The Severn Valley Railway (SVR), which operates in Worcestershire and Shropshire, is inviting visitors – particularly young visitors – to a special on-train storytelling session on Saturday 12 April.

The Severn Valley Railway’s ‘Steam into Stories’ event is part of the Bewdley Festival.

Tickets for the event are available to buy on the Festival website.

Best-selling author and lifelong rail enthusiast Sam Sedgman will read from his railway-based adventure on board a heritage train travelling between Kidderminster and Bewdley in Worcestershire.

Sam’s first novel for young readers was The Highland Falcon Thief, co-written with M. G. Leonard, which was published by Macmillan in January 2020.

It won Children’s Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.

The book was the first instalment of the bestselling series Adventures On Trains, stories aimed at children aged seven and over.

The event will also include the chance to meet author Sam Sedgman at Kidderminster Town railway station, where he will give a talk and sign books. After the talk and book-signing, a train will travel to Bewdley, with Sam onboard, reading aloud from one of his books. Tickets will also cover a return journey to Kidderminster on one of the SVR’s services later during the day.

Sam Sedgman has taken part in similar events in the past, including at the United Nations’ COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021.

The Severn Valley Railway is also working with Bewdley Festival in a new poetry contest for children. The closing date for entries to the first-ever Betti Moretti poetry competition is 24 March. More information is available on the SVR website.

Later in April, the SVR will welcome visitors to its Spring Steam Gala.

The Severn Valley Railway celebrates its sixtieth anniversary this year. It runs regular steam- and diesel-hauled passenger trains along its sixteen-mile route between Kidderminster in Worcestershire and Bridgnorth in Shropshire. It has six stations along the route as well, and the Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley, which has interactive displays and refreshment facilities.