To the kindly old gentleman and his fellow passengers travelling through the Haworth countryside by rail, the three children waving at them, perched on a wall, became a familiar sight.

Forty years later, the iconic image is a glittering jewel in British film history. The late Lionel Jeffries’ much-loved 1970 film The Railway Children, based on Edith Nesbit’s classic children’s novel, made a star of a young Jenny Agutter and put the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on the global map.

The story of three suburban children who move with their mother to rural Yorkshire when their father is wrongfully imprisoned, and spend a lost summer of adventures on the local steam railway, is forever interwoven with the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and Oakworth Station, where much of the action was filmed. From the gripping scenes involving sisters Roberta, (or Bobby, as she’s often known), and Phyllis waving their red petticoats as makeshift flags to prevent an oncoming train from crashing into sliding trees, to the heartwrenching moment when Bobby is reunited with her father, emerging from a steam-filled platform at Oakworth Station, the film is ingrained into the railway and its surrounding locations.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the film has been re-released at cinemas, and on DVD, in a digitally re-mastered format. Jenny Agutter, who plays eldest child Roberta, recently joined fellow cast members Sally Thomsett, who played her sister Phyllis, and Bernard Cribbins, alias station master Mr Perks, at the National Media Museum in Bradford for the premiere of the updated film.

“The success of the film is very much to do with what Lionel shot,” says Jenny. “It’s sentimental and honest. There are painful moments and funny moments, he just packed it full with many layers.

“Being digital means the film has an ongoing life. It has the opportunity to be shown on the big screen again; it’s made for the big screen. It can carry on.”

Jenny has returned to the railway over the years. She has completed the Railway Children Walk for charity, taking in film locations such as the Three Chimneys house in Oxenhope, where the family lived, and in 2005 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at Bradford Film Festival.

“I have very happy memories of being here – it was a lovely place to work and it’s such an important part of the film,” she says. “It was a golden summer, one felt blessed doing it. Lionel Jeffries was larger than life, Edwardian, and he made everything good fun.

“The Railway Children is close to people’s hearts. I think that’s because it reflects a time that was innocent, which is what a lot of us desire.”

The new version of the film features interviews with the stars, and with people from Keighley, Haworth and surrounding areas who appeared in scenes. They include members of Haworth band, which played on the station platform in one memorable scene, and Graham Mitchell, a former volunteer with the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Graham qualified as a guard in 1970, just in time to take a part in the movie. He played a guard who uttered the words “Thank you Mr Perks”, as Bernard Cribbins gave him the “right away” from Oakworth. The role earned Graham the princely sum of £7 10 shillings a day.

“It was a tidy sum given that my monthly net wage at the time as a graduate teacher was only six pounds a month,” he says. “Journalists have always said that it must have been wonderful to work with Jenny Agutter but she was relatively unknown then. The big stars were really Bernard Cribbins, William Mervyn and Dinah Sheridan.”

Graham was 20 when he answered the then Keighley MP Bob Cryer’s rallying cry to keep the steam railway between Keighley and Oxenhope alive. Graham became ‘member 14’ at the railway society’s inaugural meeting in 1962. When it re-opened in 1968 he became a regular volunteer, taking up the job of crossing keeper at the tiny Damems Station.

The railway line was initially used in a BBC television version of The Railway Children, broadcast in 1968, also starring Jenny Agutter.

The following summer, filming took place for the movie. The roles played by local people are explored in a book compiled by Keighley & Worth Valley Railway volunteer Jim Shipley, launched at the premiere of the updated film. The Making of the Railway Children, which contains about 70 photographs, many previously unpublished, features recollections, anecdotes and memories from those involved. “The railway became a shrine for many fans of the movie who would visit the station and, on occasion, even kiss the platform,” says Jim. “They come for all sorts of reasons, particularly to see Mr Perks, the stationmaster, or to create the famous ‘Daddy, my daddy’ scene.

“The film is now one of the most popular family films ever made and will no doubt receive a further boost with its re-release in cinemas and on DVD.”

In the book, volunteer David Pearson recalls how actor William Mervyn, who played the Old Gentleman, ordered “two gallons of ale for my railway friends” at the Royal Oak, Haworth.

Another star of the movie is the 122-year-old tank engine, The Green Dragon, which runs on the line in its original black livery. Also still in use is the carriage used as the Old Gentleman’s Saloon.

Visitors climbed aboard the train and took tea in the saloon carriage at a special gala celebrating the film’s 40th anniversary. Visitors took on the role of Perks, operating the crossing gate and blowing the whistle, while actors in costume from Keighley Playhouse recreated famous scenes. Also on board was special guest Sally Thomsett and her daughter Charlie.

“It’s lovely to see people dressed up as the characters again. It’s marvellous,” said Sally. “It feels like we should be filming again. It’s good to see so many people celebrating the film 40 years on.”

As the Old Gentleman said, while waving his newspaper to the three children sitting on the wall: “Charming, simply charming.”

  • The DVD of the newly restored version of The Railway Children is available in shops.
  • Copies of Jim Shipley’s book, are available priced £4.95 at Keighley & Worth Valley Railway shops or on (01535) 645214.