Knotty 100 is a festival to be held at multiple locations in North Staffordshire in 2023 to commemorate 100 years since the North Staffordshire Railway (“The Knotty”) was absorbed into the greater, national railway network on 1st July 1923..
Museum Exhibitions
The Brampton Museum in Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Foxfield Museum in Blythe Bridge will be putting on special exhibitions throughout 2023. As the centrepiece of the Brampton exhibition a working scale model of NSR Newcastle-under-Lyme station will be installed.
An application has been made to the National Railway Museum by Foxfield to display the unique NSR Battery loco to stand alongside the only other NSR loco still in existence, Foxfield’s own New L Class 0-6-2T No. 2.
Community Activities
Involvement of organisations such as the The Knotty Coach Trust, Borderlines Theatre Company, NSR Study Group, Staffordshire Community Rail Association, Staffordshire Film Archive and Staffordshire University will allow audiovisual displays, live performances and lectures at multiple sites around North Staffordshire to entertain and inform local citizens. It is hoped to include railway stations, schools and other community hubs as venues.
Publications
A special commemorative book is to be published entitled Knotty 100 written by professional railway historian and Foxfield Museum Director Anthony Dawson.
Knotty100 Railway Gala
The highlight of the festival will be a 10 day period in July 2023 at the Foxfield Railway with an intensive service of the historic “Knotty Heritage Train” and various other attractions, some of them really quite special !
Watch this space !