Passing evidence of a medieval ridge and furrow field system, 800019 Joy Lofthouse accelerates away from Charlbury station, and passes Shorthampton on 14 February 2019 with the 1W29 14:21 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. I had gone out with the intention of photographing the 5Q13 13:10 Long Marston to Bletchley delivery run of Vivarail's 230005, but as that was cancelled, and as the fog had finally lifted to reveal a perfect sunny day, I set out to investigate some newly cleared Cotswold Line locations instead.

The pile of logs in the foreground is not evidence of some severe vegetation clearance in order to open up the view for photography, but it has certainly helped create a new vantage point. 800019 Joy Lofthouse passes Shorthampton on 22 April 2020 with the 1P24 10:14 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service.

800019 Joy Lofthouse & 800024 approach the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 10 May 2022 with the 1C14 12:31 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The cloudscape does look more impressive than a plain blue sky, but in these conditions of course there is always the risk that the train you wish to photograph will come in a dull spell. No problem here, however!

800019 Joy Lofthouse arrives at Kemble station on 11 October 2022 with the 1G17 13:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. The unit is named after the Second World War Air Transport Auxiliary pilot, who ferried numerous aircraft from factory to operational airfield. This picture is particularly appropriate, a Joy was born and grew up in nearby Cirencester. The siding on the left of the picture is all that remains of what was formerly the connection for the Cirencester branch line.

There is still plenty of late autumn colour at Daylesford on 8 December 2022, as 800019 Johnny Johnson MBE DFM heads north up the Cotswold Line with the late running 1W21 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service.

800019 Joy Lofthouse just manages to stay ahead of the advancing cloud, as it leaves Moreton-in-Marsh on 8 December 2022 with the late running 1P30 13:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. This is the view from Dunstall Bridge, taken on a long lens in order to avoid some foreground shadows.

800019 Johnny Johnson MBE DFM passes Grove on 13 January 2023 with the 1L70 09:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. At the moment this location is surrounded by fields, but one of the sites for the proposed Grove station is close by, and if that doesn't happen (it has been talked about for decades!), the ever expanding village of Grove will probably soon reach here.

800019 Johnny Johnson MBE DFM & 800007 pass Uffington on 18 January 2023 with the 1C16 13:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The leading unit is named after George Leonard Johnson, who was the last surviving member of the Second World War Dambusters raid. He died in December 2022, at the age of 101.

800019 Joy Lofthouse passes Denchworth on the frosty morning of 23 January 2023 with the late running 1L09 06:57 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. It is unusual for this train to be a single five car unit. Either two five cars, or a single nine car set is the booked formation.

800019 Joy Lofthouse & 800015 approach Baulking on 15 February 2023 with the 1C16 13:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Note the unbroken blue sky. According to the BBC it was now raining! Admittedly cloud was slowly approaching from the west, but there wasn't any rain for several hours. Since the BBC ditched the Met Office in favour of MeteoGroup, their forecast has always been good for a laugh!

A dull and damp day at Kingham on 28 March 2023. 800019 Johnny Johnson MBE DFM arrives at the station with the 1W01 09:50 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. At least the lack of any sun allows the use of this viewpoint from the station's new footbridge.

Yet another instance of the increasingly common sight of a Class 800 DMU running with its nose end doors open. 800019 Joy Lofthouse accelerates away from Kemble station on 10 June 2023 with the 1L68 08:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. After decades of being a total jungle, this view was opened up in 2022 when work was undertaken to stabilise the cutting sides.

It is quite common to see GWR IETs running with their nose cones open, but here is a different variation, the nose cone just slightly ajar! 800019 Johnny Johnson MBE DFM passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 10 August 2023 with the late running 1L12 07:23 Carmarthen to Paddington service, which on this occasion had started from Swansea at 08:23.

800020 approaches the farm occupation crossing near Moreton-in-Marsh on 19 April 2018 with the 1W14 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. The bridge in the background is the recently reconstructed Dunstall Bridge.

800020 & 800008 pass Grove on 14 May 2018 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. Just visible in the background is 59202, which is stopped at a red signal on the up relief line with the late running diverted 7A09 06:26 Merehead Quarry to Acton Mendip Rail 'jumbo' stone train.

800020 approaches Clayfield Crossing, near Bretforton, on 19 May 2018 with the 1W29 11:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. The train has just called at Honeybourne station, which is just out of sight around the corner.

800020 Elizabeth Ralph & 800027 speed past Challow on 4 January 2019 with the 1B35 12:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. The massively delayed and hugely over budget electfrication scheme is complete here, and this train is clearly running off the 25Kv overhead. However, in an hour and a half at the lineside I saw several Class 800s pass by inexplicably still running on diesel.

800020 passes Stoulton on 1 June 2019 with the 1P43 10:45 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Extensive tree clearance work has taken place here recently, but unfortunately with the Cotswold Line now being a completely DMU operated railway, there is less of interest to photograph!

800020 passes Dorn (near Moreton-in-Marsh) on 25 May 2020 with the 1P34 15:18 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. After GWR Castles, BR Hymeks, Class 50s and HSTs, the Cotswold Line is now reduced to a DMU only railway!

800020 passes Bretforton on 23 June 2020 with the 1P26 10:58 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Near midday and just two days away from the longest day - hardly the best time to be photographing one of these dark green DMUs!

800020 Elizabeth Ralph passes Little Haresfield on 19 September 2020 with the 1L72 10:58 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. Photo taken from a public footpath crossing, which is used far less by photographers than the farm occupation bridge in the background.

With a row of pollarded willow tress as a backdrop, 800020 heads away from the camera at Collins Lane level crossing, near Purton, with the 1L76 12:58 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service on 6 November 2020.

800020 Elizabeth Ralph & 800007 head west at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, in superb autumnal afternoon lighting on 15 November 2021 with the 1C14 12:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service.

The first sunny day of the new year sees me down at the lineside at Challow once more. 800020 speeds westwards on 4 January 2022 with the 1G17 13:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. There are not that many locations that are clear of shadows at this time of year, even on the Great Western Mainline.

New spring greenery, and a new fence! 800020 passes Chilson on 6 May 2022 with the 1P03 06:43 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. At least the new fence isn't the high palisade type, which even though they are usually green, always spoil the picture.

800020 Elizabeth Ralph & 800003 Queen Victoria pass Minety on 5 July 2022 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. This is the site of Minety & Ashton Keynes station (closed in November 1964).

800020 Bob Woodward passes Brimscombe on 13 April 2023 with the 1G11 10:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. The Thames & Severn Canal can just be seen through the trees on the right. This is being restored, but although this section is in water, it is not yet navigable.

800020 Bob Woodward negotiates the reverse curves near Ham Mill, in the Stroud Valley, with the 1L74 11:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service on 11 November 2023. The houses on the hillside and the various shades of autumn colour in the trees makes this an excellent photographic location, despite a couple of intrusive lineside bushes.

800020 Bob Woodward passes Tumpy Green on 10 January 2024 with the 2E55 09:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. The bank on the left had recently been cleared of trees, opening up this view nicely.

Running nearly an hour late due to the down main line being closed at Didcot, 800021 & 800023 approach Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 18 January 2018 with the 1B27 11:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. 72 cylinders at work here, until they energize the overhead wiring!

New fence, new train! 800021 passes Bretforton on 19 May 2018 with the 1P47 12:06 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. At least the new lineside boundary here isn't one of Network Rail's hideous palisade eyesores.

800021 slowly approaches Hanborough on 18 May 2019 with the 1P43 10:45 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. An all green landscape and a dark green train does not make an ideal photographic combination.

