Bressingham Steam and Gardens


Bressingham Steam & Gardens is a steam museum and gardens located at Bressingham, 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 the national Dad's Army exhibition.

The gardens

The gardens were established by Alan Bloom MBE at Bressingham Hall. He moved to Bressingham in 1946, after selling his previous site at Oakington in Cambridgeshire to raise the capital for the in Norfolk, where he hoped to be both a farmer and a nurseryman. 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 the Foggy Bottom Garden.
Much of the site is given over to commercial horticulture. There is a garden centre on the site, trading as Blooms of Bressingham, although the nurseries themselves are not open to the public. Bressingham Gardens and 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 nearly handed over to the Transport Trust. However, the legislation governing private museums was relaxed just before the handover in 1971, and Bloom was able to create his own Trust and thus retain control of it because the collection was of historical and educational importance.

The narrow gauge lines

There are three railway lines which take visitors around the gardens:

The Garden Railway

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 from the design of Large Quarry Hunslet George Sholto, which operarates on Bressingham's Fen Railway.

The Fen Railway

This is a narrow gauge railway. The Fen Railway was the second railway to be completed at Bressingham, first opening in 1966. The railway is 2.5 miles in length 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 nameBuilderTypeLiveryNotesImage
316 GwyneddHunslet Penrhyn Quarry HunsletLined Penrhyn Quarry Black Built in 1883. The locomotive spent all of its working life at the Penrhyn Quarry Railway - initially working at Port Penrhyn before transferring to Penrhyn Quarry itself until arriving 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 outshopped sporting the Early Penrhyn Livery - the first authentic livery this locomotive has carried in preservation. The locomotive operated until 2007 when it was withdrawn from service for another overhaul. The work included a new firebox and the locomotive was returned to service in 2017. Following her overhaul,Gwynedd has proven to be a reliable performer and during 2019 became 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 was united with classmate 364 Winifred of 1885 - The first time 2 Penrhyn Port Class Hunslets had been seen steaming together in preservation. The following weekend, Gwynedd attended the Ffestiniog Railway's Hunslet 125 event - Celebrating 125 years a piece of the Ffestiniog Railway's 2 Mainline Quarry Hunslets Linda & Blanche. Once again, Gwynedd could be seen paired up with classmate Winifred on one of the Ffestiniog's world famous Gravity Train demonstrations. 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 SholtoHunslet Lined GreenBuilt 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 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 BevanBressingham Lined RedBevan was constructed by the Bressingham workshops in 2010. Usually reserved for running weekday trains outside of the School Holidays when less carriages are required. Bevan returned to service in summer 2019 following an overhaul.
12120/7Motor Rail SimplexBrownBuilt 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.
8911Hunslet HunsletUnlined 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 BovisHunsletLined BlackBuilt in 1971. A rare example of a Hunslet Battery Electric locomotive. Operational and used as the workshop yard shunter.

The Waveney Valley Railway

gauge miniature railway. The line was first opened in 1973 and is 1.5 miles in length. It crosses the 2 ft Fen Railway and also runs parallel to the line for a time.
Locomotives:
Number and nameBuilderTypeLiveryNotesImage
1662 RosenkavalierKrupp PacificLined light GreenBuilt 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 MännertreuKrupp PacificLined dark GreenBuilt 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 ChristopherExmoor Steam RailwayLined BlueConstructed 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.
D6353 BeaverJ. Brown4wd-4wdDMGreen with full Yellow ends.Built in 1998. Based on a British Rail Class 22 locomotive. Stored out of use in the engine shed.
IvorFrezne EngineeringGreenBuilt 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.

Standard gauge steam locomotives

A variety of steam vehicles are in the collection.

Steam Engines Portable and others

Dad's Army Collection

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.