Award-winning film maker David Parker remembers the first time he set eyes on the Flying Scotsman - the legendary locomotive that inspired him to film its rise from the ashes.

The director followed the rebuilding of the famous Flying Scotsman Class A1 engine from its stripped back state to its first rumble back on to the tracks.

And this month he is in Swindon to tell the tale and screen his documentary.

My Year With The Flying Scotsman is at the Arts Centre, Devizes Road, Old Town, on Thursday, October 26

David will be showcasing in words and film the romance, excitement and danger that surrounded the famous train.

“It was an amazing privilege, one of the highlights of my film making career to see the Flying Scotsman as just a rusting shell and then have the chance to ride in the cab, it was mind-blowing, but a real roller coaster of a year, with plenty of downs as well as ups,’’ he said.

The evening with the film maker and the locomotive shows how David made the documentary, how he persuaded Robson Green to present the programme and the joys and frustrations of telling the story.

“Robson Green had a very personal relationship with the Flying Scotsman,’’ said David.

“It was the first locomotive of the London and North Eastern Railway.

“It was built in 1923 and was featured in the British Empire Exhibition in London the following year.

The event sparked a huge interest in the engine which was the first to officially clock up 100mph.

The train was designed by Nigel Gresley and originally painted in apple green, but during the war it was painted black as camouflage.

From 1948 the engine was repainted several times, first in blue and then in British Rail Green until it was retired in 1963 when steam engines were becoming obsolete.

“As technology moved on, this wonder machine was threatened with the scrap heap and was saved on no less than three occasions, by three millionaires, (including the late Alan Pegler) in an extraordinary series of close shaves,’’ said David who has been involved with two films around the famous locomotive.

David runs Available Light TV in Bristol and has worked with wildlife film-maker Johnny Kingdom for the BBC and ITV, historian Lucy Worsley in The Lost World Of Dorothy Hartley for the BBC and artisan baker Tom Herbert, In Search Of The Perfect Loaf for the BBC.

Tickets are available for My Year With The Flying Scotsman at £14.50 from 01793 524481 or visit www.swindontheatres.co.uk.