Welcome to the 'New Somerset and Dorset Railway'

The original Somerset and Dorset Railway closed very controversially in 1966. It is time that decision, made in a very different world, was reversed. We now have many councillors, MPs, businesses and individuals living along the line supporting us. Even the Ministry of Transport supports our general aim. The New S&D was formed in 2009 with the aim of rebuilding as much of the route as possible, at the very least the main line from Bath (Britain's only World Heritage City) to Bournemouth (our premier seaside resort); as well as the branches to Wells, Glastonbury and Wimborne. We will achieve this through a mix of lobbying, trackbed purchase and restoration of sections of the route as they become economically viable. With Climate Change, road congestion, capacity constraints on the railways and now Peak Oil firmly on the agenda we are pushing against an open door. We already own Midford just south of Bath, and are restoring Spetisbury under license from DCC, but this is just the start. There are other established groups restoring stations and line at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone, and the fabulous narrow gauge line near Templevcombe, the Gartell Railway.

There are now FIVE sites being actively restored on the S&D and this blog will follow what goes on at all of them!
Midford - Midsomer Norton - Gartell - Shillingstone - Spetisbury


Our Aim:

Our aim is to use a mix of lobbying, strategic track-bed purchase, fundraising and encouragement and support of groups already preserving sections of the route, as well as working with local and national government, local people, countryside groups and railway enthusiasts (of all types!) To restore sections of the route as they become viable.
Whilst the New S&D will primarily be a modern passenger and freight railway offering state of the art trains and services, we will also restore the infrastructure to the highest standards and encourage steam working and steam specials over all sections of the route, as well as work very closely with existing heritage lines established on the route.

This blog contains my personal views. Anything said here does not necessarily represent the aims or views of any of the groups currently restoring, preserving or operating trains over the Somerset and Dorset Railway!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

spetisbury 15 July 2012


(Photo copyright Kevin Brettell)

SPETISBURY
SUNDAY 15TH JULY - WORK PARTY


I am going up to the station on Sunday, and hope that a few of you can join me. One thing on the agenda is replace the edging slabs that have been lifted. So I will need help! Anyone interested, please let me know as soon as possible.
Dean Cockwell, Project Manager
 

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It might be worth as a temporary fix to cast some in concrete using a dye to get a near colour match. Also you may find that they are dumped in some bushes on the site, not to far from where they came from, I suspect they were moved for safety reasons after the vandals first dislodged them.

Keep up the good work on the site if the photos are anything to go by, you are coming on leaps and bounds.

one final suggestion I have seen on your groups face book page, that some items you have found have disappeared, this will only get worse when more finds are made this issue dogs every archaeological dig ever made throughout history, I do realise you are not a dig as such, but any items of interest your team find may end up in a history of the station display so from that perspective. the solution is to appoint a person or small group to look after them ideally as near to the station as possible so your helpers can drop off items easily, bearing in mind that original S&D Jnt R stuff will have some value and there for be liable to theft if left on site. this is by no means a criticism, but an idea as you are doing such a good job reviving this long lamented old line.