SEVERN Valley Railway (SVR) is offering visitors the chance to inspect a King’s coach as part of a guided tour, between Saturday, April 9 and Tuesday, April 26.

The Royal Saloon No. 793 is a special armour-plated railway carriage used by King George VI as he toured the country during war time.

The coach, built in 1941 by the London, Midland and Scottish railway at its Wolverton Carriage Works in Buckinghamshire, was gifted to SVR by the National Railway Museum in 2007.

It has been in the Engine House Visitor Centre’s showroom of locomotives and carriages at Highly since last year.

David Mee, SVR visitor services manager, said: “His Majesty held important talks with many heads of state on the Royal train, and it’s not difficult to imagine national leaders such as French President Charles De Gaulle, US President Franklin Roosevelt, and our own Prime Minister Winston Churchill, engaging with the Monarch in hushed, respectful conversation on some of the more crucial issues of those times.”

For more information, visit svr.co.uk or call 01299 403816.