Star Night 2008-9

The annual star night attracts visitors from across the region and will be held in the Auditorium of the Shaftesbury Arts Centre on 20th February 2009. This year we have invited an experienced photograper who will take us:-

‘Around the World in Search of Steam’.

Colin Garratt has spent the last 40 years professionally documenting The Last Steam Locomotives of the world. This unique odyssey has taken him to some forty countries embracing all continents including eight expeditions to India and eighteen to China. In pursuit of imperilled survivors he has visited some of the remotest places on earth. The Sunday Times described him as the “ David Attenborough of the Steam Locomotive”. Colin Garratt has written and illustrated over sixty books on his global expeditions, including his own autobiography “Around the World in Search of Steam”. He is also widely known for his nationwide lectures and multi-vision audio visual presentations.

In Colin Garratt’s own words ........ “I don’t think anyone else has made a living photographing steam trains. But someone has had to do it; the legendary age of steam was fading into oblivion world-wide. The cultural and artistic value of a matchless set of pictures of a subject of such historical significance and sensual beauty cannot be overstated easily.