Steam Train Britain – Yesterday

(Image credit: Scott Mattock)

The golden age of steam is still alive and well up and down the country as we see in Yesterday’s new 10-part series Steam Train Britain

Celebrating a bygone age, Yesterday’s Steam Train Britain follows some of the passionate volunteers and staff who run Britain’s thriving network of heritage train lines.

On the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, 22-year-old Megan Smith is training to be a steam locomotive firefighter.

Megan Smith Steam Train Britain — Trainee firefighter Megan Smith loves locomotives, as we see in Yesterday’s Steam Train Britain

Her instructor Cedric is also celebrating a special day.

‘I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my 80th birthday,’ he says.

‘I call myself the luckiest man in the world!’

This episode (8pm, see our TV Guide for full listings) also joins enthusiasts on the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire and on the South Devon Railway, who all share Cedric’s love for the majestic steam trains of the past.

TV Times rating: ***

Joanne Lowles has been writing about TV since 2002. After graduating from Cardiff University with a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism, she worked for All About Soap magazine covering the ups and downs of life on the cobbles, the square and the Dales.

Next came nearly 10 years at TV Times magazine as a writer and then deputy features editor. Here she spent many happy days interviewing the biggest names in entertainment and visiting the sets of some of our most popular shows including Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife and Strictly Come Dancing.

With a love of nature and wildlife she’s also interviewed the leading experts in this area including David Attenborough, Chris Packham and Steve Backshall. She’s also travelled the world visiting Mongolia, Canada and South Africa to see how the best in the business make the most brilliant natural history documentaries.

Freelance since 2013, she is now is a digital writer and editor for What to Watch, previews the best on the box for TV Times mag each week and loves being constantly surprised, entertained and informed by the amazing TV that she is lucky enough to watch.