The Bristol Railway Archive

After having the odd rant or twelve on here about the Health & Safety culture we have these days, I came across this footage on Youtube of the last "real" day of steam at Lostock Hall, Saturday 3rd August 1968 (I say the last real day because the Sunday only had steam specials running and, of course, only the 15 Guinea special after that, a week later). I suppose this is mainly posted for our younger brethren who weren't around at the time, so perhaps don't know what went on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MKBRuEJjV4

I was in that crowd as a 16-year old lad, but I appear to have managed to keep myself out of shot

Enough to give modern-day H&S officers apoplexy??

"Enough to give modern-day H&S officers apoplexy??"

Yes, and a couple of the comments to the YouTube video suggest that enthusiasts in the main knew how to behave responsibly then and were fully aware of the hazards associated with 100 tons of metal in motion.

It always impresses me that in Germany for example, enthusiasts attending a large-scale steam event (e.g. the Moselbahn celebrations of April 2011) can conduct themselves in a way where (within sensible reason) they can access lineside locations without the need for any physical barrier between the trains and themselves. I remember the last weekend of the S&D when boys and men were swarming over the tracks and cutting-side at Evercreech without some dayglow-clad jobsworth bawling at them, It's a wonder that the awful green fencing which now adorns our linesides doesn't carry notices every few yards warning that falling against the metalwork can cause bruised shoulders! (It brings to mind an incident at work a couple of years ago when a colleague tripped over one of those janator's 'Wet Floor' signs and sprained his wrist)