Thomas The Tank Engine | Photographic Ramblings

Elsworth in Cambridgeshire sits to the south of the A14 between Cambridge in the south east and Huntingdon in the north west.

Holy Trinity Church, The Parish of Elsworth, Cambridgeshire

As we drove into the village looking for the church and the blue plaque to Rev W Awdry on a warm sunny day in June 2021, the penny began to drop that this was not our first visit, it was in fact 10 years ago back on 31 May 2011 when we were totally unaware of The Thomas The Tank Engine connection.

The quest for the “anthropomorphised fictional steam locomotive” (wikipedia definition) in Elsworth started when we visited Emneth Norfolk back in November 2018.

See Previous Blog Post:

The King of East Anglia and A Tenuous Connection To Ringo Star

Memorial Window to The Reverend W. V. Awdry

The Rev W Awdry moved the Elsworth the year that the Railway Series second book Thomas the Tank Engine was published he went on to write five titles while he was rector here before moving Emneth in Norfolk in 1953.

The Blue Plaque to Rev W Awdry, Elsworth

“Sometimes, the Best Adventures are the Ones We can only Dream about.”
Wilbert Awdry

Interesting Links:

Cambridge Past, Present and Future. Rev. W Awdry 1911-1997

Our destination is Emneth, it sits in Norfolk close to the Cambridgeshire border just south of the A47 which runs from Birmingham in the west to Great Yarmouth in the east.

If your approach is from Peterborough along the A47 you will need to turn right away from the town of Wisbech toward Outwell and Downham Market, do not get carried away bear left long before you reach Outwell or you will miss the joys of Emneth completely.

As you approach you will be faced with the imposing presence of the Church of St Edmund’s it cannot be missed. The Reverend W. V. Awdry was vicar of the parish between 1953 and 1965 and many of the Thomas the Tank engine stories were written in the old vicarage at Emneth.