Bressingham Steam & Gardens is a steam museum and gardens located at

Bressingham Bressingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 751 in 305 households as of the 2001 census, the population increasing to 882 at the 2011 Census. History The name Bressi ...

(adjacent to a garden centre), west of

Diss Diss or DISS may refer to: *Diss, Alberta, a place in Canada *Diss, Norfolk, a market town in England, United Kingdom **Diss railway station **Diss Rugby Club ** Diss Town F.C. *Diss grass, a Mediterranean grass *Diss (music), a song whose primary ...

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 a '' 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.''Steam Engines at Bressingham'', (1976), Alan Bloom, Faber and Faber, He was a plant expert of international renown, particularly in the field of

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perennials. He laid out the Dell Garden at Bressingham, with its well-known island beds. His son, Adrian Bloom, laid out five additional gardens for year-round interest, starting with Foggy Bottom in 1963. He is still largely in charge of the Bressingham Gardens, which are not part of the charity but are privately owned by the Bloom family business. The Dell Garden is curated by Alan Bloom's son-in-law, Jaime Blake. Much of the site is given over to commercial horticulture. The nurseries are not open to the public, but there is a garden centre on the site, which is independent from the Steam Museum and the Bloom Nurseries and Gardens. Bressingham 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 close to being handed over to the Transport Trust. However, the legislation governing private museums was relaxed just before the proposed handover in 1971. Consequently, Bloom was able to create his own trust and thus retain control of it, because the collection was of historical and educational importance.

The Gallopers

The three-abreast Gallopers, purchased by Alan Bloom in 1967, are the centrepiece of the site. They were built by Frederick Savage in Kings Lynn in 1897 and were owned and operated by the Thurston family of Norfolk until 1934. The Gallopers later operated at Whitley Bay and later in Scotland before finding a home at Bressingham. They are currently powered by electricity, but were previously steam-powered. The engine used, "Victoria", was originally built by Tidmans of Norwich. The

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

– a Bruder-built, 48 keyless Chiappa – which was built from two organs in 1954, accompanies the Gallopers.

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

The Fen Railway

The Fen Railway (formerly the Nursery Railway)n is a

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

. It was the second railway to be completed at Bressingham, first opening in 1966. The railway is long 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:

The Waveney Valley Railway

gauge miniature railway. The line was first opened in 1973 and is in length. It crosses the Fen Railway and also runs parallel to the line for a time. Locomotives: During 2013, a circular track of

dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

gauge and gauge was under construction. Once completed, there will be a total of seven different gauges at Bressingham.

Standard gauge steam locomotives

* NSB

NSB Class 21 The NSB type 21 was a standard gauge locomotive, suitable for lightly laid lines (10-11 tonnes axle load), introduced in 1904 for the rebuilt Bergen-Vossbanen, and was in use until NSB phased out steam in 1970-71. The original three variants Th ...

c No. 377 ''King Haakon VII''. Built in 1919. Last overhauled in 2006. Stored awaiting overhaul. * LB&SCR A1 Class No. 662 ''Martello''. Built in 1875. Operational, boiler ticket expires in 2026. Painted in SR Lined Green. * GER Class T26 No. 490. Built in 1894. On static display, on loan from the National Railway Museum. * LT&SR 79 Class No. 80 ''Thundersley''. Built in 1909. On static display, on loan from the National Railway Museum. *

GER Class S56 The GER Class S56 was a class of steams designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. Together with some rebuilt examples of GER Class R24, they passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping in 1923, and received ...

No. 87. Built in 1904. On static display, on loan from the National Railway Museum. *

LSWR B4 class The London and South Western Railway B4 class is a class of 0-4-0 tank engines originally designed for station piloting and dock shunting. They were later used extensively in Southampton Docks for nearly half a century. Design The locomotives w ...

No 102 ''Granville''. Built in 1893. On static display. * Beckton Gas Works No. 25. Built in 1896. On static display. *

Baddesley Colliery Baddesley Ensor is a village and civil parish in the district of North Warwickshire in Warwickshire, England, about three miles west of Atherstone. It runs into the village of Grendon, which forms a parish itself. History There were mining ac ...

