Threlkeld Quarry is located just to the east of Keswick in Cumbria.  The quarry is home to a mining/quarry museum and features a collection of around 80 excavators, as well as heavy quarry plant and a working narrow gauge railway.  Set in stunning scenery, the narrow gauge railway climbs steeply from the original quarry engine shed to a working face high above, with some severe gradients and sharp curves along the way.  At present, the daily summer service is handled by resident Bagnall 0-4-0ST ‘Sir Tom’.  For the gala weekend it was joined by Hunslet ‘Sybil Mary’ and Hudswell Clarke No.19 (both recently restored at the Statfold Barn Railway), the familiar shape of 0-4-0VBT ‘Paddy’ (which has visited Beamish a number of times and is based on the Amerton Railway), Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST ‘Peter Pan’ (again a regular at Beamish and usually based at the Leighton Buzzard Railway) and Kerr Stuart 0-6-0T ‘Joffre’ (from the West Lancashire Light Railway near Preston).  Friday consisted of a photo charter, with Saturday and Sunday being gala days.  Graham Morris kindly invited me to join him on Peter Pan and we spent Friday performing for the photographers, Saturday blasting up the line at regular intervals and Sunday in the quarry area.

The weather was generally stunning and the hosts, participants and engine owners ensured a safe, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable weekend for all.  Here are quite a few shots taken (on the i-phone, so exposure isn’t brilliant I’m afraid) in between duties.

Below: One of ‘the’ narrow gauge settings in the UK?!

Below: Sybil Mary is a sister to Edward Sholto, which is currently at Beamish.  Sybil Mary was in private store for many years before purchase and restoration at the SBR.  The loco will be enjoying a short tour including the West Lancs and Apedale Valley Railways before returning to Statfold Barn.

Below: Repatriated from Fiji and restored at Statfold Barn is this Hudswell Clarke, No.19.  The lettering stands for Colonial Sugar Refining Company – a firm with interests in both Australia and Fiji.  A second ex  CSR Co Hudswell is under restoration at Statfold – an 0-6-0 tender loco, which was repatriated from Fij and which when I last saw it had been butchered into a diesel powered engine for pulling tourist trains on Viti Levu.

Below: The upper terminus and quarry face.

Below: Just a few of the 80+ excavators of all types (and sizes) at Threlkeld…