800021 comes off the Cotswold Line at Wolvercote Junction on 28 June 2019 with the 1P33 13:58 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. The bush in the foreground now severely compromises this viewpoint.

800021 & (out of sight behind the bridge) 800004 pass Thingley Junction on 21 September 2019 with the 1C09 10:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The photographers on the bridge are waiting for the much more interesting 47593 Galloway Princess with the Statesman Rail 1Z02 04:47 Ely to Bristol Temple Meads 'Great Western Statesman' railtour.

800021 approaches Oaksey on 21 January 2020 with the 1L74 11:58 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The recent bank strengthening work on the left has ensured that this view is relatively free if shadows. However, vegetation nearer to the bridge is already growing back, meaning this view will probably be compromised again.

800021 passes underneath the farm occupation bridge at Daylesford on 31 December 2020 with the 1P28 11:55 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The footpath that also crosses this bridge has become much more popular in recent years, but on this occasion there was an almost constant procession of walkers enjoying the winter sunshine.

800021 slowly approaches Standish Junction on 1 June 2021 with the 2G97 16:30 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. I'm surprised that heath & safety haven't demanded the extension of the handrails along the grassy bank in the centre of this picture!

800021 & 800033 pass Challow on 29 November 2021 with the 1A13 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. The orange branches of the Lombardy Poplar trees add a bit of colour to the largely monochromatic scene.

800021 is completely dwarfed by the massive ornate entrance to Box Tunnel, as it emerges from the darkness on 31 December 2021 with the 1C10 10:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. This is much more elaborate than the eastern portal, which is largely hidden from public view.

800021 passes Box on 31 December 2021 with the 1A20 12:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service, while 800316 enters Middlehill Tunnel in the background with the 1C12 11:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads train. The strange marks on the white walls of the building on the right are explained by the presence of the window cleaner's van!

A sunny winter morning at Uffington on 17 January 2022. 800021 heads towards London with the 1L10 07:20 Swansea to Paddington GWR service, a train which is usually formed from a pair of five car Class 800/0s, or a single nine car Class 800/3.

800021 passes Steventon on 9 December 2022 with the 1G17 13:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. The silver birch trees in the background make an excellent colour contrast to GWR's dark green livery.

There is a very conveniently placed tree next to the footpath in the field at Uffington, which makes an excellent photographic subject during the winter months. Unfortunately it does also cast a shadow across the line for pictures taken from the nearby footbridge. 800022 & 800016 heads towards London on the perfect winter morning of 28 January 2019 with the 1L34 07:29 Swansea to Paddington GWR service.

Consecutively numbered 800022 & 800023 pass Hungerford Common on 27 February 2019 with the 1C81 12:33 Paddington to Taunton GWR service. After many years of being extremely overgrown, this location had recently been completely cleared

800022 passes the foot crossing near Grove on 11 November 2019 with the 1C12 11:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The close up wide angle viewpoint has required the use of 1/4000sec shutter speed, to fully stop the fast moving train.

800022 passes Uffington on 4 May 2020 with the 1B11 10:48 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Like many other services, this would normally be a nine car Class 800/3, but reduced demand due to the coronavirus crisis, means that a five car unit will easily suffice for the very few passengers still travelling.

Perfect early morning winter light at Challow on 1 December 2020. Consecutively numbered 800022 & 800023 head towards London with the 1L10 07:20 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. This location is one  field away from the main road, in the direction of Denchworth.

800022 races through the diminutive Shipton station on 31 December 2020 with the 1P26 10:58 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The day started with thick fog, and ended with even thicker fog, but during the middle of the day there was almost unbroken sunshine. Unfortunately virtually all the snow of a few days previously had gone, with just a little bit still lying on the grass, and the uprooted fence post in the foreground.

Back in service a few weeks after the entire class was withdrawn due to faulty manufacturing cracks, 800022 crosses the River Avon at Eckington on 16 June 2021 with the 1L66 07:23 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service.

800022 passes Coates on 7 September 2021 with the 1G19 14:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. Just a short distance to the left of this location is Thames Head, the official source of the River Thames. For most of the year there is no water to be seen here, and the more usual source of the river is Lyd Well, about half a mile farther south.

800022 accelerates away from Stroud station on 9 October 2021, with the 1G17 13:30 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. The houses of Stroud can be seen scattered across the hillside in the background. The building on the left is the former Beards Lane crossing keeper's cottage. Both the Beards Lane and the nearby Downfield crossing were closed when the footbridge from which this picture was taken was installed. Gannicox footpath crossing in the background remains open.

800022 passes through Radley station on 22 November 2021 with the late running 1P30 13:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. When I first started taking pictures, none of those trees in the background existed!

Just after sunrise at Purton Common on 26 May 2022. 800022 passes the Hills Waste Solution's waste disposal site with the first train of the day - the 1L60 05:10 Gloucester to Paddington GWR service. Unfortunately the sunshine didn't last much longer, although of course it reappeared for the drive home!

With nose cone open, 800022 speeds past the site of Oaksey Halt on 16 May 2023 with the 1L64 06:48 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The rear nose cone is also open, but that is because it is coupled to 800005 (hidden by the bridge).

Running 106 minutes late, 800022 Tulbahadur Pun VC emerges from the darkness of Croome Perry Wood on 29 May 2023 with the 3L64 06:00 Worcester Hereford Sidings to Cheltenham Spa ECS. This would then form the 1L64 06:48 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service, which naturally left well over an hour late. The lateness was apparently due to a train crew issue.

With nose cone open, 800022 Tulbahadur Pun VC leads classmate 800031 past Uffington on 18 January 2024, as they head towards London with the late running 1L10 07:20 Swansea to Paddington GWR service.

On possibly its first outing on the Great Western Mainline, brand new 800023 passes the site of Ashbury Crossing, Shrivenham, on 15 December 2017 with the late running 5Z01 10:18 North Pole IEP Depot to Bristol Parkway test run. It had worked down from the its birthplace at Newton Aycliffe just four days earlier, running as the 5X80 08:56 Doncaster to North Pole.

800023 approaches Didcot North Junction on 2 August 2018 with the 1W14 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. Note the electfrication masts in the background. Although it is intended to wire the entire Didcot triangle, as far as Appleford, the extension to Oxford is temporarily on hold.

800023 runs along the newly installed down relief line at Wolvercote on 2 August 2018 with the 1W33 16:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. The lights in the foreground indicate that work on the line had only just finished.

800023 rounds the sharp curve at Aston Magna on 13 September 2018 with the 1P22 08:25 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. The unit's diagram would it see it make another southbound trip over the Cotswold Line later in the day.

800023 approaches Charlbury on 13 September 2018 with the 1P33 13:55 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. Although Network Rail have finally done some vegetation clearance here, they have left the hedge, which does obscure what used to be a view across the Evenlode Valley.

800023 passes Daylesford on 22 December 2018 with the 1P51 12:13 Hereford to Paddington GWR service. This location was one of the few spots on the Cotswold Line that had received any lineside vegetation control, prior to Network Rail's much belated mass clearance of the route in 2018. It was still included in the programme. so what was a good photographic location has now become even better. Unfortunately this improvement has corresponded with the replacement of the HSTs with these new DMUs.

The bridge railings, and the overhanging branches of the tree make an ideal frame for 800023, as it passes Lyneham on 25 February 2019 with the 1P33 13:55 Worcester Foregate Street to  Paddington GWR service.

