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In common with many other tourist attractions, the BVR over recent years has seen a reduction in travel during the July / August peak period, but the "shoulder" months have either held steady or even shown some potential for growth. We have therefore decided that, in common with many other tourist attractions, our daily operating season should run until the end of October. We will also be running trains on weekends in November until the Santa Specials begin. We are already in the process of printing revised timetables, and are confident that we can get these into circulation in sufficient time to make the exercise worthwhile. This means that we will require a steam driver and guard on the 15 days in October and the three weekends in November this year that are currently shown as "white". Please give the railway whatever extra support you are able to at this time, whether it is to help with the running of these trains or with the maintenance tasks from this time of year that will still need to be done - and the construction of the grotto ready for the Santa Specials! Many of us can still remember the days when we packed the trainset away in the box on Christmas Eve and didn't get it out to play with again until Good Friday! For better or worse, those days are gone. The leisure and tourism market has changed; we need to be able to cater for the growing level of out-of-season traffic if we are to survive and prosper in the current challenging climate. Thank you for your continued support. We can't make this work without you. David Lowe |
