Trainspotter

The Elizabeth Line

You never took me Bertie: “You never took me!” Bobby: “Now look Bertie, I had no idea I was going to see the opening of the Elizabeth Line. I go to London every Tuesday for an Al-Anon meeting in Islington. This week I had arranged to meet Technical Director Tim on his canal boat. Hoping…

Terence Cuneo

Cuneo is quite simply our favourite artist of all time. He may not be the greatest artist that ever lived, but he painted what we liked. Steam engines. He had an enormous portfolio of every subject under the sun. He was employed to paint commercial pictures for board rooms.

Railway Children

Mindfully Bertie is proud to announce that Railway Children is its chosen charity. We encourage all our readers to read what follows and consider if they can support this wonderful organisation. This is how the charity started:

Waving at Trains.

And here is the last of of our trilogy of poems read by Bill Hicks. Roger McGough is first and foremost a poet but was surprisingly popular in the sixties being a Liverpudlian in the Beatles era within his comedy group The Scaffold. Lily the Pink… The Scaffold: John Gorman, Mike McGear (brother of Paul…

Walking to St George’s – Charles Holden.

Walking to St Georges – Charles Holden This is the third and last of our trilogy centred on those weeks of walking to and from St George’s Hospital in the latter part of 2019. Why Charles Holden? Well there is a pub named after him opposite Colliers Wood Underground Station. But who was Charles Holden?…

Autumn on a West Somerset Railway Steam Train.

West Somerset Railway Autumn in Somerset on a Steam Train. Many of our heritage railways stage special events in October. Galas, or for the Bluebell Line, “Giants of Steam“.

A Day out with Thomas.

A Day Out With Thomas. Play this: Dear Christopher, Here is your friend Thomas, the Tank Engine. He wanted to come out of his station-yard and see the world. These stories tell you how he did it. I hope you will like them because you helped me to make them. Your Loving Daddy

From a Railway Carriage.

From a Railway Carriage. This little boy, enjoying the view from a railway carriage, is the future. Diddley never knew him but he will know all about her in the fullness of time. For this is Jay, her great grandson. Son to Jasmine and Jay (senior).

100th Blog – The Footbridge.

100th Blog … Pt II: The Footbridge. Dear Friends of Bertie… This is momentous occasion. One that must start with a brief introduction from Bobby. (I said brief, Bobby…!) Dear Friends I am writing this in a bus shelter in Westcott in Surrey. Very nice. Thatched. My car is being serviced. And then it’s the…

Bob the Big Noisy Engine (with apologies to the Rev W Awdry).

Bob the Big Noisy Engine. This is the story of Bob the Big Noisy Engine. A tale of triumph over adversity. Honesty over lies and deceit. Contentment over greed. Happiness over anger. It is a true story. All the characters are real. Bobby wrote it in 1999 on a bike ride. In his head. The…