800023 Firefighter Fleur Lombard & 800018 pass Challow on 8 February 2020 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. A nice cloud effect here, but just a little to the west there was almost complete cloud cover, making photography hopeless.

800023 Kathryn Osmond passes Daylesford on 18 July 2020 with the 1P33 16:40 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The sun was just starting to disappear, but as can be seen from the background, it was about to get an awful lot darker!

800023 Kathryn Osmond approaches Sheenhill Crossing, Honeybourne, on 26 November 2020 with the 1P26 10:58 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Long Lartin Prison is situated a short distance behind the train.

800023 Firefighter Fleur Lombard passes Chilson on 21 July 2021 with the 1P24 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Trees have recently been planted on the edge of the field behind the train, so in a few years this view will look very different.

800023 Kathryn Osmond & 800027 pass Challow on 6 October 2021 with the 1A14 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. The 40mph speed restriction sign naturally only applies to the down relief line, which rejoins the mainline a short distance further on.

800023 Kathryn Osmond passes Oaksey on 2 November 2021 with the 2B96 11:59 Cheltenham Spa to Swindon GWR service. All traces of the former Oaksey Halt have now disappeared. The platforms were situated between here and the bridge in the background.

Even GWR's drab dark green Class 800s look photogenic in these conditions! 800023 Kathryn Osmond & 800031 speed past Challow on 29 November 2021 with the late running 1A14 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington service.

800023 Kathryn Osmond passes through Shipton's tiny station on 26 January 2022, as it heads east along the Cotswold Line with the 1P24 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The station is served by just five trains a day, and this isn't one of them.

The driver of 800023 Firefighter Fleur Lombard waves to a group of people on the bridge, as he leaves Kemble station on 5 June 2023 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. Yet another instance of the streamlined Class 800 being not quite so streamlined, as a result of the nose cone doors being left open!

800023 Firefighter Fleur Lombard & 800031 Mazen Salmou approach Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 10 August 2023 with the 1B11 10:48 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Note the severe kink in the down relief line.

800023 Firefighter Fleur Lombard approaches Didcot North Junction in the rain on 26 September 2023 with the late running 1P20 08:15 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. This particular unit seems to have been going round with its nose cone open for several months now.

800024 & 800011 approach Steventon on 15 May 2018 with the 1L38 07:54 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. Using steel rods to reinforce concrete fence posts is fine until the water gets in and rusts the steel. The expansion then destroys the posts. Note how some of these posts have virtually no concrete left on them!

The signals in the distance are off, as 800024 approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 18 May 2018 with the 1W14 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. This is the view from Dunstall Bridge, with the town of Moreton-in-Marsh in the background.

Contrasting technologies at Moreton-in-Marsh on 18 May 2018. 800024 arrives at the station with the 1P25 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service, passing one of Moreton's classic Western Region lower quadrant semaphore signals.

800024 & 800014 pass Uffington on 10 July 2018 with the 1A13 10:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. Although these trains will be operating on this route for decades to come, I thought it worth recording the early years, as the bi-mode units are still running on diesel power, so pantograph down pictures, such as this, should be unusual in years to come.

800024 & 800014 pass Grove on 20 September 2021 with the 1L12 07:25 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. This public footpath crossing affords one of the better views of eastbound trains between Swindon and Didcot.

800024 & (hidden by the bushes) 800004 pass Challow on 29 November 2021 with the 1C09 10:02 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The superb photographic conditions were somewhat localised, with no snow only a few miles to the west.

800024 approaches the Oxfordshire Way footpath crossing, near Ascott-under-Wychwood, as it starts to slow down for the stop at Shipton station on 20 June 2022 with the 1W34 17:57 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service.

800024 & 800007 pass Manningford Bruce on 5 February 2023 with the 1C79 11:02 Paddington to Plymouth GWR service, which on this occasion had started from Reading at 11:29, due apparently, to an unknown cause!

800024 approaches Stroud on 24 March 2023 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The scattered clouds in the background are nothing compared with the dark mass of cloud that was behind me.

800024 approaches Stroud on 24 March 2023 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. I had already taken the conventional approaching picture, but I couldn't resist this view, with the dramatic dark sky.

800024 passes Badgeworth on 7 April 2023 with the 1L78 13:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. This is probably the best time of year for photography here, before the vegetation comes into leaf, but when the sun is high enough to clear the bushes.

800024 is dwarfed by the landscape, as it slowly approaches Standish Junction on 15 May 2023 with the 1G05 07:27 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. The wooded slopes of the Cotswold Hills dominate the background, with the houses of Stonehouse in the middle distance. Leonard Stanley church can just be seen near the left of the picture.

800024 passes Chilson on 15 June 2023 with the 1W02 11:52 Paddington to Hereford GWR service. Although this view has recently been cleared of some vegetation, it is nothing like as open as it was thirty years earlier.

800025 & 800028 pass Challow under an impressive sky on 11 July 2018 with the late running 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Hopefully this will soon be a historic picture, as eventually the unit's pantographs will actually be utilising the massively over budget overhead electfrication!

Running on electric (or at least with their pantographs up!), 800025 & 800035 pass Uffington on 29 October 2018 with the 1B25 10:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. As only the down line was being used for electric running, when these two units passed by in the other direction, a couple of hours earlier, they had their pantographs down.

800025 & 800034 speed underneath Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 29 April 2019 with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. Photo taken from the base of the recently installed, and virtually unused, footbridge.

800025 passes Uffington on 24 July 2019 with the 1L46 09:56 Cardiff Central to Paddington GWR service. A single five unit is much less common on this route than either a nine car unit, or a pair of five car sets.

800025 & 800010 race past Uffington on 19 September 2019 with the 1C17 14:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Let's hope Great Western Railway soon have another livery change, and get rid of this awful dark green colour scheme!

A gloomy and slightly misty day at Stoulton on 23 January 2020. 800025 heads east along the Cotswold Line with the 1P30 13:18 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. This is on the long single track section from Norton Junction to Evesham.

800025 passes Bretforton on 21 May 2020 with the 1W25 12:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. The white edges visible around the doors clearly marks this out as an 800/0, as the 36 members of that sub-class were delivered in white, and then wrapped in green vinyl, leaving the door apertures unwrapped.

Hardly ideal lighting, with random shadows all across the bodyside, but this is my first picture of 800025 since it was named Captain Tom Moore, after the 100 year old former army officer who raised over £30 million pounds by walking 100 laps of his garden. This picture shows the unit at Honeybourne station on 17 December 2020, whilst it was working the 1P22 08:56 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service.

Viewed from the extremely tall Grintleyhill Bridge, 800025 Captain Sir Tom Moore heads south along the Cotswold Line near Combe in perfect spring light on 30 March 2021 with the 1P24 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service.

800025 Captain Sir Tom Moore & 800023 Kathryn Osmond pass Uffington on 22 April 2021 with the 1L12 07:25 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. The oilseed rape was only just coming into flower, as spring this year was proving to be several weeks late.

800025 Captain Sir Tom Moore passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 7 September 2021 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The additional 'Captain Tom 100' graphics underneath the train's name was applied in April 2021, when the unit completed a lengthy two day tour of the GWR area, involving 100 station stops, and covering nearly 1,500 miles.

Captain Tom in the snow. 800025 Captain Sir Tom Moore passes Challow on 29 November 2021 with the 1L11 07:43 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. I don't think I have taken many snow pictures in November before. Global warming seems to be on pause!

In perfect autumn light, 800025 heads west along the Great Western Mainline at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 25 November 2022 with the late running 1B14 12:18 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service.

