Sheffield tram No 264 parks in the re-created town street at Beamish on an atmospheric Friday 11 December 2009 during one of the museum’s Christmas Night promotions. CHRISTOPHER CRAIG

Galloping into the next decade (except in Norfolk)

Welcome to the first issue that is actually produced in 2010, despite being February
cover-dated – such are the vagaries of the publishing world.

It was a pleasure once again to shake off the Christmas and New Year sloth with a visit to one of Preston’s New Year Open Days, held amid some pretty biting temperatures. And it was good to meet so many readers and have a
chat where the coffee was steaming and the locally sourced bacon and sausage rolls
were outstanding.

Preston has become an annual pilgrimage for hundreds of enthusiasts needing a ‘winter fix’ and long may it continue.

I wonder what your thoughts are as we head into 2010 and, depending on your start point, also the beginning of a new decade. What will the new decade bring? Will we see more rallies/less rallies, more/less commercialism at rallies, more new-build engines, more or less heritage equipment saved or restored – I’d love to know your views! Another ten years will surely see the passing of those left that worked commercially with steam in any form and then it’s all down to the next generation to pass on the skills and knowledge to help the younger ones.

One thing’s for sure and that will be the increasing tide of legislation and paperwork for rally organisers, which may just see an increasing number of ‘private’ steam parties held, without such incumbrance. As I write, we are awaiting news of the result of a public hearing that was due to be held on 19 January where a planning inspector will decide whether Nikki Jones and Phillipa Masters’ ‘Pride of the South’ Gallopers can be used for more than 28 days a year (ie ten or twelve weeks in high season) at the North Norfolk Railway’s Holt station terminus after North Norfolk District Council planning committee voted NINE to ONE AGAINST, centred on ‘concerns about noise from the organ and the whistle of the gallopers’. The committee has been warned by a legal adviser that there was ‘no sustainable reasons to turn the application down on noise grounds’ (a noise being what Gallopers tend to make). The whole thing is sad but also ironic in that the historic ride was built by Savages of King’s Lynn, which must be little more than 30 miles away from the seat of this current controversy.

Perhaps the councillors don’t realise the importance of their local heritage, but coming from the same county where a local authority-run museum wanted to get in an artist to ‘draw’ an item prior to its destruction, who knows?

The next issue of Old Glory will include your free copy of the first part of our Events Guide for this year, which will enable you to plan your visits and holidays for the forthcoming season based on some great days out. If you get hold of your copy from a newsagent, then make sure you pre-order your March issue. We continue to outsell our ‘rival’ by four copies to every one of theirs at the shops, so thank you for choosing Old Glory.

Whatever the new decade brings, our correspondents will be making sure that you know about it first.

Happy New Year!