It was an especially Good Friday for railway enthusiasts as the first train departed from Broadway since 1960.
 
Thanks to the hard work of Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway's dedicated volunteers, a brand new station has been built in the Cotswolds village.
 
The first public train departed at 09:40 on Friday and will make the 15 mile journey to Cheltenham regularly throughout the Easter holidays to mark the occasion.
 
Lord Richard Faulkner of Worcester, chairman of the Heritage Railway Association, and a Patron of the GWSR, unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion.
 
He then accompanied driver John Cruxon and fireman Chris Smith on the footplate of locomotive number 7903 Foremarke Hall for the first departure.
 
Lord Faulkner has praised the work of the remarkable volunteers who have spent years building on the derelict site.
 
He said, "Two successful share offers raised over £2 million to help fund the last stages of the project, which included repairing bridges, embankments, drainage, buying and laying the track with thousands of tons of ballast as well as completing the new station. It is a remarkable testament to the determination and vision of volunteer effort, from those who first conceived the idea of restoring the railway back in the early 1980s, to those witnessing this historic occasion today."
 
The railway now operates a full steam and heritage diesel train service between Broadway and Cheltenham Racecourse via Toddington, Hayles Abbey, Winchcombe, and Gotherington through glorious Cotswold countryside.
 
Louisa Baldwin.