We are likely to be taking over ownership of Midford early in 2010. With this in mind I paid a visit today.
The site as always is breathtaking, especially the approach from Hinton Charterhouse with the line hugging the hillside. The station site and the trackbed to the southern arch of the Long Arch Bridge (the section we will be buying) is very well kept, the platform at Midford is particularly well preserved.
One issue that will have to be addressed early on is our relationship with the Hope and Anchor. They own the station car park and, understandably, don't want visitors' cars filling up their car park at busy times. Workers at the site will no doubt be able to park vehicles either on the old trackbed or on the platform itself, but obviously we'll need to sort out visitor parking at an early date. This will probably involve some cost to us, either through buying permits or buying or renting part of the car park, or at the very least restricting parking at busy times for the pub. But obviously this new visitor attraction will bring MANY new customers to the pub, and the station will be even more important to the pub when the oil starts getting too expensive for people to drive.
This sort of situation will no doubt occur at every location we purchase, but it will always be our intention to work with local established businesses. That's really what we're about - keeping the local economy going through difficult times.
In the event of a visitor parking solution not being found then Midford will simply be preserved within our Land Bank until it is. Expect more news soon!
6 comments:
No mention in your piece about the cycle route which can be seen passing through the site. What are your plans in the short to medium term with this? How is your relationship with Sustrans?
Sorry I didn't cover this in the original post - Sustrans is of course the other presence at Midford we'll need to work closely with.
The cycle route won't be affected by our plans, at least in the short to medium term. It may be that at some stage, if we decide to lay track (for cosmetic reasons) that the cycleway will be diverted alongside and along the platform. Eventually of course we'll need to work closely with Sustrans to divert the cycle route slightly away from the railway, but this is enshrined in the terms of the lease that Sustrans currently holds, which require them to vacate the railway trackbed when a REAL railway (that is a line that is primarily a transport as opposed to heritage line) is reinstated.
We expect our relations with Sustrans to be superb as we are both sustainable transport organisations. We would love to see a cycle route running from Bath to Bournemouth, alongside the S&D wherever possible, with preferential fares for cyclists at all points.
I think it's very important to remember that the New S&D will be a major employer, the primary transport link and the only way to move large numbers of people and freight in the future along this important transport corridor, so nothing will deflect us from our very important task!
has it always been known as the hope and anchor ?
or was it the railway inn or something etc etc
hope and anchor, a pub for the somerset coal canal, long before either railway came to the valley
Midford A goods yard beyond long arch bridge would be a good bit of land to acquire for volunteers and railway visitors to park. I've thought about how you'd get a coach up there if the cyclepath was to be diverted over the platform, but the simple answer is that a 110 foot long Allelys lorry with huge road crane alongside blocking the main road, would not have room to crane a coach up onto the viaduct on temporary rail, then be pushed along to the platform by jcb.
Very good point about the up goods yard. We'll look into it.
The only way a coach is going to get up to the line is south from Wellow or north from Bath - when the line's reinstated!
We may well lay track lengths in Midford station (with the cycleway diverted along the platform) but it will be for cosmetic purposes until the line is properly reinstated throughout, at the very least Bath to Radstock.
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