THE Redditch and Alcester Group of the GWR's new season of monthly meetings began well with a good-sized audience treated to an excellent selection of vintage cine films presented by John Constable.

The next meeting will be at The Parish Centre, off Alcester Road, Studley, at 8pm on Tuesday, October 26, when Mike Collins will present a slide show called A Personal Indulgence.

Mike was introduced to the joys of railway photography in the late 1950s by his father, who happened to work with one of the leading photographers of the time.

This led to Mike travelling extensively around Britain to record the last years of steam and his show will cover these sad years of steam's gradual decline until it disappeared in 1968 and before it re-emerged again in the preservation era.

The meeting is open to everyone, even if they are not members.

The main season at Toddington is finishing in a flourish with the recent Steam Gala being the biggest yet, with eight locos in steam.

This was followed by a highly successful Friends of Thomas the Tank Engine event and the end-of-season Diesel Gala and the re-dedication of David Shepherd's massive loco, Black Prince.

A reduced service will operate until the end of the year, with the extremely popular Santa Specials operating in December.