Bressingham Steam & Gardens is a steam museum and gardens located at Bressingham (adjacent to a garden centre), west of Diss in Norfolk, England. The site has several narrow gauge rail lines and a number of types of steam engines and vehicles in its collection and is also the home of a Dad's Army exhibition.[1]
The gardens were established by Alan Bloom MBE at Bressingham Hall. He moved to Bressingham in 1946, after selling his previous 36acres site at Oakington in Cambridgeshire to raise the capital for the 220acres in Norfolk, where he hoped to be both a farmer and a nurseryman.[2] He was a plant expert of international renown, particularly in the field of hardy perennials. He laid out the Dell Garden at Bressingham, with its well-known island beds. His son, Adrian Bloom, laid out five additional gardens for year-round interest, starting with Foggy Bottom in 1963. He is still largely in charge of the Bressingham Gardens, which are not part of the charity but are privately owned by the Bloom family business. The Dell Garden is curated by Alan Bloom's son-in-law, Jaime Blake.
Much of the site is given over to commercial horticulture. The nurseries are not open to the public, but there is a garden centre on the site, which is independent from the Steam Museum and the Bloom Nurseries and Gardens. Bressingham Steam Museum is an independent charitable trust. Alan Bloom had wanted to create his own trust in 1967, to ensure that the collection would not be dispersed to pay for death duties, but the laws of the time made this difficult and after five years of negotiation, the museum was close to being handed over to the Transport Trust. However, the legislation governing private museums was relaxed just before the proposed handover in 1971. Consequently, Bloom was able to create his own trust and thus retain control of it, because the collection was of historical and educational importance.[2]
The three-abreast Gallopers, purchased by Alan Bloom in 1967, are the centrepiece of the site. They were built by Frederick Savage in Kings Lynn in 1897 and were owned and operated by the Thurston family of Norfolk until 1934. The Gallopers later operated at Whitley Bay and later in Scotland before finding a home at Bressingham. They are currently powered by electricity, but were previously steam-powered. The engine used, "Victoria", was originally built by Tidmans of Norwich. The organ – a Bruder-built, 48 keyless Chiappa – which was built from two organs in 1954, accompanies the Gallopers.
There are three railway lines which take visitors around the gardens:
This gauge miniature railway runs through the Dell Garden, giving passengers clear views of the beds. The journey begins in a terminus station within the museum grounds before heading into the Dell Garden. At the far end of the garden, the train is turned in a balloon loop, before returning to the station. A turntable is located at the end of the platform road to facilitate the turning of the locomotive with minimal movements required. The points located at the balloon loop and the entrance to the platform road are spring operated so there is no requirement for a signalman. The coloured light aspect signal protecting the platform is interlocked with the lie of the points being set for the platform road and the turntable also being set to the platform road. The railway's passenger trains are operated by steam locomotive Alan Bloom, which was constructed along with the railway in 1995. The design of Alan Bloom was inspired by the design of Large Quarry Hunslet George Sholto, which operates on Bressingham's Fen Railway.
The Fen Railway (formerly the Nursery Railway) is a narrow gauge railway. It was the second railway to be completed at Bressingham, first opening in 1966. The railway is 2.5miles long and crosses the Waveney Valley Railway, running parallel to it for a short distance. It also runs through meadows and passes the now-defunct plant nurseries. The Railway was extended twice following initial completion to become the length it is today.
Locomotives:
| Number and name | Builder | Type | Livery | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 316 Gwynedd | Hunslet | Penrhyn Quarry Hunslet | Lined Penrhyn Quarry Black (Late Penrhyn Livery) | Built in 1883. The locomotive spent all of its working life at Penrhyn Quarry - initially working at Port Penrhyn before moving to the quarry. It arrived at Bressingham in 1966 and becoming a regular performer on the Fen Railway. Gwynedd received a new, all-welded boiler in 1984 to replace her life expired riveted boiler. A major overhaul was completed in 2000, where Gwynedd was repainted into Early Penrhyn Livery - the first authentic livery this locomotive has carried in preservation. She operated until 2007 when she was withdrawn from service for overhaul; the work included a new firebox and the locomotive was returned to service in 2017. In 2019, Gwynedd was the primary locomotive in use on the Fen Railway. In June 2018, Gwynedd attended the Penrhyn Theme gala at Bala Lake Railway in North Wales, where she ran alongside Hunslet 364 Winifred of 1885. This was the first time 2 Penrhyn Port Class Hunslets had steamed together in preservation. The following weekend, Gwynedd attended the Ffestiniog Railway's Hunslet 125 event. In addition to operating the Fen Railway at Bressingham, Gwynedd spent much of her time in the 1970s operating on Bressingham's short-lived Woodland Railway which has since been replaced by the 15-inch gauge Waveney Valley Railway. | ||
