THE annual West Somerset Railway (WSR) spring steam gala has been given an official go-ahead as the heritage line announced it would be back in business this month after repairing a landslip which cut the track in two.

The gala has been scheduled for April 28 to May 1 and is part of what chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt said would be an exciting 2023 programme for the railway.

Two visiting locomotives have been announced for the event, Erlestoke Manor, making its first appearance away from its Severn Valley Railway home since an overhaul last year, and Lady of Legend, from Didcot Railway Centre, which will be making its first-ever appearance in West Somerset.

Mr Jones-Pratt said news of more visiting engines was still to come.

Erlestoke Manor’s visit meant there was a rare opportunity to see three ‘Manors’ operating on the line on the same day with the WSR’s own Foxcote and Odney.

The locomotive will then stay in West Somerset for the rest of the season, which is the 50th anniversary of the Erlestoke Manor Fund which owns it.

Lady of Legend will be the first GWR Saint Class engine to ever appear on the Bishops Lydeard to Minehead branch line.

Last year’s spring gala was the first since 2018, partly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the WSR cancelled its autumn steam event at the last minute because of poor ticket sales and difficulty in attracting visiting engines from other heritage railways.

Mr Jones-Pratt said the autumn 2022 cancellation reflected the WSR’s ‘absolute determination to ensure the railway continues to operate on a solid financial basis for the long-term future’.

The WSR has not scheduled an autumn gala for 2023.