Beyer-Garratt A Garratt (often referred to as a Beyer Garratt) is a type of steam locomotive invented by British engineer Herbert William Garratt that is articulated into three parts. Its boiler, firebox, and cab are mounted on a centre frame or "bridge ...

No. 6841 ''William Francis''. Built in 1937. On static display. This is the last surviving standard gauge Garratt in Britain. * DB/NSR Class 52 No. 5865 ''Peer Gynt''. Built in 1944. Found in a caved-in tunnel and restored, now on static display. * Andrew Barclay No. 1472 ''Bluebottle''. Built in 1916. Stored out of use. * Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns No. 7070 ''Millfield''. Built in 1942. Stored out of use.

Broad gauge steam locomotives

* VR Class Tk3 No. 1144. Plinthed.

Steam vehicles

A variety of steam vehicles are in the collection.Old Glory Magazine No.229 February 2009 page 48 (Museum collections listing)

Steam Engines Portable and others

* Burrell No. 2363 of 1901 Portable. Operational. * Youngs Portable of 1910. Manufactured locally in Diss. On display. * Tidman Centre Engine (fairground) No. 1891 ''Victoria''. Usually resides in the centre section of Gallopers. Withdrawn 2015 pending replacement of Boiler Barrel - Expected to re-enter service late 2019 * Merryweather Fire Engine no. 3702. * Merryweather Fire Pump of 1914.

Steam Rollers

*Burrell No. 3962 ''Boxer'' of 1923 reg no. PW 1714. On display. *Burrell No. 3993 ''Buster'' of 1924 reg no. CF 5646. Operational. *

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4 ton Tandem Steam Roller No. 42520 ''Barkis'' built in 1925 reg No. FE 7632. On display.

Steam Tractors / Traction

* Richard Garrett & Sons, Garrett 5 ton Steam Tractor No. 34641 ''Bunty'', built in 1924 reg no. CF 5913. Operational. *Burrell Traction engine No. 3112 ''Bertha'' of 1909 reg no. CF 3440. On display. *

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Traction engine No. 2821 ''Beryl'' of 1903 reg. no. BE 7448. On display. * Fowler Traction engine No. 6188 ''Beulah'' of 1890 reg no. MA 8528. On display.

Gallery

File:Bressingham Steam Entrance.jpg, The entrance File:OliverCromwell.JPG, 70013, Oliver Cromwell at Bressingham in May 2004

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 Walmington-on-Sea is a fictional seaside resort that is the setting of ''Dad's Army'', including the BBC Television sitcom (1968-1977), the BBC Radio 4 series and two feature films ( 1971 and 2016). Walmington-on-Sea is on the south coast of E ...

beside the butcher's shop of

Lance-Corporal Jones Lance Corporal Jack Jones is a fictional Home Guard platoon lance corporal and veteran of the British Empire, first portrayed by Clive Dunn in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. His catchphrases are "Don't panic!", "Permission to speak, s ...

, 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 The Austin 8 is a small car which was produced by Austin between 1939 and 1948. Launched on 24 February 1939, production continued into the war until 1943. Approximately 9,000 - 9,500 of the wartime Austin models were two-seater military 8AP t ...

staff car used in the episode The Making of Private Pike, the vintage fire engine used in

Brain Versus Brawn "Brain Versus Brawn" is the tenth episode of the fifth series of the British comedy series ''Dad's Army''. It was originally transmitted on 8 December 1972. It was also adapted for radio and broadcast as part of the second radio series in 1975. T ...

and the steamroller 'Boxer' and traction engine 'Bertha' which appeared in other episodes. File:Jones Van Bressingham.jpg, Jones' van from the '' Dad's Army'' film (1971) File:Dust Cart Bressingham.jpg, Dust cart from the '' Dad's Army'' film (1971) File:Fire Engine Bressingham.jpg, The fire engine used in

File:Mainwarings Car Bressingham.jpg, Captain Mainwaring's

staff car from The Making of Private Pike

References

External links

Official websiteThe Bressingham Gardens
website {{authority control Heritage railways in Norfolk Miniature railways in the United Kingdom Railway museums in England Museums in Norfolk Steam museums in England Gardens in Norfolk 15 in gauge railways in England 2 ft gauge railways in England 10¼ in gauge railways in England