New Manston Ale launches festival

A new ale named after a leviathan of steam, named in tribute to a vital Kent Battle of Britain airfield more than fifty years ago, was launched at the annual fund-raising Swanage Railway Beer Festival and Diesel Gala last weekend.

The bottled beverage has been named after ex-Southern Railway ‘Battle of Britain’ class Bulleid Pacific steam locomotive No. 34070 ‘Manston’ which was built during the 1940s for hauling prestige express trains and restored for a new working life on the volunteer-run relaid Purbeck Line.

Visiting ex-British Rail diesel locomotives were joined at the annual Swanage Railway Beer Festival and Diesel Gala by the Purbeck Line’s two resident Class 33 diesel locomotives No. 111 and No. 103 ‘Swordfish’, both of which used to work in Dorset – including the branch line between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage – between 1967 and 1988.