The ''Cathedrals Express'' was a named passenger express introduced in 1957 on the
Western Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex- Great ...
. It connected the
cathedral cities of
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
and
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
to .
The service started on 16 September 1957 and was operated six days a week. It departed
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
at 07:45 with the return service leaving Paddington at 16:45. Coaching stock was in the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
chocolate and cream livery, not the
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
standard maroon of this period.
The service also stopped at , another cathedral city, although this was already well-served by other London services. Although a named train, the ''Cathedrals Express'' was by no means a fast service throughout. Between Hereford and Worcester it was at most a semi-fast.
In later years the number of stops increased. The timetable in summer 1963 was: Hereford (d. 08:00),
Ledbury,
Colwall
Colwall is a civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated on the border with Worcestershire, nestling on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the heart of the AONB. Areas of the village are known as Colwall Stone, Upper Colwall which sha ...
,
Great Malvern
Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and i ...
,
Malvern Link
Malvern Link is an area of Malvern, Worcestershire, England to the north and east of Great Malvern. The centres of Malvern Link and Great Malvern are separated by Link Common, an area of open land that is statutorily protected by the Malver ...
,
Worcester Foregate Street,
Worcester Shrub Hill (d. 09:10),
Evesham
Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...
,
Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England.
The town stands at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road (now the A429) and the ...
, Oxford,
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
and Paddington (a. 11:55; 12:09 on Saturdays) – returning from Paddington at 17:15 and reaching Hereford at 20:59 (21:18 on Saturdays).
There was a restaurant car service east of Worcester. Through carriages from
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...
to London and ''vice versa'' were also attached/detached at Worcester. It operated until 12 June 1965.
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
re-introduced a named ''Cathedrals Express'' service Mondays to Fridays between Hereford and London Paddington via Worcester and Oxford. The train departs Hereford at 06:42, returning from London Paddington at 18:22 and is currently operated by a
Class 800.
Headboard
![Severn Valley 1940's Weekend (9236426587)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Severn_Valley_1940%27s_Weekend_%289236426587%29.jpg)
This was the last named express with a
headboard to be introduced on British Railways in the steam era.
The headboard design was unusual and somewhat ecclesiastical in design. It did not have the usual border around it and its distinctive feature was the use of a
blackletter font
Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...
, not otherwise used for headboards.
The headboard was surmounted by a
bishop's mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
as a crest in
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
. It was the only train in Britain to carry the image of a
bishop's mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
. Three dimensional crests were relatively uncommon on British headboards, although used more on the Western Region than elsewhere.
Railtours
![Blue Streak (5914639201)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Blue_Streak_%285914639201%29.jpg)
After the withdrawal of mainline steam services, the name ''Cathedrals Express'' was used for a number of steam-hauled railtours in the area of the
Welsh Marches. As the area is scenic, rural, with attractive destination cities and running over lightly trafficked lines, it was a popular venue.
In recent years, the name ''Cathedrals Express'' has been used by Steam Dreams for regular railtours in a variety of locations. One of these, operated by the
West Coast Railways
West Coast Railways (WCR) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator based at Carnforth MPD in Lancashire. Using buildings and other facilities previously owned by the Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the com ...
(WCR), was the scene of the
2015 Wootton Bassett SPAD incident which led to the suspension of WCR's operating licence.
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
also use the name for scheduled diesel services from Hereford (see above).
References
{{Reflist
, refs=
[{{Cite book
, title=Locomotive Headboards
, last=Peel , first=Dave
, year=2006
, publisher=Sutton Publishing
, isbn=0-7509-4462-5
, page=35
]
Named passenger trains of British Rail
Railway services introduced in 1957
1957 establishments in England