The Charity

The railway is run by an overarching charity, the AVRHT and a subsidiary company the AVRCo. The AVRHT has the following charitable aims:

"The aim of the Avon Valley Railway Heritage Trust is restore, preserve, and operate railway locomotives, carriages, wagons, vehicles and other artefacts of historical interest and the structures connected therewith for the benefit and education of the public; to conserve books, drawings, records, documents, sound and visual recordings, cinematography films and such photographs and other archives relating to such objects, their history and development. 

All this shall be for public benefit, for educational and instructional purposes and to stimulate and encourage interest in all kinds of railway transport systems, vehicles and equipment and to foster and support railway preservation. 

In pursuit of this object the aim is to relay and operate as much as possible of the former Midland Railway Mangotsfield to Bath branch railway, based upon Bitton Station. In doing so, to provide additional recreation, leisure and tourist amenities and to provide worthwhile spare time activities for a wide range of ages."

The organisation has been around since the early 1970s in various different forms. the diagram below shows a basic outline of the names and organisational structure throughout our history.

Please explore the pages below to learn more about our charity, its history and background information.