7820 Dinmore Manor is a

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 ...

locomotive, part of the Manor Class. It is one of nine locomotives preserved from the class, which originally numbered 30. Named after the ancient 12th century

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

preceptory A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

Dinmore Manor Dinmore Manor House is a large rural house in a well-wooded, hilly part of Herefordshire in the least populous parish of the county, Dinmore. It was substantially rebuilt in late 16th century, altered around 1830 and extended around the year 19 ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, the locomotive was built to a Great Western Railway design by

in the ex-Great Western Works at Swindon in 1950, and was initially based at Oswestry. It was withdrawn from service in November 1965 from Shrewsbury, having been the last of its class to run with BR, and moved to

Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, Wales, Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Bar ...

scrapyard A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and ...

in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan,

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. The locomotive was purchased in 1979 by the

Gwili Railway The Gwili Railway (Welsh: ''Rheilffordd Gwili'') is a Welsh heritage railway, that operates a preserved standard gauge railway line from the site of Abergwili Junction (near Carmarthen) in southwest Wales along a section of the former Carmarth ...

and was moved to

Bronwydd Arms Bronwydd is a village and a community in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated about three miles north of Carmarthen in the valley of the River Gwili. Bronwydd community comprises the village of Bronwydd Arms, a couple of nearby hamlets ...

for restoration. A lack of facilities and funds resulted in very little restoration work being carried out, with the locomotive being sold in 1983. The engine was eventually restored at the

Birmingham Railway Museum Tyseley Locomotive Works, formerly the Birmingham Railway Museum, is the engineering arm of steam railtour promoter Vintage Trains based in Birmingham, England. It occupies part of the former Great Western Railway's Tyseley depot, built in 1 ...

, with the West Somerset Railway Company providing a financial 'leg-up' to the owning Dinmore Manor Fund in 1995 to help finish the job. The engine then made its debut on the West Somerset Railway over the summer of 1995, and ran there for nearly 9 years. The locomotive's first ten-year boiler certificate expired in July 2004, with the engine eventually returning to the Tyseley Locomotive Works for overhaul. This was completed in April 2014, and ''Dinmore Manor'' subsequently entered service at its new base at the

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWR, GWSR or Gloucs-Warks Steam Railway) is a volunteer-run heritage railway which runs along the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border of the Cotswolds, England. The GWSR has restored and reo ...

. While it remains based there, the locomotive has visited various other lines since resteaming. In August and September 2014, it worked on the

North Norfolk Railway The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limite ...

, before revisiting the

West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which is ...

in October. The engine then visited the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

at Loughborough in January & February 2015 before returning to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway until July of that year, when the engine went on loan to the

Dartmouth Steam Railway The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between and in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer touri ...

until the end of August, before visiting the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...

in November, where it ran alongside its GWR built sisters 7802 and 7812, to mark 50 years since all 3 were among the last 4 members of the class (along with fellow survivor 7821) to be withdrawn by BR in November 1965. After returning to Toddington for the winter and up to June 2016, the loco was again loaned to the DSR during the summer before returning to the GWSR where it currently remains. It visited the

Churnet Valley Railway The Churnet Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway in the Staffordshire Moorlands of Staffordshire, England. It operates on part of the former Churnet Valley Line.which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway. ...

for that line's 25th anniversary gala during October 2017.

Allocations

References

External links

Dinmore Manor Locomotive Limited

7820 Railway locomotives introduced in 1950 7820 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain individual locomotives of Great Britain 4-6-0 locomotives {{UK-steam-loco-stub