A long-time supporter of the GWR, photographer and railway 'raconteur' Bernie Holland, has just launched his own Fotopic website.  "So what," you may think: but this is a collection with a difference.  It is a remarkable a historic journey along the Stratford to Cheltenham line through the lenses of a number of photographers, including the late Bill Potter.

The Stratford to Cheltenham line was late on the British railway scene (it opened throughout in 1907) but it was a much loved rural main-line route. Local people still lament the closing of local stations in 1960 and the eventual official closing of the 'Honeybourne Line' as it was affectionately known, altogether in 1979 (you can find out key dates in our chronology).

Of course it runs through some of the loveliest English countryside and it had a lot to offer those who were interested in photographing railways. Apart from several attractive stations, it also offered busy junctions and a mixture of traffic with an equally wide variety of motive power.  At various points along the route it was possible to photograph locomotives from all regions. GWR types predominated of course, but LMS classes were common particularly in latter days. The SR was represented by its locomotives running in to Cheltenham St. James from Andover and even Bulleid pacifics worked excursions via Oxford to Stratford over the top half of the route. So what of the LNER?  Well there was once a regular B1 working over the line to Gloucester while during the second World War, Cheltenham Malvern Road shed even boasted a J25 among its residents!

Bernie has been an active supporter of the present-day GWR since its formation, presenting the railway's history in countless slideshows and talks. Bernie, himself a prolific photographer, was a close friend of Bill Potter who lived at Bishops Cleeve and took hundreds of photographs on the line over many decades.  Bernie was brought up in Bishops Cleeve and went to St Gregory's school in Cheltenham, whose playground wall was handily next to the turntable at Cheltenham St. James station (the site of which is now occupied by Waitrose).

Bernie's collection is well described with plenty of historical interest and anecdote. The site is well worth a visit and we will from time to time pick on images from the collection and provide regular links as it is growing all the time. But why don't you explore it yourself? You can do so by clicking this link: http://www.bernieholland-honeybourneline.fotopic.net .

Bernie explains that the site is far from complete.  "At present, most of the pictures are black-and-white but I'm now starting on Bill Potter's colour slides [including the one accompanying this article].  There are some stunning images in the collection, many never published before.

"However, had it not been for Joan Potter who made the collection available to me for the purpose of obtaining copies of slides and prints prior to my transferral of the entire collection to the Kidderminster Railway Museum, then none of this wonderful material would have seen the light of day." 

Many of the pictures have of course appeared in books by authors such as Audie Baker, Colin Maggs / Pete Nicholson and Vic Mitchell / Keith Smith but they can all be seen now in the same place.

Bernie Holland would be pleased to add to the collection.  "I'm aiming to make this the most comprehensive collection of images devoted to the Honeybourne Line," he says.  If you would like to send some of your own historic images to Bernie, click here.