Helston Railway shines with theatre collaboration
Watch Grace Pascoe's report here.
A Cornish theatre company has teamed up with a local trainline for a special run of 'The Railway Children'.
To watch Helston Theatre Company’s play, the audience must first travel on a traditional steam engine, run by volunteers at Helston Railway, along with cast members dressed up in Edwardian costumes.
The train goes from Prospidnick to Truthall Halt where passengers walk to a nearby marquee to watch Mike Kenny's version of Edith Nesbit's novel, The Railway Children.
Jenny Agutter, who starred in the 1970 film shared her well wishes for the run of the Railway Children in a social media video.
Grace Benney, Hollie Davis and Fraser Oliver play the Waterbury siblings in the adaptation.
Hollie says it's been a great experience.
She said: "I play Bobbie, which is the eldest child. She's kind of quite caring, quite gentle and likes to keep her siblings in line.
"It's been absolutely fantastic. And having the actual train and the whole railway has been a brilliant opportunity and really brought it to life, so it's been great."
Volunteers at Helston Railway have been restoring the track from Trevarno heading towards Helston for over 20 years.
So far, the track is 1.25 miles long. The society hope to reach the town once again.
General manager Colin Savage says it’s been a labour of love.
He said: “We're hoping to get to Helston in the not-too-distant future, which will double the length of line, and then we will look at any further extension from there, but it's a big project now getting on to Helston certainly.
"It’s building a railway and who else is building a railway in the country, apart from HS2? It's fantastic what we're doing on a shoestring, literally we have to beg, steal, borrow and rely on donations. It's a challenge and it's fulfilling.”