'we are approaching midford'

Great news is that the agreement for the New S&D taking over Midford is now in the post. All we have to do is sign and we will get access to Midford and begin the rebuilding of the station. We will be paying £100 per month for just over 40 years to buy the freehold of the station and the trackbed as far as the southern end of the Long Arch bridge, about a quarter of a mile.

The intention is to rebuild the station building, signal box and associated infrastructure and lineside furniture. It is possible that track will be relaid for cosmetic purposes but no rolling stock will be sited here until the line is reinstated for real trains from Radstock to Bath. The station building, once reconstructed, will serve as an office, information centre and shop for the northern section of the route.

This will be a big step for us and should raise our profile enormously. We will put out an appeal for funds to rebuild the station as soon as we have taken the site over.

midford today

Three excellent shots taken today by Mick Knox.

Top shot contrasts with the wonderful shot of Midford on this blog's side bar. Notice that the breeze block wall to the left still exists! Hopefully we will be purchasing this site in the next few months, and will then be able to begin restoration work. Donations towards this are always more than welcome - please see the side bar.

Second shot is from the viaduct looking down on the Hope and Anchor pub, which will no doubt become an iconic railway pub with the restoration of the line! I suspect this will become the watering hole of preference for those of us engaged in the restoration work ...

Third shot is again from the viaduct with a view of part of Midford village. Once there were two stations here, the second being on the Limpley Stoke to Hallatrow line, which ran under the viaduct.

Reopening of the railway with a ten minute run into Bath should push up property prices in this idyllic spot!

hope for the future

I received this today, a map carefully drawn by one of our junior members. It's great to see kids that were not even born in the 80s getting involved with our railway. Matthew's 12 and it was his idea to introduce junior membership. We're still small enough for everybody to influence what we are doing, and hopefully that won't change even as we hit 100, 1000 and 10000 members!

He also raised £10 as a donation for the Midford appeal, by car washing. He should be an inspiration for us all!

midford progress

Excellent news! I have heard today from the current owner of Midford station. He is very keen to see us take over the station etc and will ensure that either he or his representative will be at the New S&D meeting at the end of this month. He has also been speaking to the editor of one of the main railway magazines who is very excited by this whole project.

These are early days, and there's a lot of work (and fundraising!) to be done before the Midford Project gets off the ground, but so far things have been going far far better than I dared hope when the New S&D was set up just under three months ago!

the vision for midford

These two shots are of Hulme End station, on the old Leek and Manifold Railway in Derbyshire. Although this is not connected to an operating railway it really captures the railway atmosphere and serves a very useful purpose as both an information point and a tourist attraction.

One feature is a model of the railway which is certainly something we should consider for Midford - perhaps a representation of the S&D at Midford in the 1950s. Notice the easy to use and non-intrusive window shutters which allow security overnight but keep the place light and airy in the day.

We are still getting a regular flow of donations for Midford which should increase through the summer as the railway press recieve a barrage of press releases and articles from us!

midford then and now ...

(Photo Mick Knox 6.3.2006)


Top shot. Midford as it is now.

Bottom shot. Midford in five years' time? With your help, yes!

To contribute to the Midford Appeal please see the side bar.

I've already put my name down to reconstruct the block wall in the foreground.

not in my back yard!

(Thanks to Mick Knox for this and picture).

An example of when the state run railway wants to reopen a line. Miles of palisade fencing that the average trespasser would take seconds to get over so is a complete waste of time & money. This is in Bletchley on the route to Oxford. This is not what the people of Somerset or Dorset would want on their re-opened line!

It is essential that as the S&D gets rebuilt it is seen as PART of the landscape, not a blot on it. Network Rail lives in a dystopian past. The fencing probably exists because there's money in it for someone. Most continental and US railways don't use fencing at all. Why should they? Our roads aren't fenced and are infinitely more dangerous as it's impossible to forecast where a vehicle may go. A kid from Hartcliffe was killed a week or so ago when a car, driven by another kid, mounted the pavement and hit him. No fences there. Yet the roads have a constant procession of vehicles, driven by amateurs, with barely a break in between. Even the busiest railways rarely have more than one train every two minutes.

This is the future. The image of railways in their prime is an image of the railway of the future. We need to fight to ensure that our railways are human scale, that they serve local needs first, that stations are manned and a delight to wait in, that refreshments are available everywhere and the whole atmosphere is one where people want to be, not flee.

The New S&D is all about this, just as the old S&D was!

PS Thanks for all the pledges and cash that came in to the Midford Appeal after Jeff Harris's very odd message board post!

Progress report 1

Well we've been up and running over 2 months now.

To date we have announced our presence via this blog and local newspaper reports. There has been a steady flow of new members including our first junior member and first overseas member (Sweden).

We are about to get the website up and running, possibly in the next week.

We have funds in the bank!

We have launched the Midford station appeal, wth pledges of over £1500 already, and press releases now with all the major magazines.

Over the next three months I will expect us to -

Increase membership by 200%.

Have the website fully operational with full e-commerce facilities etc.

Have reached £5000+ with the Midford appeal.

Launch fully along the route via local newspapers and magazines.

Hold our first meeting (please contact me with availability so we can set this up for June).

midford

If there was any doubt in my mind that we should go for the purchase of Midford then that was soon allayed by the many messages of support - and the picture above.

What a gem this will be!

Yes, I know there's currently a cycleway on the trackbed, and that there was a previous preservation attempt here, but the world has changed enormously in the last ten years. We are not talking about shuttling a DMU up and down from nowhere to nowhere. We're talking about a stategic and low cost piece in a jigsaw, set in an area of amazing natural beauty with a huge catchment area of visitors within a ten mile radius. There won't be track of course (at first) but restoration of the buildings would be a great way of showing the world what we're about, and would allow us a focal point for fundraising etc.

Remember that the New S&D will be a genuine working railway, but this doesn't mean we ignore the past or particularly the history of the Old S&D. I personally believe that neat, manned stations are a huge improvement on unmanned bus shelters, and will encourage even more people to travel.

Pledges of monetary support (non-binding) are welcome at this stage. It's been suggested we issue shares on this particular site. Everyone's views are welcome. Please either post to comments, the message board or email me.