Chasewater Railway - (Brownhills West, Station) — Attraction in Lichfield

This place is amazing. The volunteers put a lot of love and care into everything that goes on. We brought an American relative with us And the railway volunteers made such a fuss over him - he felt so special. (There were 5 in our party).

When we got to the next station, after speaking to the engine driver for further information, he offered our relative the opportunity to ride with him the short distance to the end of the line then he stayed on board just whilst the engine changed to the back of the carriages, ready for the journey back. He was so happy doing this and will remember it forever. What a lovely story to recount when he gets home.

Some of the carriages had the usual rows of seats and there was a first class carriage which had a corridor carriage with compartments that seated up to 6 people each. Our American daughter in law felt like she was in a Harry Potter movie sitting in one of these compartments.

We found out that the museum would close 10 minutes before the train returned to the first station. The volunteers offered to stay on half an hour longer for us. True enough when we got back, we were able to look around the engines and carriages that were currently being restored and browse around the museum.

The museum was lovely and warm and the people so welcoming. There was so much memorabilia to look at, all placed beautifully in cabinets and highly polished. There were moving Mecano pieces, and trains hand made from matchsticks. For the £6.50 it cost us each for a return trip on the train. We felt the need to put a donation in one of the boxes, as it was such a wonderful day out.

We didn't have time to go into the cafe but you can get something to drink and eat here and the gift shop had lots of things for children, in it.

Amazing place! Would highly reccomend, and we will definately...

Really like doing this to the railway, I hope this gets noticed and someone does something about it.

I came a few weeks ago for my 50th birthday with my partner and daughters. They had Full English which looked ok and I had a supposedly Tuna sandwich, although very sparse of Tuna. I didn't want any confrontation so just put up with it and put down to a one off.

So why the bad review...

I am the main organiser for a walking group in Birmingham and surrounding areas, although a new group we now have over 2600 members in 3 months. I like to take my walkers to different places and being a bit of a rail enthusiast and a Severn Valley Railway shareholder really appreciate these heritage railways and what they do for the community. I thought it was a good idea to take my walking group to Chasewater and for a small number of us (20) to have afternoon tea, a steam train ride and happy memories.

Calling the local landline is useless, no one ever answers.

I tried Facebook where Becky the manager gave me one response and thats it.

I then by luck found a mobile number, it was answered, call back tomorrow the manager isn't here. I called back and now am told off today and possibly our group is too big... the Cafe isn't that small, I was there a few weeks ago, we could eat outside? No ideas, just a no.

In these times where people are trying to keep things running, keeping jobs, communication here has let me, my group and the railway down. I really hope you don't treat all enquiries like this :(

The railway is important to the area and...

We visited on Christmas Eve for the Santa special. On arrival it was very unorganised, people wandering everywhere with no clear instruction on where to go. We discovered where we had to go by doing a lap through the cafe and onto the platform. Once on train after a long wait we took off. Wishing we hadn’t now in hindsight. It was an hour or so of boredom. Nothing festive apart from tinsel hanging above our head. We just stopped at certain points with nothing to do, waiting for what felt like an eternity, not offered a drink. The cafe was shut with nothing going on at the next station, with the kids around us getting very unsettled and bored. 2 older gentlemen and Santa walked up and down giving out a present of which was lovely, my daughter enjoyed her present but as for Christmas cheer it was personality-less. Nothing for the parents to do apart from moan and try and keep their kids entertained themselves. Apparently if you book first class you get food and drinks so I’m guessing all the effort goes there. For a £45 experience I’d at least expect a little something for the parents, a mince pie, a drink at a stop, carolers, even a candy cane for the kids, something. Very disappointed. Paid all that money for us all to be bored, clueless and lacking...