Vintage Event: Riding the old trains at the Bluebell railway 1940s weekend

A little while ago I went to the Bluebell Railway for their Southern at War weekend. It was a whole weekend of memorials and activities dedicated to preserving the memory of WWII.

The Bluebell railway is a preserved heritage railway and it has many working steam trains there for visitors to ride and authentically kept stations, platforms and surroundings. This meant that the whole place was the perfect location for a weekend of vintage style frolicks.

I decided to get dressed up for the event and wore a true vintage 1940s green dress and a (late) 1940s suit jacket over the top. I got a few compliments on my look and I was quite pleased with how it turned out.

 

 The husband and I got train tickets so that we could explore the other stations and ride on the train. I'm so glad we did as the 20 minute train journey in the vintage carriage was lovely, there were so many bluebells along the line too it was clear to see where the line got its name from.

Here is one of the lovely steam trains:

And me by one of the carriages:

There were also other period vehicals on display too from vintage army vans and trucks to fire engines.

Best name for a car ever!

Something that I really liked was the fact that they had renactors around who were playing the role of the home guard, as well as singers, dancers and stalls selling vintage wares. All of these things added to the authentic feel of the weekend and I loved it. I also really liked how many visitors had decided to get dressed up too, there were moments when you would look down the train platform and see only people dressed in 1940s clothing and it really made you feel like you had stepped back in time.

 

There was also a flypast by a Hurricane which did a pretty amazing job.

 The railway platforms were great places to be a bit silly to take pictures, there were lots of props. I especially liked the huge pile of luggage!

Outfit Details:

Dress: Vintage

Jacket: Vintage

Gloves: Vintage

Bag: Vintage

Hat: Vintage

Shoes: Rocket Originals

Yeah, I went pretty hardcore on the outfit this time around.

Have you ever been to a reenactment event?

Leyburn 1940s weekend 2013

For the second year in a row my family and I took a trip to the Leyburn 1940s weekend. The event runs for the whole of the weekend but while prepping to move and such I was too busy to make it both days and had to head down for the Sunday. The morning weather wasn't great, it rained, the wind blew and the clouds were in the way of the lovely sunshine, but during the car drive things started to clear up and eventually the sun broke out.

I don't think the event was a big as it was last year, or maybe the sad morning weather kept people away, but there was a general buzz about the town centre and there were plenty of people dressed up in period clothing.

 

The square was filled with re-enactors, singers, performers and people taking part in the remembrance service - an awful lot was going on. There was also lots of room for dancing, whether that was in the station while waiting for the steam train to arrive or in the main square. At one point there were several people doing the charleston stroll to Sing, Sing, Sing which I couldn't help but join in with.

I also managed to get a bit of time to dance with the Mr. which was nice as its been a little while since we danced together.

There were a few stalls selling vintage clothing and trinkets which made for some good browsing and I got a lovely little vintage dress that I'm sure will be making an appearance on here shortly!

As for my outfit, I decided to go with something authentic. I have a lovely green and faun floral tea dress that I think is from the 1940-1950s judging from the size, fabric and finishings. This dress is a labour of love of mine. I bought it on eBay for around £26 but it had some holes that needed sewing and the bows on the sleeves needed fixing too (to be honest a price I was willing to pay for such a lovely dress). It wasn't really that much work, but it could use a bit more TLC once I get access to my sewing machine again.

I matched the dress with a pair of green sandals from Clarks via eBay, a vintage hat and beautiful gloves that I bought at Leyburn the previous year.

I was also really lucky to have my mum with me and she is a great photographer so I spent a bit of time posing, naturally, but I really have her to thank for the great photos in this post (by the way you can see her stuff on Instagram here).

Here are a couple of photos of me in front of a replica Spitfire, it was pretty cool!

Have you ever been to a vintage weekend?

Vintage Events: Pickering Wartime Weekend 2012

Last Saturday I attended the Pickering 1940s Wartime Weekend with my parents and husband (still getting used to saying that!).

Pickering is a 1940s re-enactment event that has been running for 20 years and is one of the biggest in the country. Although the centre of the event is Pickering North Yorkshire there are events held across the North Yorkshire Moors Railway line, from an evacuation re-enactment at Goathland to the occupation of French village LeVisham.

Travel between events via the railway on beautiful steam trains was the way most seemed to get around but, sadly, we didn’t have time to travel by train on the Saturday.

We did however manage to get onto the train platform as a train was arriving, the platforms were separated into one for ‘period costume’ only and one for everyone else. I believe this was so photographers could get ‘authentic’ vintage shots, but who knows.

The station was not only the focus point for many re-enactors but was also the location of several musical performances and a mock blitz air-raid (which was pretty scary).

There were also lots of vintage stalls selling clothes, accessories and military memorabilia, we even managed to find a retro beauty parlour tucked away in a back street.

 

And everywhere you looked there were vintage cars!

At one point my mother took a photograph next to a vintage car and a swarm of photographers started taking my picture, it was fun for a few moments but then I began to feel a little embarrassed – it wasn’t even my car!

We also stopped off in the local church where they were serving tea and cakes and they were also creating a memorial installation using poppies form the poppy appeal.

The streets were full of people, so many of them in full costume I was really amazed by how much effort people put into their clothing. There were a lot of men and women in vintage armed forces uniforms, as would be expected at a war re-enactment event, but what was really amazing was that so many children were dressed up too. It was nice to see history so alive and well in the hearts and minds of those attending the weekend.

All in all I had a great day, but to get time to see everything, or even close to everything, it would be a good idea to spend more than one day there. But I would recommend it to anyone even vaguely interested in vintage, the 1940s or the home front.

Vintage Events: Leyburn 1940s Weekend and Vintage Accessories

Hi everyone!

A few months ago I went to the Leyburn 1940s weekend. I only went for one of the days but there was still lots to do; shopping, dancing, speeches, a parade and re-enactors. I had a really great time despite the slightly iffy weather.

I wore a coral dress by Pearl Lowe at Peacocks. It is a lovely dress with a very vintage inspired shape, but the print and colours make it look quite modern and the shape of my cardigan was not very vintage at all. I think when I was choosing what to wear I didn’t expect other people to go so 'all out' when dressing for the event!

Thats not to say I didn't have a good time - I did, however, I made the decision then and there that for the next 1940s event I attended, I would dress more appropriately. It just so happens that I am attending Pickering 1940s weekend next week. I have heard that this event is huge for re-enactors and vintage enthusiasts so I very much wanted to dress the part.

I have two outfits in mind for the event (depending on the weather of course) and I went shopping last weekend to find some choice accessories for the event.

I attended the New College Durham vintage and antiques fair that I have written about previoualy here. It is not typically an event for looking for clothing, but for finding accessories, it seemed to be the perfect place for bargain hunting!

While rummaging around I managed to find three hats, one a genuine 1940s hat, a vintage faux pearl bead necklace a vintage broach and a beautiful mink stole!

The stole is a simple gorgeous fit, it has a gap over th shoulder so that it fits perfectly - I was so pleased when I found it. (What made it better that all of the above cost less than £60!)

Hopefully with a lovely vintage hat and a classy stole I will look like I fit in at Pickering. I'll post soon and let you know how I get on!