Humble pie

Seen in the letters page of today's Daily Telegraph:

"Service with a smile

When I travelled by train from London Paddington to Kingham station on August 19, I stupidly alighted without my umbrella.

A guard noticed me trying to return to the coach to retrieve my possession and explained that this would cause a delay. She suggested that if I stood on the platform on the following day at the same time and at the same spot, she would endeavour to find my umbrella and hand it to me.

Without really believing this amazing promise, I drove to Kingham station the following day and waited on the empty platform. The 18.44 train arrived and the passengers alighted. As they left the platform I was seemingly left alone.

Then, through the train door window, I was beckoned by a different guard who asked me whether I was looking for my umbrella. It was returned to me with a wonderful smile and my joy was clear for him to see.

I feel that this incredible gesture of goodwill deserves an accolade for First Great Western and its staff, who are clearly making welcome improvements to its service.

Geoffrey Maitland Smith, Fifield, Oxfordshire"

It would appear that the spirit of the Great Western lives on...