800025 passes underneath the farm access and footpath bridge at Churchill Heath on 2 January 2023 with the 1P30 13:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. Just visible through the arch is another farm occupation bridge, which now sees very little use.

800025 & 800010 pass Minety on 9 June 2023 with the diverted 1L20 11:27 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. This was running a few minutes late, and quite slowly, as it was right behind the line's normal 1L78 13:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington train.

Just a few weeks old, 800026 still looks smart, despite its awful dark green livery, as it passes Hinksey Yard on 7 February 2018 with the 1P29 12:00 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. It will be a long time before the pantograph on the roof of the leading vehicle gets any use at this location!

800026 accelerates away from Hanborough station in the rain on 12 May 2018 with the 1W07 17:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. Although there has been a welcome clearance of lineside vegetation here, making photography possible once more, unfortunately the traction is not as interesting as it was three decades earlier!

800026 & 800014 approach Oaksey on 3 July 2018 with the late running diverted 1B59 16:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. The train's normal route via the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering works in connection with the massively over budget electfrication programme.

800026 Don Cameron approaches Didcot North Junction on 30 March 2019 with the 1P40 09:45 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Note the masts of the abandoned project to electrify the line to Oxford in the background.

800026 slowly approaches Didcot North Junction on 19 April 2019 with the 1W14 06:50 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service, while 165107 disappears into the distance with the 2L13 07:21 Oxford to Reading train.

Two of GWR's named Class 800 DMUs (and yes, that's all they are, certainly when running on diesel, as here) pass Baulking on 27 April 2019. 800026 Don Cameron & 800009 John Charles are working the 1B40 13:12 Paddington to Swansea service.

Viewed from the private road bridge at Cornbury Park, 800026 pulls away from Charlbury station (just visible in the background) on 30 April 2019 with the 1P22 08:25 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service

High summer at Uffington. 800026 & 800015 head for London on 26 June 2020 with the 1L12 07:21 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. At least the lineside fence here isn't the intrusive metal palisade type.

800026 passes Aldington on 7 September 2020 with the 1P22 08:56 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. This used to be a completely rural location, but now there is a new housing estate right next to the line, just to the left of this picture.

800026 approaches the site of Little & Badsey station on 17 September 2020 with the 1P22 08:56 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The houses on the northern edge of Evesham can be seen in the background.

800026 Don Cameron passes Upper Moor on 6 October 2020 with the 1W21 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. The more well known location of Lower Moor is just around the corner, in the distance.

A wave from the driver of 800026, as it passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, leading an unidentified unit (possibly 800030) with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington GWR service on 19 April 2021. This wideangle view includes not only the footbridge steps, but also the abundant lineside blackthorn blossom.

800026 & 800020 pass Uffington on 20 April 2021 with the 1L12 07:25 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. These units may look stylish (apart from the awful livery), but unfortunately they are a very poor substitute for the HSTs that they replaced. Faster acceleration when running on electric, but in every other way a massive step backwards in quality.

800026 Don Cameron approaches Hungerford Common in a brief burst of sunshine, on what was becoming an increasing cloudy day on 21 April 2021. The train is the 1K16 14:08 Paddington to Bedwyn GWR service.

800026 is the first of the Class 800/0 fleet to have its original green vinyl wrap replaced by a coat of green paint. The 36 members of the 800/0 subclass were easily identifiable from the rest of the 800s and the Class 802s, as their original white livery could be seen around the doors, where the vinyl wrap ended. The difference can be seen here, as the white around the doors of the rear unit (800003 Queen Elizabeth II) can be seen, even at this distance. The train is the 1L12 07:23 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service, pictured passing South Marston on 9 May 2024.

800027 passes Cassington on 18 April 2018 with the 1P25 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. It is a pleasure to find a location that has actually now become better than I have ever known it photographically. After decades of neglect, the Cotswold Line is receiving plenty of attention from the chainsaw, and this viewpoint has benefited greatly.

800027 arrives at Charlbury station on 18 April 2018 with the late running 1W29 14:21 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. Apart from the obvious difference in rail traction, this view differs from pictures I took here in the 1980s, as now virtually all the cars in the car park are either black or silver, with just the occasional white or red vehicle. What a difference to the myriad of bright colours that car manufacturers offered a few decades ago!

Overhead wires, but still no power! 800027 & 800013 speed past Uffington on 26 April 2018 with the 1L51 10:51 Cardiff Central to Paddington GWR service. Two five car units running on diesel will one day be replaced by a single nine car unit running on electricity!

800027 passes the oil depot on the site of Bremell Sidings, as it heads away from is normal route with the 1B55 16:15 Paddington to Swansea GWR service on 6 July 2018. Instead of going via the Severn Tunnel, the train was reaching South Wales via Gloucester.

800027 passes Didcot North Junction on 30 March 2019 with the 1P37 08:43 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The train is taking the Didcot avoiding line, as it is not booked to call at Didcot Parkway station.

Superb lighting, shame about the train! 800027 & 800016 approach Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 5 September 2019 with the 1L42 07:30 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. The recently harvested fields and round bales make a striking contrast with the dark clouds in the background, and more than compensate for the drabness of the EMU's dark green livery.

800027 races past Grove on 11 May 2020 with the 1C11 11:02 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. This is one of several possible sites being considered for the new Grove station, to replace the former Wantage Road station, which was closed in 1964.

Viewed from Dunstall Bridge, 800027 accelerates away from Moreton-in-Marsh station on 5 September 2021 with the 1P63 14:57 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The houses of Moreton-in-Marsh can be glimpsed in the background.

800027 passes Baulking on 14 February 2023 with the 1G17 13:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. I wonder how long it will be before the lineside vegetation grows back and not only hides the concrete reinforcing, but also the trains!

800027 & 800030 pass Manningford Bruce on 15 February 2023 with the 1A77 08:35 Plymouth to Paddington GWR service. 11am, and at last the fog and intermittent cloud had finally cleared, leaving the rest of the day completely sunny.

800027 & 800012 pass Oaksey on 18 July 2024 with the late running 1B07 08:13 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. This was diverted via Gloucester due to the closure of the Severn Tunnel for major engineering works.

In 2018 the two daily trains that serve Ascott-under-Wychwood station are formed of very different stock. The early morning up train utilises a two car Class 165, while the evening down train uses one of the newly built Class 800 units. 800028 arrives at the station on 14 May 2018 with the 1W33 16:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service.

800028 & 800025 approach Steventon on 15 May 2018 with the 1L48 09:23 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. This was slowing down on the approach to a red signal, as moments earlier a large lorry had demolished one of the barriers of Causeway level crossing!

Clearly still running on their underfloor diesel engines, 800028 & 800025 pass Grove on 12 July 2018 with the 1L51 10:56 Cardiff Central to Paddington GWR service. If this was an HST, there would be 32 cylinders powering this train. However, now we have 72!

800028 arrives at Charlbury station on 19 June 2019 with the 1P33 13:58 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. The colour of the lampposts and footbridge is vaguely reminiscent of the original Great Western Railway's colour scheme.

800028 passes Wolvercote on 11 August 2020 with the 1P30 13:18 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. The train has only just left the Cotswold Line, at Wolvercote Junction, just beyond the bridge in the background.

800028 negotiates the reverse curves at Chalford on 21 November 2020 with the 1G15 13:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. Unfortunately this section of line is now heavily wooded, so virtually all of the famous photographic locations from the days of steam no longer exist.

800028 approaches Ascott-under-Wychwood station at speed on 19 July 2021 with the 1P22 08:56 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Just one train a day in each direction calls at this station, Mondays to Fridays only. 

