Welcome to the Didcot edition of The Oxford Magazine.

Didcot grew up as a gritty railway town that coalesced around Brunel’s Great Western Railway in the mid-1800s. For decades, its railway heritage and the cooling towers of the Didcot Power Station have been a landmark identifiable from miles around.

Alas, with hi-tech industries and research centres moving in and the decommissioning of the power station, Didcot is now all about innovation. It’s the gateway town to the Science Vale: three large science and technology centres in the surrounding villages of Milton (Milton Park), Culham (Culham Science Centre) and Harwell (Harwell Science and Innovation Campus).

And for tourists, the Didcot Railway Centre is just the ticket if you’d like to relive the halcyon days of steam locomotives. The attraction revolves around a massive engine shed, with more than 30 locomotives, four of which are operational on the museum’s a heritage line.