| 994 George Sholto | Hunslet | Large Quarry Hunslet | Lined Green | Built in 1909. Similar to Gwynedd, George Sholto also operated at Penrhyn Quarry. The locomotive was restored at Bressingham and entered service in 1966. This locomotive has been a long serving and reliable performer on the Fen Railway. During the late 1990s, she was renamed Bill Harvey in honour of the former Norwich Shed Master. The locomotive was withdrawn from service in 2003 in need of a major overhaul. The overhaul involved the construction of a new boiler [The 3rd one this locomotive has carried during preservation] and work on the chassis in addition to a replacement saddle tank being constructed. The locomotive was outshopped in 2011 with her original name of George Sholto reinstated. Bizarrely, the locomotive was outshopped with a cab - a feature that this locomotive had never possessed in its entire existence. Ordinarily, this locomotive is the primary locomotive on the regular passenger trains that operate, with occasional use on the slate train using wagons similar to those she hauled at Penrhyn - usually reserved for special events and driver experience courses. As of November 2018, this locomotive has been withdrawn for major overhaul. | ||
| 2 Bevan | Bressingham | Lined Green | Bevan arrived at Bressingham as a kit of parts in 2007 as an abandoned project previously being carried out by the Cambridge Welding Institute. When Bressingham acquired her, she was a boiler, with frames and cylinders and nothing else. Bressingham assembled and constructed the rest of the locomotive. This entailed designing the motion from scratch, building water tanks, the cab and tender to name a few. She was test steamed in 2009 with final completion in 2010. Usually reserved for running weekday trains outside of the School Holidays when less carriages are required. She has however become the primary locomotive once she returned to service in summer 2019 following an overhaul; largely owing to George Sholto being withdrawn for a major overhaul. | |||
| 22120 | Motor Rail Simplex | Brown | Built in 1964 and spend its working life at Anglia Water. During the early 1990s, this was disguised to resemble Toby the Tram Engine. The locomotive was the Fen Railway's main passenger diesel but is now a static exhibit in the Exhibition Hall. | |||
| 8911 | Hunslet | Hunslet | Unlined Blue. | Built in 1980. The locomotive is operational and is primarily used to pull passengers on the Fen Railway at quieter times of the year. | ||
| 9155 Bovis | Hunslet | Lined Black | Built in 1971. A rare example of a Hunslet Battery Electric locomotive. Operational and used as the workshop yard shunter. |
gauge miniature railway. The line was first opened in 1973 and is 1.5miles in length. It crosses the Fen Railway and also runs parallel to the line for a time.
Locomotives:
| Number and name | Builder | Type | Livery | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1662 Rosenkavalier | Krupp | Pacific | Lined light Green | Built in 1937. Along with Männertreu she was built for use at a trade fair in Düsseldorf. Arrived at Bressingham in 1973 and has been a mainstay of the Waveney Valley Railway. Withdrawn from service in 2011 in need of a major overhaul and is currently on display in the Exhibition Hall. | ||
| 1663 Männertreu | Krupp | Pacific | Lined dark Green | Built in 1937. Along with Rosenkavalier she was built for use at a trade fair in Düsseldorf. Arrived at Bressingham in 1973 and has been a mainstay of the Waveney Valley Railway. Withdrawn from service in 2008 and is undergoing a major overhaul. Locomotive's frames are currently on public display – it is anticipated that much of the work will be carried out in the locomotive display sheds so visitors can monitor progress. | ||
| St Christopher | Exmoor Steam Railway | Lined Red | Constructed by the Exmoor Steam Railway in 2001 and was based on the Windmill Farm Railway. The locomotive moved to Bressingham in 2011 and is operational. It is the main locomotive used on the Waveney Valley Railway. Repainted to a lined red livery in favour over the original lined blue livery during the 2017/2018 mechanical overhaul. | |||
| D6353 Beaver | J. Brown | 4wd-4wdDM | Green with full Yellow ends. | Built in 1998. Based on a British Rail Class 22 locomotive. Operational and occasionally used on passenger trains. | ||
| Ivor | Frezne Engineering | Green | Built in 1979. Operational and used as a works locomotive. |
During 2013, a circular track of dual gauge and gauge was under construction.Once completed, there will be a total of seven different gauges at Bressingham.
| Number and name | Builder | Type | Wheel arrangement | Year | Livery | Status | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 662 Martello | LB&SCR A1 Class | 1875 | SR Lined Green | Operational, boiler ticket expires in 2026 | |||||
| 102 Granville | LSWR B4 class | 1893 | Dark green | On static display | |||||
| 490 | GER Class T26 | 1894 | GER Ultramarine Blue | On static display | On loan from the National Railway Museum | ||||
| 87 | GER Class S56 | 1904 | GER Ultramarine Blue | On static display | On loan from the National Railway Museum | ||||
| 80 | LT&SR 79 Class | 1909 | LT&SR green | On static display | On loan from the National Railway Museum | ||||
| 6841 William Francis | 1937 | Brown, lined | On static display | Worked at Baddesley Colliery. This is the last surviving standard gauge Garratt in Britain. | |||||
| 25 | 1896 | Green | On static display | worked at Beckton Gas Works | |||||
| 7070 Millfield | Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns | 1942 | Blue | Stored out of use | |||||
| 1472 Bluebottle | Andrew Barclay | 1916 | Stored out of use | ||||||
| 5865 Peer Gynt | DB/NSB Class 52/63 | 1944 | Black | On static display | Found in a caved-in tunnel and restored, now on static display | ||||
| 377 King Haakon VII | NSB Class 21c | 1919 | Green | Last overhauled in 2006. Stored awaiting overhaul. |
A variety of steam vehicles are in the collection.[3]
The museum is the home of the national Dad's Army collection of vintage vehicles. These are located on a reconstruction of the High Street in the fictional Walmington-on-Sea beside the butcher's shop of Lance-Corporal Jones, Private Frazer's undertaker's shop and Captain Mainwaring's bank office.
The vehicles include Jones' van and the dust cart from the 1971 film, Mainwaring's Austin 8 staff car used in the episode The Making of Private Pike, the vintage fire engine used in Brain Versus Brawn and the steamroller 'Boxer' and traction engine 'Bertha' which appeared in other episodes.