WITH bunting on order and Union Flags ready to wave, the Severn Valley Railway’s Step Back to the 1940s weekends are making a return, with a packed schedule of events.

 A key highlight of the SVR’s visitor calendar, the much-loved weekends will be steaming in to transform the entire attraction into a colourful snapshot of wartime Britain, on Saturday, June 27, and Sunday, June 28, and Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5.

Stoked-up and ready, the heritage steam engines will be running an intensive service of ‘evacuation’ trains complete with groups of evacuees, along the railway’s 16-mile span, from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth, during both weekends.

New to the schedule, visitors can look to the skies for aerial entertainment, thanks to a Battle of Britain memorial flypast by a Dakota on June 28.

Back on the ground, a host of costumed re-enactors will be greeting visitors at all of the railway’s six stations as well as on its trains, helping to tell the wartime story along the line.

Visitors can gain a real insight into wartime life with replica air-raid shelters, German encampment, British Army Medical Corps field hospital, Dig for Victory garden and privy, ID card checkpoint, a replica 1940s house, as well as displays of 1930s caravans and historic civilian and military vehicles. Ladies can also head to the hair salon at Kidderminster to have their Victory Rolls done.

Among the many evacuees, soldiers and German intelligence officers, visitors may even spot some famous faces, including Sir Winston Churchill and King George VI.

Clare Gibbard, marketing and communications manager, said: “Our 1940s events are always a real hit with visitors and this year’s schedule, featuring the return of the battle and added extras like the air-raid, should prove extremely popular.

“Visitors will also be able to enjoy our new 50th anniversary exhibition at the Engine House Visitor Centre, taking people on a journey through the railway’s first 50 years from its inception to the much-loved attraction that it is today.”

Tickets can be pre-booked at www.svr.co.uk.