SEVERN Valley Railway (SVR) was on national television for the second time in six days on Sunday.

It was the launch pad for How Britain Worked, a new Channel 4 documentary series highlighting craftsman skills of the Industrial Revolution, many of which are still practised on the Kidderminster-Bridgnorth steam heritage line today.

The show was presented by TT motorcycle racer Guy Martin, who took on a variety of roles on the railway, including helping to overhaul Great Western Railway Prairie tank No.5164 at Bridgnorth and relaying track at Arley.

It was screened just five days after cameras from BBC 1’s Breakfast programme turned the focus on the railway’s new £3 million share issue, its plans to revamp Bridgnorth station and create a new heritage engineering academy.

Camera crews from the production company, North One Television, visited the railway several times between February and August this year to record footage for How Britain Worked, hiring a helicopter to capture aerial views of 5164 at large and showing how the railway and River Severn intertwine.

Sequences showed Guy Martin at the regulator - described as a throttle - as the engine made its first running-in trip after a five-month restoration, across the landmark Victoria Bridge at Arley.

When it was built in 1861, the bridge, was the largest cast-iron span in the world.

SVR’s general manager Nick Ralls said: “All publicity is good, especially at a time when we’re bidding to raise £3 million in a new share appeal to fund the next round of infrastructure works on the railway.

“But How Britain Worked also gives a very useful educational insight into how we are still using many of the traditional engineering methods and practices of the late 1800s, to keep the wheels of steam turning today.”