DESPITE many false alarms since 2016, Britain could well leave the European Union in 2020. What, however, is not for one minute shrouded in a veil of uncertainty and doubt is the fact that the Great Western Society will, in Birmingham on February 8, be presented with the Heritage Railway Association’s (HRA) new Chairman’s Special Award for an achievement of particular distinction – the culmination of a marathon 45-year project to re-create Churchward Saint 4-6-0, one of the most influential locomotive types in UK railway history.
No. 2999 Lady of Legend invites direct parallels with the story of Britain‘s EU membership. For the purchase of No. 4942 Maindy Hall from Dai Woodham’s Barry scrapyard, the locomotive which has been ‘devolved’ into a unique example of the predecessor of its class, was completed on December 31, 1973… just 24 hours before Britain joined the Common Market and so avoided having to pay VAT on the deal!