800028 passes Purton on 4 December 2021 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. Collins Lane level crossing can just be seen on the left of the picture. The clump of bushes on the right marks the site of a former pond, a once common feature in permanent pasture such as this.

Photographed from a little used public footpath crossing, 800028 passes Bretforton on 11 February 2022 with the 1P28 11:55 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The train is just passing over Clayfield level crossing.

800028 & 800017 pass Challow on 8 March 2022 with the 1L11 07:43 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The cloud in the background was rapidly advancing, and would soon put an end to the early morning sunshine.

After over four decades of railway photography, it is a bit of a surprise that I can still find new viewpoints on my local Cotswold Line. Although I have taken many pictures from the bridge at Churchill Heath (seen here in the background), this is the first time that I have visited this particular spot, near the little copse of Scots Pine trees. 800028 heads south on 2 January 2023 with the 1P28 11:55 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service.

A precision fit! 800028 passes Churchill Heath on 8 February 2023 with the 1W27 13:50 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. I had already worked out that there was just enough room to get a five coach Class 800 in the gap between the bushes, but it was a case of firing off a bust at ten frames per second, and hoping one was spot on - which it was! The River Evenlode is in the foreground. While waiting for this train I caught a glimpse of an otter diving into the water.

At least some of the trees in the lineside wood at Uffington are showing some autumn colour on 17 November 2023, as 800028 heads towards London with the 1L68 08:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service.

Plenty of evidence of recent lineside clearance near Moreton-in-Marsh on 21 April 2018. 800029 approaches Dunstall Bridge with the 1W12 05:47 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. This was running nearly half an hour late, or in other words, on time by 2018 Cotswold Line standards!

800029 approaches Honeybourne on 5 May 2018 with the 1W02 10:35 Maidenhead to Hereford GWR service, just as 37601 Perseus moves off after a brief pause on the Long Marston branch, as it hauls EMU 350234, running as the 5Q94 08:55 Northampton EMD to Long Marston. Engineering works meant that all Cotswold Line trains were starting from Maidenhead. Note the recent trackside clearance on the right.

Diesel power under the wires. Still unable to make use of the yet to be commissioned overhead electrification, 800029 speeds past Challow on 14 May 2018 with the 1B31 12:15 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service.

800029 & 800015 pass Hungerford Common on 27 February 2019 with the 1C84 14:03 Paddington to Penzance GWR service. 165113, working the 1K23 14:40 Bedwyn to Paddington train can just be seen hiding in the bushes in the background.

800029 passes South Marston on 1 February 2020 with the 1G15 12:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. A new footbridge, and a gap in the masts on the south side of the line, makes this a popular spot for photographers.

800029 passes Chilson on 15 April 2020 with the 1P03 07:30 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. The rather scrappy oilseed rape crop in the foreground will add some colour to this view in a few weeks time.

The driver of 800029 washes the windscreen, as he passes Stoke Orchard on 12 August 2020 with the 1L66 07:23 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. The location's name is not as appropriate as it used to be, as the field on the right was formerly an orchard.

800029 & 800022 approach Collins Lane level crossing, Purton, on 6 November 2020 with the diverted 1Z17 13:18 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Bridge reconstruction work at Patchway had closed the train's normal route via the Severn Tunnel.

Viewed from Sheenhill Crossing, 800029 passes Honeybourne on 26 November 2020 with the 1W21 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. A pleasant location, in the middle of nowhere, approached by a long footpath across the fields.

800029 Evette Wakely passes Baulking under an impressive cloudscape on 20 March 2022 with the late running 1L34 07:53 Swansea to Paddington GWR service. The churned up field in the foreground is the result of it usually being the home to several horses - absent on this occasion.

800029 Evette Wakely nears journey's end, as it passes Little Bedwyn on 23 March 2022 with the 1K08 10:07 Paddington to Bedwyn GWR service. Just visible by the bush on the left is a motorcyclist on the Little Bedwyn to Great Bedwyn road.

800029 Christopher Dando leaves Oxford station on 9 May 2024 with the 1P33 16:00 GWR service to Paddington. The train is weaving across from the down platform, where it had arrived a little earlier with the 1D28 14:23 Paddington to Oxford service.

Running a staggering 68 minutes late, 800029 Christopher Dando passes through Ascott-under-Wychwood station on 19 July 2024 with the 1W30 15:23 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service, which due to this late running, was terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill. Whilst the delay of over an hour is thankfully reasonably uncommon, Cotswold Line punctuality is terrible. Every day there are delays, with late running and cancellations commonplace. To prove the point, the following train, the 1W31 15:52 Paddington to Great Malvern was cancelled!

Brand new 800030 leaves Honeybourne station on 24 February 2018 with the 1P40 09:45 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Like a lot of Cotswold Line services in early 2018, this train actually started from Worcester Shrub Hill. The Great Malvern to Worcester section of the line is seeing an appalling level of services, with numerous trains cancelled. The line as a whole has seen a massive nose dive in reliability, despite the introduction of these new trains. On this day however, there were 'only' three complete cancellations!

800030 accelerates away from Charlbury station on 26 March 2018 with the 1P29 12:00 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. This location, on the road to Cornbury Park, has recently been cleared of much lineside vegetation, after years of total neglect. Although this has opened up this afternoon viewpoint nicely, not much has been done to the other side, which in the 1980s was still totally free of bushes. Charlbury church can be seen amid the trees in the distance.

800030 approaches Moreton-in-Marsh on 2 May 2018 with the 1W33 16:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. This is the recently cleared view from Dunstall Bridge, which except for the awkwardly placed sign, is now just as good photographically as it was thirty years ago.

This view clearly shows the hideous eyesore that the electfrication project has inflicted upon the Great Western Mainline. Unfortunately, this viewpoint, from the new footbridge at Uffington, never existed before electfrication. Running very slowly because of high rail temperatures, 800030 heads west on 27 July 2018 with the 1B63 17:15 Paddington to Carmarthen GWR service.

800030 brings up the rear of the 5Z71 14:19 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington ECS at Hungerford Common on 27 September 2018, with 800027 leading. The train had just called at Hungerford station, during which time it seemed to move forward and stop again. It was booked to wait in Hungerford up loop for 24 minutes, but that clearly was not possible, as the 7A77 11:41 Merehead Quarry to Theale Mendip Rail stone train can be seen occupying that in the background.

They've got their new trains, and the line has been electrified, but still GWR's timekeeping is abysmal. It makes you wonder what they will blame delays on in the future, when everything has been supposedly upgraded! Running 44 minutes late, 800030 & 800007 pass Challow on 15 November 2018 with the 1Z38 08:56 Cardiff Central to Paddington service. This was running suspiciously slowly, which probably explains why the 27 minute delay in leaving Newport had doubled by the time it got to London. This was a replacement for the 1L38 07:59 Swansea to Paddington, which was cancelled at Port Talbot Parkway. GWR really needs to get their act together, as this was by no means the only late running train I saw during the short period I was at the lineside.

800030 passes Uffington on 28 January 2020 with the 1H24 09:44 Weston-super-Mare to Paddington GWR service. The use of a wideangle lens, and the inclusion of the footbridge handrails, was to compensate for the dullness of the subject!

800030 approaches Clayfield level crossing, near Bretforton, on 5 May 2020 with the 1W02 11:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. The lineside vegetation, which was completely cleared here, has already started to re-grow and restrict the view from the crossing.

800030 passes South Marston on 21 May 2020 with the 1L70 09:58 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The reduced service due to the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the unusual situation of most of GWR's trains actually running to time!

