An Evening with Col and Dave - South Devon Railway

There have been many well known double acts in the history of entertainment – you can probably think of Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, Sooty and Sweep – the list is long. On Thursday 26 May you will have the chance for a front-row seat at one of the greatest of them all: An Evening with Col and Dave.

An evening with who? Col and Dave: Colin Harmes and Dave Knowling, two stalwarts of the South Devon Railway footplate, and whose railway experience collectively covers well over a hundred years.

Dave Knowling is well-known in heritage railway circles as probably the longest serving steam footplate man in the country – possible the world – having started in 1954, and still driving today. Readers of the SDR’s magazine Bulliver will have read his exploits there, and after twelve episodes he has only covered the first ten years of his career!

Colin Harmes – the name is usually prefixed with the words “the normally shy and retiring” – started on the footplate of the Southern Region in south London , before moving to Devon and meeting up with Dave in 1967. With most of his working life spent on British Rail at Totnes, he now does the occasional footplate turn on the South Devon.

They have many, many stories to tell: the illustrated evening will cover their Dart Valley days between 1967 and 1975. The meeting takes place in Buckfastleigh Town Hall, and doors open at 7.00pm. You can use any town car park – they are free after 6.00pm – with Victoria Woodholme the nearest. The show itself starts at 7.30pm. Light refreshments and the usual prize draw will be available. Entry is free, so do come along for an entertaining, amusing and possibly informative evening.