These two excellent shots of Midford appeared in the Railway Magazine for April 1964, and show shots on 6 June 1963 and 1 February 1964. There's excellent detail here of the buildings etc. (Photos are courtesy of Trevor Eastwood, photographers are E T Gill and D H Ballantyne).
We had a small meeting here in Bristol to discuss the next steps with Midford. Both Tom and Stuart Seale were present, they have done most of the work up there.
The next step is to apply for planning permission for the whole site. Tom has agreed to draw the plans up. Hopefully we'll be applying in the next month or so. The first step once we have planning permission will be to rebuild the oil store which will serve as a secure store for tools, leaflets etc. Then we'll rebuild the station building. It will be rebuilt as closely as possible externally to how it was in the early 50s, before the canopy was destroyed in an accident. Internally it will function as an information centre and a New S&D office, so there will probably only be one internal partition. There will be display boards on the S&D, the other restoration groups on the route plus Washford, information on climate change, peak oil, modern transport systems and future energy sources, together with a shop area selling books and other items on the S&D, general railways and peak oil, climate change etc. The information area will hopefully also include a working model of the station as it was in the old S&D days.
We will also need to get water and electricity back on site. The rebuilding of the station will move us to a whole new level of funding etc, so the restoration will need to go hand in hand with a very big promotional push in the railway and local press.
If you have the skills and enthusiasm to help us in this next stage please do get in touch (email leysiner@aol.com or phone 0117 3738973).
When the Two Tunnels route is opened (next March is the target) Midford station and the Hope and Anchor pub will become much busier. We plan to put lockable cycle racks near the station building, emphasising our commitment to the future and sustainable transport.
Of course we shall also be repeating everything we've done at Midford down at Spetisbury, all being well!