Viewed from the now truncated road that formerly crossed the line at Ashbury Crossing, 800030 passes Shrivenham in a sunny gap between the clouds on 10 February 2021 with the 1G11 10:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service.

800030 Henry Cleary passes underneath the distinctive concrete footbridge at Little Bedwyn on 21 July 2021 with the 1K18 15:07 Paddington to Bedwyn GWR service. Recent tree clearance has made this late afternoon view possible once again.

800030 Henry Cleary & 800012 pass underneath the B4000 roadbridge at Shrivenham on 1 November 2021 with the 1A14 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. The former access point in the foreground is left over from when the field to the left was converted into a work site for the electrification of the route in 2017.

A slightly questionable signalling decision at Standish Junction on 13 January 2022. 800030 Henry Cleary weaves across the junction from the Swindon line with the 1G11 10:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service, while in the background 60020 The Willows approaches with the 6B13 05:00 Robeston to Westerleigh oil tanks. This had been held in Haresfield Loop (just around the corner) as booked, only to be let out as this unit approached, therefore having to be held at the signal. Therefore the loco had to move its heavyweight train from a standing start twice within a couple of minutes, needlessly wasting diesel.

800030 Lincoln Callaghan passes Hinksey Yard on 9 January 2023 with the 1P25 12:02 Oxford to Paddington GWR service. Presumably there is no indication in the cab of a Class 800 that the front coupling door is open. Either that, or if there is, it is not considered important.

800030 Henry Cleary & 800017 pass South Marston in perfect winter light on 19 January 2023 with the 1B15 12:48 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Obviously it is not as sunny to the east, judging by the clouds in the background.

The blackthorn is in full bloom, as 800030 Henry Cleary passes Badgeworth on 7 April 2023 with the 1G09 09:29 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. Apart from the unsightly radio mast, the foreground blackthorn bushes, and the loss of one of the trees in the background, are about the only significant changes at this location since the 1990s.

800030 Henry Cleary passes Baulking on 9 October 2023 with the 1C16 13:30 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. This location is approximately half way between Challow and Uffington, in the Vale of White Horse.

Five to go! 800031 makes its maiden run along the Great Western Mainline on 16 February 2018 with the 5X30 14:17 North Pole IEP Depot to Swindon test run. The previous day it had worked down from the North east as the 5X80 08:56 Doncaster Carr to North Pole IEP. The five car Class 800/0s for GWR are numbered 800001 to 800036, so only five more of these have yet to arrive, plus of course the nine car Class 800/3s, and the Class 802s.

The new order at Uffington. A new footbridge for a different view, new overhead catenary for an impeded view, and something new to photograph. 800031 & 800008 head eastwards on 26 April 2018 with the 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service.

800031 passes Cashes Green on 30 June 2018 with the diverted 1B40 13:12 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. The train actually started from Reading at 13:40, allegedly due to a problem with the brakes. Not bad for a brand new train!

The sheep take no notice, as 800031 passes Daylesford on 22 December 2018 with the 1W33 12:22 Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh GWR service. Kingham church, over a mile distant, can just be seen amid the trees above the middle of the train.

800031 comes off the Cotswold Line at Wolvercote Junction on 29 January 2020 with the 1P24 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The building on the left marks the approximate position of the former Wolvercote Junction Signal Box.

800031 passes Badsey on 9 May 2020 with the 1P26 11:11 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. The houses in the distance are in the Greenhill district of Evesham, a ribbon development along the main road towards Alcester.

800031 accelerates away from Charlbury station, and passes Cornbury Park, with the 1P26 10:58 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service on 4 August 2020. After some recent vegetation clearance here, the pruning only seems to have encouraged even faster growth!

Sunshine, dark clouds, and a field of oilseed rape make a perfect (if slightly overpowering) photographic combination at Uffington on 18 May 2021. 800031 heads eastwards with the 1L66 07:23 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service.

800031 Mazen Salmou races past Uffington on 6 September 2021 with the 1G17 13:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. There is just the right amount of room for an unobstructed view of a five car unit!

800031 & 800010 pass Challow on 6 October 2021 with the 1B13 11:48 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. In steam days there was originally a down refuge siding here, prior to the line being quadrupled in 1932. This was later reduced to two tracks, and then re-quadrupled in 1993.

800031 passes Baulking on 5 January 2022 with the 1L66 07:24 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. As the early morning shadows were more extensive than I thought they would be, I included the fully lit roadside hedge and gate in the picture. I had hoped that the horses that occupy this field would obligingly stand by the gate, but as you can see from the ears poking up above the hedge, they didn't!

800031 Charlotte Marsland passes Challow on 8 March 2022 with what would normally be the 1L66 07:24 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. However, because the 6V15 20:18 Boston Sleaford Sidings to Swindon Stores steel train had failed at Sapperton, blocking the line, this unit had taken a slightly different route. It got as far as Gloucester as the 1L66, but then became the 5L66 08:13 Gloucester to Swindon empty stock working, travelling via Westerleigh Junction. It was then booked to work the very quickly arranged 1Z66 09:02 Swindon to Paddington, but clearly that wasn't going to leave on time, due to the longer route taken. It is pictured here running 20 minutes late.

800031 Charlotte Marsland takes the Swindon line at Standish Junction on 3 September 2023 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. Although still quite restricted by lineside vegetation, this location is actually much better than it was a few years earlier.

800031 Mazen Salmou leads an unidentified classmate past Uffington on 25 November 2023 with the 1B28 11:46 Paddington to Carmarthen GWR service. This picture could easily have been spoiled by a brightly coloured car or large van travelling along the road by the hedge!

800032 races through Ascott-under-Wychwood station on 21 March 2018 with the 1P22 08:25 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. There would be very little prospect of anybody getting in the way of my picture here, as the next train to call at the platform I am standing on is over eight hours away!

800032 & (hidden by the bushes) 800012 pass Uffington in a very brief patch of sunshine on 26 July 2018 with the 1C13 12:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The golden stubble of the recently harvested field in the foreground contrasts nicely with the drab green livery of the train.

Summer 2018 sees a mixture of Class 165s, 166s, HSTs and Class 800s operating services over the Cotswold Line, with a gradual increase in the latter. 800032 is seen here passing Badsey on 4 August 2018 with the 1P47 12:06 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service.

Rural and industrial landscape, with partly hidden train! This is a location that I had been meaning to visit for years, but which turned out to be hardly worth the walk! 800032 emerges from the bushes at Milton on 30 March 2019, as it heads west along the Great Western Mainline with the 1C13 12:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. I particularly wanted to take a picture here, before the remaining cooling towers of the Didcot 'A' Power Station are demolished. The chimneys on the right are part of the gas fired 'B' plant.

With the electfrication complete, and all Hitachi bi-mode units delivered, most services on the Great Western Mainline have settled down to either nine car operation, or a pair of five cars units. There are a few single five car workings, such as this one. 800032 passes Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 29 April 2019 with the 1L36 08:32 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service.

After a largely dull start to the day, the sun starts breaking through the early morning clouds at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth, on 1 February 2020, as 800032 passes by with the 1L66 07:58 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service.

800032 passes the site of Littleton & Badsey station on 5 February 2020 with the 1W21 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. The station was situated just the other side of the level crossing behind the train, and the small goods yard occupied the land where the industrial buildings now stand. The station closed in 1966.

800032 & 800002 pass Uffington on 24 March 2021 with the 1C17 14:02 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. What a pity trains on my local line now sport such a dark and drab livery. It's not even real GWR brunswick green!

