DO you or perhaps your dad or granddad remember going on a work's outing?

A personal collection of retired engineer Roger Hayes, 76,  inccludes photos of himself and coleagues posing outside the old Swindon station in 1962. These railway workers are about to head for London on their yearly outing.

Mr Hayes, who lives in Stratton and was a railway worker for more than 40 years, has written on the back of his photo: “Skilled craftsmen from the diesel engine repair and transmission shop, leaving Swindon for the annual shop outing to London.

“This included a visit to the Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, Oxford St, for a carvery lunch at £1 (eat as much as you like) followed by a top London football match, then a few drinks and a look round Soho, before returning by train on free passes and booked seats.”

It’s worth pointing out that in 1962 Soho was known as a place of smoky pubs, clubs and jazz bands rather than the den of gruesome clip joints and sex shops it would be by the end of the decade.

Mr Hayes said: “For a few years we had these once-a-year outings up to London.

“They booked a coach for us on the train – this was when the trains had 13 or 14 coaches.

“The first place to introduce a carvery was the Cumberland Hotel at Marble Arch. You could go there for a pound and eat all you wanted. They really were very liberal with the beef, and that meal lasted us the whole day.

“We reeled out of there and and leaned against railings to recover and then we were off to a football match. Then we’d have a few drinks in Soho and go back home on the train.

“Most of the people who went on the trip were tradesmen who will have served five-year apprenticeships. Some started working with steam and went through dieselisation, but others will have started on diesels.”

l If you – or someone you know has any memories of this outing please get in touch.