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4930 did not steam between 1986 and 2022, the longest period any current locomotive has spent ‘out of ticket’ after working at the SVR. The intervening years were initially spent in store in the headshunt at Bridgnorth, with little activity on the locomotive taking place. In late 1996 Raveningham Hall acquired new owners and left the railway, ending the 'temporary' tender swap and resulting in Hagley Hall being reunited with its incorrect Hawksworth tender.
In early 1999 the Swindon Steam Museum contacted the SVR to ask if 4930 could be placed on loan as a static exhibit at the Designer Shopping Complex (sited on the former GWR Swindon Works), taking the place of former SVR Resident [[City of Truro]] which was returning to the NRM. In April 1999 the SVR(H) Board agreed and a cosmetic restoration began at Bridgnorth. This began with steam cleaning the lower works and reinstalling a number of fittings which had been removed for storage. The locomotive was also repainted in GWR Hawksworth-era livery as appropriate for its tender. The work was completed on 20 May 1999, with 1930 4930 moving by rail to Kidderminster and then by road to Swindon, arriving on 25 May 1999. The loan was then expected to be for 'at least two years'.<ref>SVR News 130</ref>
The move to Swindon stimulated interest among the working members for an eventual return to steam. Being company-owned, 4930 had no separate owning organisation to provide stimulus and support for this. A "Hagley Hall Restoration Group" was therefore established, with the approval of SVR(H) and the support of the [[SVRA]], and intended to be made up principally of the younger generation of working members. The first open meeting was held on 25 July 1999, just two months after 4930's move to Swindon. The group quickly morphed into the [[Friends of 4930 Hagley Hall]] and began fund raising.<ref>SVR News 190, 207</ref>