With the front coupling cover wide open, 800032 passes Stoke Orchard on 14 June 2021 with the 1G01 05:35 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. The garden of the newly renovated house by the railway certainly has a good display of poppies.

800032 Iain Bugler passes South Marston on 16 September 2022 with the 1L70 09:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The few small clouds in the background give a false impression of what the weather was like, as there were much larger clouds behind me!

800032 Sarah Williams-Martin passes Collins Lane level crossing, Purton, on 17 January 2023 with the 1L74 11:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The flooded gateway was still mostly frozen, but it still required some careful footwork to avoid getting soaked!

800032 Iain Bugler approaches Churchill Heath on 8 February 2023 with the 1P30 13:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. Considering that this is on my local line, I am really surprised that this is only my second visit to this location. The first was for a morning picture in 1987, and so this is my first picture taken from this particular angle. Kingham station can just be glimpsed through the bridge on the left, and the former Langston Arms Hotel (now a retirement home) dominates the background.

800032 Sarah Williams-Martin passes Uffington on 25 April 2023 with the 1L66 07:24 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. Most Worcester to London trains obviously use the Cotswold Line, but this one travels the long way, via Cheltenham.

The Cotswold Line was closed for engineering works between Moreton-in-Marsh and Worcester Shrub Hill on Sunday 8 October 2023, which resulted in trains from the south reversing at Moreton. This manoeuvre was made much easier by the relatively recently installed semaphore signal allowing up trains to depart from the down platform. 800032 Sarah Williams-Martin is seen here passing the semaphore signals as it leaves Moreton-in-Marsh station with the 1P55 13:53 GWR service to Paddington.

800032 Iain Bugler passes the site of Minety & Ashton Keynes station on 19 September 2024 with the 1L78 13:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The former station may have been convenient for Minety, but the village of Ashton Keynes is nearly two miles away!

Brand new 800033 passes Wolvercote on 18 March 2018 with the 1P45 11:14 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. In the foreground is the reinstated down relief line, which during the last few years has been installed, lifted, and reinstalled again!

800033 passes Dunstall Bridge, Moreton-in-Marsh, on 5 April 2018 with the 1P22 08:25 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. There are various viewpoints possible at this location, and for this one I have deliberately gone for the 'train in the landscape' type of picture.

800033 leaves Moreton-in-Marsh station on 10 October 2018 with the 1P37 15:51 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. Just visible between the signal box and the footbridge is the framework for the new up platform waiting shelter, replacing the old one that was removed a few weeks previously.

800033 approaches Shipton on 18 July 2020 with the 1W15 10:50 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. A dull day, but a decent photo would not be possible here in sunny conditions due to the angle of the line, and the overhanging trees.

800033 & 800027 speed past Uffington on 22 July 2020 with the 1L12 07:21 Carmarthen to Paddington GWR service. I doubt if there was really a need to erect the ultra secure palisade fence in the background, as it is only a pasture field, with no roads or houses nearby.

800033 passes underneath one of the over engineered four track 25kV gantries that have so spoiled the Great Western Mainline. It is approaching the site of Challow station on 19 October 2020 with the 1G15 12:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service.

800033 passes Uffington on 8 March 2021 with the 1B15 12:48 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. Note the new palisade fence in the background, which is surely a bit over the top considering the height of the fence on this side of the line!

800033 passes Cornbury Park on 21 July 2021 with the 1P22 08:56 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. It is accelerating away from Charlbury station, which used to be visible from this spot, but is now hidden by the trees in the background.

Having just traversed the curve from Didcot East Junction, 800033 approaches Didcot North Junction on 29 July 2021 with the 1D14 07:20 Paddington to Oxford GWR service. The original plan was to electrify this line along with the Great Western Mainline in 2017, but it was deferred due to spiraling costs.

800033 passes South Marston on 24 August 2021 with the 1H22 07:56 Paignton to Paddington GWR service. This location has actually improved since the electfrication of the route, as previously there wasn't a footbridge.

800033 Martin Heath passes Ashchurch on 2 June 2022 with the 1G01 05:35 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill GWR service. The rusty footbridge is a well know photographic vantage point. Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station can be seen in the background.

800033 Martin Heath passes Uffington on 6 February 2023 with the 1L66 07:24 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. With nothing to shade the line in the low winter light, and the lack of masts on the south side of the line, this is one of the better photographic locations between Swindon and Didcot.

A traffic jam at Cheltenham on 23 June 2023. 800033 Emma Hurrell waits at a red signal with the 1G09 09:31 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service, as it is unable to proceed into the station, as the platform is still occupied by the late running 2G50 09:16 Maesteg to Cheltenham Spa Transport for Wales DMU.

The 2E53 08:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service is normally operated by a Class 165 or 166 Turbo unit, but on 4 September 2023, 800033 Martin Heath was used. It is seen here accelerating away from Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station.

After calling at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station, 800033 Martin Heath gets underway again on 4 September 2023 with the 2T43 10:52 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. This train is usually operated by a Class 166 Turbo unit.

800033 Martin Heath passes through Finstock station on 24 January 2024 with the 1P24 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Quite why there is such a recent prevalence of these trains running with their nose cones open is a mystery.

800033 Martin Heath leaves Oxford station on 9 May 2024 with the 1P35 17:00 GWR service to Paddington. Note the works compound at the back of the car park. This is in connection with the replacement of the adjacent Botley Road underbridge.

800033 Martin Heath passes the site of Stonehouse (Bristol Road) station on 29 July 2024 with the 2E51 07:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Gloucester GWR service. The former station master's house in the background is the only survival of the station, which closed in 1966.

800034 stands at Honeybourne station on 20 March 2018 with the 1P33 13:55 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. As this was a very dull day, I decided to take the opportunity to take a picture from what would normally be the shady side of the train, especially as the train was stopped in exactly the right spot.

After years of total neglect, 2018 finally sees some vegetation clearance along the Cotswold Line. Several large trees have disappeared from this view from Dunstall Bridge, Moreton-in-Marsh. 800034 heads north on 5 April 2018 with the 1W14 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service.

800034 passes underneath the farm occupation bridge at Churchill Heath on 22 October 2018 with the 1P33 13:55 Worcester Foregate Street to Paddington GWR service. The bridge was reconstructed a few years ago, but they seemed to have retained the original bridge's wing walls.

My first picture of an electrically propelled train at Circourt Bridge, Denchworth. 800034 & 800014 head towards the capital on the unexpectedly sunny morning of 15 November 2018 with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. It was mostly diesel hydraulics when I first visited this location in 1973. In those days I never thought this line would ever be electrified, and indeed it is several years late and massively over budget, so not quite the triumph that the rail authorities claim, especially when these EMUs are the replacements for the iconic HSTs!

800034 approaches Wantage Road in dramatic lighting on 11 November 2019 with the 1C17 14:03 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. Photo taken from a little used public footpath crossing, which used to offer a good view in both directions, but now requires the use of a wide angle lens.

800034 Jo Prosser passes Chalford on 4 July 2022 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. This excellent viewpoint is now getting a little overgrown, both on the trackside, and from an increasingly small gap in the hedge through which this picture was taken.

Running 27 minutes late, 800034 Jo Prosser approaches Lyneham on 15 December 2022 with the 1P26 10:59 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. The late running was caused by the unit's previous train, the 1W15 07:50 Paddington to Great Malvern, arriving at its destination 47 minutes late. I was surprised that they didn't just turn it round at Worcester, like they usually do in such circumstances.

800034 Jo Prosser approaches Uffington on 2 March 2023 with the late running 1A09 06:55 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. Longcot church stands out clearly in the early morning sunshine in the background.

