some good publicity for our industry activities.
Forthcoming Events
We have a packed schedule of events for the rest of the summer and the autumn. Full details can be found here http://www.e-v-r.com/ticketing/events09.htm (http://www.e-v-r.com/ticketing/events09.htm) but some noteworthy activities include supporting the opening weekend of the Festival and the model railway exhibition on 17th and 18th October. As some will know, this event is at venues all over the town and brings in visitors from all over the UK. We are now well and truly ‘on the circuit’ for this kind of event and as the line gets longer, so the attraction to railway enthusiasts tends to grow.
One very significant event in early October is the convention of the Railcar Association on the 3rd and 4th. Amongst the world of railcar preservation (niche, I admit, but bear with me) this is the annual event and we have a confident expectation of receiving around 2,000 visitors over the weekend.
Next Year
Next year is the ‘big one’ for us. In addition to it being the tenth anniversary of staring clearance work on the line (can it really be a decade?) we expect to have our first resident steam engine operating from Easter and, of course, by the beginning of October we shall be running passenger trains down the whole length of the line to Duffield. The grant from the East Midlands Development Agency gave us a huge boost and it has allowed us to fund all the remaining work on the tack, including sidings at Shottle and a loop at Duffield. However, we still have much work to do to provide a rebuilt platform at Duffield, parking and an interchange with main line services. Part of the plan includes through ticketing, so it will be possible to buy a Wirksworth to London ticket for the first time since 1947, while it will also be possible to buy a ticket to Wirksworth from anywhere in the UK.
We shall finally be in the map!
I hope this will be of interest to you; I plan to publish a more detailed newsletter in the next couple of weeks and should anybody want to receive a copy, they can sign-up here: http://www.e-v-r.com/newsletter/signup.htm (http://www.e-v-r.com/newsletter/signup.htm)
Kind regards,
Neil
Filming
We have had a BBC film crew at a transformed Wirksworth Station (masquerading as somewhere in West Yorkshire) for five days earlier this month. They have been filming a drama entitled “Five Days” and featured several familiar faces. Importantly, it is believed the crew’s presence in town must have had a reasonable effect on local the economy from patronising certain French-themed bistros in town to purchasing flowers in an abundance for one of the big scenes.
Meanwhile, if anybody has been following Jimmy McGovern’s ‘The Street’ on BBC1, they might have seen our railway and not realised it. The recent episode following the return of an injured soldier (Jonas Armstrong, the BBC’s Robin Hood) from Afghanistan included several long scenes on our railway with the suburbs of Manchester bring portrayed by the rooftops of Bournebrook Avenue! A link which should work for the next two days can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lwdb8 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lwdb8)
We seem to get one or two filming contracts each year and owing to their taking several days to film, they inevitably have an effect on the local economy as a large team remains in town for several days.
The Testing Business
On September 11th (just in time for the Festival), we shall be running another trade exhibition, with a number of rail engineering companies exhibiting their products at Wirksworth Station. Very gently, we have built-up our reputation as a test site for Britain’s Railways and the fact that major players are willing to invest time and resources to exhibit at Wirksworth has to speak volumes for our tenacity.
Details of the event can be found here: http://www.mytesttrack.com/event.html (http://www.mytesttrack.com/event.html) and, hopefully, this should generate some good publicity for our industry activities.
Forthcoming Events
We have a packed schedule of events for the rest of the summer and the autumn. Full details can be found here http://www.e-v-r.com/ticketing/events09.htm (http://www.e-v-r.com/ticketing/events09.htm) but some noteworthy activities include supporting the opening weekend of the Festival and the model railway exhibition on 17th and 18th October. As some will know, this event is at venues all over the town and brings in visitors from all over the UK. We are now well and truly ‘on the circuit’ for this kind of event and as the line gets longer, so the attraction to railway enthusiasts tends to grow.
One very significant event in early October is the convention of the Railcar Association on the 3rd and 4th. Amongst the world of railcar preservation (niche, I admit, but bear with me) this is the annual event and we have a confident expectation of receiving around 2,000 visitors over the weekend.
Next Year
Next year is the ‘big one’ for us. In addition to it being the tenth anniversary of staring clearance work on the line (can it really be a decade?) we expect to have our first resident steam engine operating from Easter and, of course, by the beginning of October we shall be running passenger trains down the whole length of the line to Duffield. The grant from the East Midlands Development Agency gave us a huge boost and it has allowed us to fund all the remaining work on the tack, including sidings at Shottle and a loop at Duffield. However, we still have much work to do to provide a rebuilt platform at Duffield, parking and an interchange with main line services. Part of the plan includes through ticketing, so it will be possible to buy a Wirksworth to London ticket for the first time since 1947, while it will also be possible to buy a ticket to Wirksworth from anywhere in the UK.
We shall finally be in the map!
I hope this will be of interest to you; I plan to publish a more detailed newsletter in the next couple of weeks and should anybody want to receive a copy, they can sign-up here: http://www.e-v-r.com/newsletter/signup.htm (http://www.e-v-r.com/newsletter/signup.htm)
Kind regards,
Neil