The Wensum and Thames Explorer

This new tour from East Anglia will see a steam hauled train leave Norwich early in the morning for a leisurely cross country run via the Midlands to Warwick, Oxford and Reading.

Our journey will leave Norwich and run across Norfolk to pick up passengers at Thetford and March before arriving at Peterborough for a further pickup. Our steam hauled journey continues westwards through attractive Stamford in Lincolnshire, Oakham and historic Melton Mowbray to Leicester, where we will pause to pick up further passengers.

Traversing rural Leicestershire we now head for Nuneaton on the West Coast Main Line where we will call to pick up passengers before continuing via Water Orton to the West Midlands. Taking the suburban lines to the east of Birmingham, the HS2 construction sites are evident along the lineside, before we pass through Tyseley and follow the former Great Western Railway’s main line through to Warwick, our first set down station. Warwick is ideal for those wishing to explore this interesting Warwickshire town located on the river Avon, with a well known preserved castle.

Continuing our steam hauled journey southwards, we enter Oxfordshire and speed through Banbury and onwards to our next calling point at Oxford. The ‘City of Dreaming Spires’ is teeming with cultural character with its many famous universities and college buildings. Perhaps take a relaxing river trip along the Thames? Modern Oxford also has a vibrant shopping tradition along with many restaurants and bars.

We continue through Didcot and along the Thames valley to our final set down destination of Reading. There are many shops and riverside restaurants dotted around the town centre.
The Reading Museum contains exhibits on the town’s history and displays a Victorian replica of the Bayeux Tapestry. The ruins of the 12th-century Reading Abbey lie beside Forbury Gardens, a Victorian formal garden.

We will return to Norwich diesel hauled and call to pick up and set down passengers at our morning stations, with our arrival in Norwich late evening concluding this varied and interesting rail day trip.

On Board Catering