Full steam ahead for a storybook occasion

ALL aboard for a storybook wedding! People say Fawley Hill is a cross between Narnia and Middle Earth, while we know the Railway Children would feel at home here too.

Civil ceremonies are held in the waiting room of the Victorian station. Sign the register on the oldest “Directors’ Saloon” still on the rails. Perhaps even be steamed away as you wave from its little balcony.

Receptions in the station, the delightful flagstoned yard behind it, and the museum which rivals the National Railway Museum for number and quality of exhibits, are unique.

Or you can erect a tent on the field near Ironhenge and watch the faces of your guests as they wonder what’s coming next!

There is a beautiful set of Victorian Gallopers at the station which cost about half the price of hiring a set in. You can choose your own music for the fairground organ and guests love to be transported back to childhood. Sitting on a horse with glass in hand never fails to produce a grin.



Of course you can offer guests a steam train ride through the park to spot some of the 600 animals that live in this crazy sanctuary. Again, it costs a bit more as steam trains eat coal and need people to drive them and man the signals and points, but it is a once in a lifetime experience. Fancy some champagne on the train? If the station doesn’t attract you, “Narnia” will — a woodland glade with a huge teepee, shepherd’s huts, gypsy caravans — and a tree under which ceremonies can be held. Should we mention the blackbuck, wallabies and deer which will be watching?