A former Wellow resident and life-long railway enthusiast will soon be celebrating the publication of a special book to mark the anniversary of the closure of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, fifty years on.

Somerset and Dorset Swansong, by Bob Bunyar, has seen many hours of research, uncovering many interesting stories along the way and is due to be published by Wild Swan Books Ltd of Bath.

Bob’s love of trains began as a small child, playing by the line near his home and sitting at Wellow station, whilst watching the trains roll by. He also recalls being allowed to visit the signal box and attempting to pull the levers! He now lives in Swanage and is a regular volunteer at the railway there, where he spends several days a week working on projects at Harmans Cross, as part of the station team.

Whilst not a railwayman himself, it was in his family’s blood, with his Great Grandfather having worked for the Midland Railway Company, ending his career as the longest-serving Station Master at Plumtree station, near Nottingham. Bob’s family lived in the High Street, Wellow until 1965, when his parents decided to move to Bath, due to the pending closure of the railway, as the family had no transport of their own. He remembers his last ride on a diesel train from Radstock to Binegar, with Radstock

station pictured (above, right) during its dying days on 7th February, 1966.

Bob says: “On the Monday morning of March 7th 1966, stations and their platforms were deserted of passengers and staff, most signal boxes stood silent and unattended, their clocks continuing to tell the right time and their log books still open on the desks, where they had been left the previous day. This would not matter any more, as trains would not be running over most of the Somerset and Dorset Railway again.

“The line once provided a link from the Midlands via Bath to the South Coast, with trains such as ‘The Pines Express’ bringing holiday makers to the seaside, whilst it also served the local community in numerous towns and villages along its route through Somerset and Dorset with its slower stopping trains. This was all before the axe of Dr Beeching was wielded, with vicious cutbacks to the railway services in this country, seeing hundreds of stations closed and lines removed.”

Bob credits Tim Bullamore for a story uncovered about his home station of Wellow. He says: “It could be said that Wellow station had a link with music, both before and after it closed. On 9th June 1961, during the Bath International Music Festival, a diesel shuttle service was operated from Bath Green Park to Wellow and back, making quite a number of runs during the night!

“The event was billed as the ‘11 o’clock special’, and the diesel unit operated, as the title implied, from 11 p.m. It was also fairly rare for a diesel unit to operate on the Somerset and Dorset and this one was brought in especially from Bristol for the night. At Green Park, Humphrey Littleton and his band performed on the platform, where food and drink was provided, whilst at Wellow, a giant barbecue was held, together with the screening of the film, ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’. This locally made film was continually shown in the station’s waiting room.

“The signal box at Wellow was a former eighteen lever 1894-built box, just to the north of the village station, which was purchased after the line had closed and the tracks lifted, by artist, Peter Blake, in 1969 and converted into residential accommodation.

“The artist is famous for the design of record covers in the music industry, with one of his most famous being the design for The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sleeve, the record being released on 1st June 1967.

“It is rumoured that some members of the band may have actually visited him at Wellow station shortly before their break-up in 1970, but this has never been proven.

Carrying out his research for the book, Bob also found stories of Midsomer Norton, whilst recalling one of his own. He adds: “In the early days of the scheme to restore Midsomer Norton station, I undertook work with the Bath Evening Chronicle as a ‘Community Correspondent’, as well as doing some photographic work. Never wishing to turn down a story, particularly when it was railway related, I was asked to go out to Midsomer Norton on Saturday, 1st February 2003 by an S&D Railway Heritage Trust member to cover the story of the re-erection of a new, north-bound starter signal.

“It was a cold day and I stood back taking photographs, as a JCB lifted and swung the replacement London and South Western Railway lattice signal post into place. This had to fit and be welded onto the remains of the original signal base, but whilst the JCB could hold it relatively vertical, it was not perfect, and lines were attached to help pull it into the exact position.

“It was at this point that my photography ceased, as I was urgently asked to go and help hold a rope to pull the signal post upright, while the welder stitched the new post onto the old base. I can therefore say that I helped to put it up – and I also had my story published!

“On 1st December 1965, the locomotive working the 9.50 a.m. service from Bath Green Park to Bournemouth Central suffered a serious blow back through the fire box at Midsomer Norton station. Driver, Ray Stokes, was at the regulator of British Railways Standard Class locomotive 73001 and on this particular occasion, was accompanied on the footplate by the well-known railway photographer, Ivo Peters, who was having one of his last cab rides on the S&D and was well-known by locomotive crews and staff along the line.

“For this run, he was accompanied by a traction inspector on the footplate and they both miraculously managed to avoid any injuries, along with the driver, when the scalding hot steam entered the cab of the locomotive.

“The fireman, Robin Gould, was not quite as lucky, as he did suffer some slight scalding, but was able to continue with his duties. 73001 had to be replaced by locomotive 48760, which was shunting at the time at the nearby Norton Hill colliery, and this then took the train on as far as Templecombe, where it was replaced by another locomotive, now running over an hour late.

“It is surprising that 73001 was not withdrawn from service following this mishap, as the steam pipe to the blower had fractured, but it was repaired and returned to traffic for just four more weeks of use, making its last runs on 1st January 1966 on the 9.50 a.m. Bath to Bournemouth and the 3.40 p.m. return from Bournemouth, before it was withdrawn from service and sent for scrap.”

Somerset and Dorset Swansong is available from 3rd March and can be ordered from the Titfield Thunderbolt bookshop, Larkhall, Bath: 01225 462332 from Wednesday – Saturday.

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