FEAST OF JULY

Image result for Feat of July 1995"

GB
1995
1hr 56mins
Dir: Christopher Menaul
Starring: Embeth Davidtz and Tom Bell

In Victorian England, a woman finds love with a simple-minded youth

Based on the 1954 novel The Feast of July by H. E. Bates this romantic drama features scenes on the Severn Valley Railway using ex-GWR 5700-series 0-6-0PT No.5764 hauling two vintage carriages. Several good scenes were filmed at Bewdley station, playing the part of ‘Addisford’, which include an unusual night time run through of 5764 and its train. The final scenes are of the most interest though. As Embeth Davidtz is walking down the platform several locomotives are visible parked in the background. These include GWR No.813 (the former Port Talbot Railway 0-6-0ST), along with another 0-6-0PT, a larger loco that could be a ‘Hall’ 4-6-0, and what looks to possibly be WD ‘Austerity’ 2-10-0 No.600 Gordon. The final railway scene is a shot of the vintage train entering Bewdley Tunnel. Earlier in the film there is also a shot of the family walking across a foot crossing. This was not filmed on the Severn Valley Railway, but instead at Blists Hill Victorian Town, near Telford in Shropshire.

A train somewhere in the Severn Valley
The very unusual and rather fine shot of a station run through at night. Pannier Tank No.5764 works an ‘express’ through Bewdley.
Crossing the tracks at ‘Addisford’. This is the entrance to Blists Hill Victorian Town, in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire.
The railway scenes in this film are really good, complemented by this shot of Embeth Davidtz on the platform of Bewdley station. The background is packed full of interest with the nearest loco being GWR 0-6-0ST No.813.
This rather fine shot shows the main buildings on platform 1 of Bewdley station
No.5764 arrives into the platform behind a rather morose Embeth Davidtz