This coming weekend (Friday 13 to Sunday 15 June), the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) will host a Real Ale and Steam Festival.

The event, which the heritage railway is organising in conjunction with the North Cotswolds branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CaMRA), will be centred on its Winchcombe and Toddington stations.

Around 45 different beers will be available, many produced locally in Gloucestershire and others from around the region, including from Bristol, Bruntrock, Exmoor, Exeter, Padstow, Salcombe, Tintagel, Verdant and Wiper & True. Ciders will also be available.

The bar at Toddington station will open at 10.30 and close at 18.15. The bar at Winchcombe station will open at 10.30 and close at 18.30.

On Sunday, both bars will be open from 11:00 until 15.00, or until the beer runs out, whichever comes sooner.

Last year, the Railway opened a new bar at Toddington, which served drinks at last year’s real ale festival as well as at other events.

Entry to the event costs five pounds, but is free with a train ticket. Visitors then buy cards in multiples of ten pounds, plus two pounds for a glass, which the visitor can take home with them.

Visitors can travel to either of the two stations from Cheltenham Racecourse station, where free parking is available, or from Broadway station. GWSR recommends that visitors who need to drive park at Cheltenham Racecourse station, as the Evesham Road between Cheltenham Racecourse and Bishops Cleeve is closed for work on bridge strengthening and the new cycleway.

On Friday and Saturday, the last train back to Cheltenham Racecourse will depart from Toddington at 18.15 and from Winchcombe at 18:27. On both days, both diesel and steam locomotives will be hauling trains. On Sunday, the usual Pink timetable will operate.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway’s route covers a round trip of 28 miles, using a section of the route of the former Great Western Railway main line from Birmingham to Cheltenham via Stratford-upon-Avon. Last month, the Railway hosted its spring steam gala.