Barbury Castle is a well known landmark some five miles south of Swindon. In March 1936, for a short period, this Iron Age hilltop fort lent its name to No 5043, a new Castle Class locomotive. The Castles were renowned for hauling the Cheltenham Flyer, the “fastest train in the world”, and no 5043 distinguished itself by heading this train.

Only a few months after leaving Swindon Works, Barbury Castle was the renamed the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, a director of the GWR.

Hard service during the Second World War did not daunt the career of this stalwart locomotive; after the war 5043 was given a new tender designed by Hawksworth. In the early days of nationalisation, in what could be regarded as the heyday of 5043, it was heading up the Red Dragon and the Pembroke Coast Express.

In the late 1950s it was extensively refurbished and fitted with a double chimney. In June 1958 it ran at a recorded speed of 98 mph while hauling the Up Bristolian Express. Overhauled in 1962 it was withdrawn in 1963 and eventually 5043 was sold to Dai Woodham at Barry for scrap.

There it remained until the early 1970s when it was purchased for spares and looked destined to be cannibalised to save another locomotive, Clun Castle.

Though this plan was begun in earnest, happily it was not the illustrious end to this saga. 5043 was removed to Tyseley near Birmingham and stored in pieces there until 1997, when a momentous decision was taken by volunteers to restore the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe to mainline condition.

Work was soon underway though it was still to be 10 years before the fire would be relit in the belly of this old dragon.

As the year 2007 was coming to an end, plans for an ambitious programme of steaming events was being put together to ensure that the Earl would storm back from the grave.

In 2008 the Earl was everywhere and already in 2009 this grand old Swindonian has been through its birthplace like a dose of salts on several occasions.

She is now a sprightly 73 and still looking magnificent, all thanks to the dedication of the highly skilled workforce at Tyseley.

The Earl at Tyseley was hand painted by an old workman who had also hand painted the British Railway Lion on the tender.

That in itself is an amazing feat of workmanship, but Tyseley is an Alladin’s cave of locomotives and reeks of old skills and bygone trades, many of which are being performed by young men who were born 20-25 years after mainline steam ended on British Rail.

The Earl demonstrates that their workmanship is equal to that of the grandfathers of Swindon Works that built 5034 in the 1930s, for less than £6,000!