Blue plaque to be unveiled at home of Thomas the Tank Engine creator

Eighty years since the first of a beloved fleet of trains was introduced to the world, a national blue plaque is being unveiled at the redbrick house in Gloucestershire where the Rev W Awdry worked on his railway stories. The addition of the new Historic England plaque to Wilbert Awdry’s old address in Stroud is expected to prompt fans of Thomas the Tank Engine and his fellow locomotives to make a pilgrimage to the street to pay their respects. Awdry’s daughter, Veronica Chambers, said the family was delighted: “It’s an enormous privilege and an honour. Father would have been very surprised.” The unveiling ceremony at Awdry’s former home, named Sodor after the fictional island his anthropomorphic engines inhabited, also forms part of this year’s Railway 200 celebrations. Awdry was working as a curate in Kings Norton, Birmingham, when the first book in the series, The Three Railway Engines, was published in 1945. On his retirement in 1965, Awdry and his family moved to Stroud, where he continued developing the world of Sodor. Chambers said Awdry’s requirements for the house included a room for his study and another to host a model railway. “He felt what he was doing with his stories was as much an outreach to people as being a parish priest,” said Chambers. “Lots of people used to write to him for advice, a bit like an agony aunt. He was non-judgmental and understood children.” Since his death in 1997 at the age of 85, the phenomenon of Thomas has continued to grow across the world, helped by television adaptations. A stained glass window starring the tank engine has been installed at St Mary Magdalene church in Stroud and enthusiasts are often found there. Chambers said Awdry would have been surprised at the idea of fans visiting Gloucestershire. “I don’t think he could ever quite understand why Thomas and his friends were so popular. I think it’s because children are pretty much the same anywhere in the world and they seem to relate to the different characters – Thomas is cheeky, Percy misunderstands things and Gordon is big and bossy.” Nigel Prenter, a Stroud district councillor, said one of his grandchildren had all the books in the series and slept with one under his pillow every night. He said: “Just this week my wife, Joanne, showed three Japanese visitors the stained glass window, which they had come specifically to see.” Duncan Wilson, the chief executive of Historic England, said it was an honour to celebrate Awdry and the happiness he brought to so many childhoods. He said: “The early books, which would become The Railway Series, laid the foundation for a global phenomenon, based on the magic of the steam train.” The heritage minister, Fiona Twycross, said: “Our railways are a vital part of our national heritage, and the Rev Awdry’s books are an excellent example of how they can spark creativity and imagination.”