800035 accelerates away from Charlbury station on 22 June 2018 with the 1W14 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. The pantographs on the roof of this bi-mode unit will certainly never be needed on this section of line!

800035 passes Churchill Heath on 22 June 2018 with the 1W33 16:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. These DMUs unusually do not have engines under every vehicle, the two outer driving vehicles being unpowered.

With the River Severn and the Cotswold Hills forming the scenic backdrop, 800035 passes Wellhouse Bay on 28 June 2018 with the late running diverted 1B63 17:15 Paddington to Carmarthen GWR service. The train's normal route via the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering works.

A picture that sums up the scorching summer of 2018. 800035 & 800021 pass the scorched vegetation at Steventon on 2 August 2018, as the heads towards the capital with the 1A11 09:30 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service.

800035 approaches Finstock at speed on 3 October 2018 with the late running 1W23 11:22 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. It is passing one of the newly installed signs telling drivers where to stop for Finstock's very short platform.

Late October 2018 finally saw Class 800s running on electric between Didcot and Swindon, but only in the down direction. So here we see 800035 & 800025 still with their pantographs down, passing Uffington on 29 October 2018 with the 1A09 07:12 Taunton to Paddington GWR service. They would return later, pantographs up, with the 1B25 10:45 Paddington to Swansea service.

800035 passes Lower Moor on 1 June 2019 with the 1W29 11:22 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. These new DMUs may be an improvement on the trains that were formerly operated by Turbo units, but the same defintly cannot be said for the switch from HSTs!

There is just a sufficient gap to include all of a five coach unit in this view at Chilson, taken on 15 April 2020. 800035 heads east along the Cotswold Line with the 1P20 08:13 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service.

It is unusual to get a decent covering of snow in November, but on 29 November 2021, the previous night's snow was bathed in some superb sunshine, so I went to Challow to take a few pictures. 800035 is pictured heading west with the 1G11 10:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service.

800035 Liz Gallagher speeds past Grove on 26 April 2022 with the 1L68 08:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. Just visible in the background is 70813, waiting on the up relief line with the 6M50 07:59 Westbury to Bescot departmental working.

800035 Naomi Betts arrives at Moreton-in-Marsh on 10 May 2022 with the 1W17 08:50 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. There used to be an evening shot from the other side of the bridge in the 1980s, but clearly the tall trees now prevent that, it the sun is out!

800035 Naomi Betts races past Uffington on 18 January 2023 with the 1B14 12:18 Paddington to Cardiff Central GWR service. After a clear start, the clouds were starting to build up, but luckily they all soon melted away again.

800035 Naomi Betts passes milepost 75¾ near Stonesfield on 25 January 2023, as it traverses the Cotswold Line with the 1P24 09:54 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. Unfortunately only this head on view is now possible from the bridge on the Stonesfield to Wilcote road.

Passing an abundance of both flowering hawthorn bushes and lineside signage, 800035 Liz Gallagher slowly approaches Charlbury on 24 May 2023 with the 1P18 07:13 Great Malvern to Oxford GWR service. This train would normally carry on to Paddington, but the line south of Oxford was closed for repairs to Nuneham Viaduct over the River Thames.

800035 Liz Gallagher leaves Cheltenham on 23 June 2023 with the 2T43 10:52 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. This is the first time that I have visited this location since 1988!

800035 Naomi Betts & 800013 round the curve at Crofton on 30 April 2024 with the late running 1C82 13:03 Paddington to Plymouth GWR service. The world famous Crofton Pumping Station can be seen in the background.

800035 Liz Gallagher heads north at Bredon on 27 June 2024 with the 2E53 08:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. It was almost on time here, but in true GWR tradition, it managed to arrive at Worcester, only a few miles away, 13 minutes late!

Glimpsed through a gap in the lineside trees and bushes, a farmer ploughs the field in the background, as 800035 Naomi Betts passes Oaksey on 5 October 2024 with the 1G19 14:32 Paddington to Gloucester GWR service.

800035 Liz Gallagher arrives at Charlbury station on 28 November 2024 with the 1P26 10:59 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. As is usual with the Cotswold Line, on this day most trains were late, this being one of the more punctual ones.

Brand new 800036 approaches Charlbury station on 11 June 2018 with the late running 1W14 06:52 Paddington to Great Malvern GWR service. This photo is taken from the road bridge that gives access to Cornbury Park.

800036 heads down the Cotswold Line near Stonesfield on 2 July 2018 with the 1P14 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington GWR service. This train has seen three different forms of motive power within as many months. It started 2018 as a Class 165 working, was then upgraded to a HST service, and has now been downgraded again to a Class 800 DMU.

A deliberately wide view of 800036 & 800032, as they pass Hungerford Common on 21 September 2018 with the diverted 1A10 09:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington GWR service. The train was diverted via the Berks & Hants due to the failure of an axle counter at Challow. Note the tree stumps on the left, proving just how much this view has been altered.

Still inexplicably running on diesel power, even though the overhead wires are energised, 800036 & 800008 pass Challow on 4 January 2019 with the 1C15 13:00 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service.

With its nose cone open, revealing the normally hidden Dellner coupler, 800036 speeds past Uffington on 19 September 2019 with the 1B35 12:45 Paddington to Swansea GWR service. In over two years of photographing Class 800s on the mainline, this is only the second time that I have seen one running with its front nose cone open.

800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE passes Stoke Orchard on 2 June 2021 with the 1L66 07:23 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington GWR service. Green train, green landscape, so apart from the early morning light, not the ideal photographic situation!

800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE passes Wolvercote on 17 July 2021 with the 1W27 16:50 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street GWR service. Depending on signalling requirements, northbound passenger trains can also approach along the line on the right.

800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE & (hidden by the bushes) 800004 pass Uffington on 25 November 2021 with the 1C14 12:32 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads GWR service. The leaves on the overhanging branches of the oak tree add some welcome autumn colour to the scene. Not much effort is required to locate this spot, as the picture is taken from the side of the Uffington to Fernham road.

800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE passes Oaksey on 20 January 2022 with the 1G17 13:28 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa GWR service. The train has just traversed the flat landscape around Swindon, and is now starting to approach the southern slopes of the Cotswold Hills.

800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE takes the Swindon line at Standish Junction on 6 August 2022 with the late running 1L68 08:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. This is the point where the Swindon and Bristol lines start to run at different levels.

800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE passes Moredon on 18 October 2022 with the 1L72 10:59 Cheltenham Spa to Paddington GWR service. The forecast had said full sun by mid morning, but at home it was still mostly foggy. I took a chance, but was beginning to get worried, as on the drive to the Swindon area the sun only broke through the fog a few times. Luckily just a mile before this location, I drove out of the fog. The edge of the bank of fog can clearly be seen in the background.

An hour before sunset, and the light is getting low at Churchill Heath on 2 January 2023, as 800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE heads south along the Cotswold Line with the 1P04 13:18 Hereford to Paddington GWR service.

In early 2024 the number of GWR IETs running with their nose doors open seems to have increased dramatically. 800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE passes South Marston on 19 January 2024 with the 1G17 13:32 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa service. Although I only saw this one westbound train with its doors open, for some unexplained reason almost half of the trains travelling on the opposite direction had the nose cone doors open!

800036 Dr Paul Stephenson OBE slowly approaches Oxford on 10 June 2024 with the 1P26 10:59 Great Malvern to Paddington GWR service. This would not get much further, as it was terminated at Oxford due to a fatality at Maidenhead.