Many years ago, as a twenty-odd year old enthusiast, I became an ELR member - it was my local preserved railway.
After reading an article in the members magazine highlighting the need for volunteers, I decided to attend a volunteers introduction day which in those days were held on various Saturday mornings throughout the year. I was the only volunteer on the day I chose.
A pleasant enough chap gave me a brief introduction but there was no enthusiasm and no persuasion or encouragement for me to join. I was shown around some of the Bury Bolton Street area and then left to my own devices. There were a couple of small groups of staff on the station; keen and enthusiastic I introduced myself to a couple of them but the conversation was awkwards and I left them with the feeling that I had some form of contagious disease. When the 'session' came to an end, everyone seemed to have disappeared. I suppose as a young lad I didn't really know what to expect, but it wasn't this and I didn't bother persuing it further.
I continued to visit the ELR but allowed my membership to lapse. Welcomes were never warm at the ELR, particularly at Ramsbottom, the station at which I usually arrived, but two incidents left a bad taste. On one occasion I was waiting to take a snap of a train arriving at Bolton Street station. I was just stood there, middle of the platform, nowhere near the edge, not using a tripod or anything else, on my own, quiet and minding my own business. I was aware of someone approaching and then hovering behind me and just as the train arrived he stepped in front of me and stood still, blocking my ability to take the photograph. He then donned a hi-vis and walked to the signalbox towards the South of the station. I was left in no doubt that it was done deliberately, presumably for some sort of peverse childish pleasure.
Another time, during an event day - when it was my habit to drive to Ramsbottom, park in the station car park, catch a train to Bury for a few hours photography at Bolton Street and then return to Ramsbottom - a Guard on my outward train to Bury suggested that by holding a full line return (rather than an event day All Day Rover), I might be attempting to fare-dodge. Photography rather than travel was my interest so I always used to 'volunteer' to pay for a full line ticket as a way of throwing a few quid back into the ELR bucket. Never again though - that incident was about ten years ago, it happened in front of other passengers and left me feeling quite embarrassed. What a way to treat a paying visitor I thought and decided to call it a day with the East Lancs - I haven't been back since.
I don't know the in's and out's of this case, and of course there are two sides to a story. Many years ago I too had the impression that there was a certain culture, and perhaps a clique, at the ELR. But I was a young lad - not a woman - wanting to become part of this very male environment. As a passenger, all I can say is that my experiences at other preserved railways such as at the Keighley & Worth Valley, the Severn Valley and the North Yorkshire Moors have been far more welcoming and enjoyable than any visit I ever made to the East Lancs.
