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!
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

website change coming!



Our current website hosting service has experienced interesting times - and the company has been wound up. We are in the process of changing our hosting service and the changeover should be seamless, but there is a chance that there may be some interruption of service during the changeover. Don't worry, if we do vanish or lose a page or two it is only temporary!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

web input


(Photo Mick Knox 6.3.2006)

We're now frantically churning out copy for the website. One feature is content for each S&D station with history, present status and future plans. This is the entry for Wellow.

History

Wellow was opened on 20 July 1874 with the S&D’s Bath Extension. There were two platforms and a neat limestone station building. This was a particularly attractive station, fitting in very well with the adjacent village. It was once quite busy with goods traffic including watercress, corn and agricultural equipment. It closed for freight on 10 June 1963 and completely on 7 March 1966.

Current status

The station building survives as a private house, as does the signalbox.

Future plans

The station will once again see trains when this section of the line is restored. It is hoped that the building and signalbox can be purchased before the reopening.
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Monday, June 15, 2009

great news


Excellent news. We will be getting the key to Midford in just under two weeks' time. It will be ceremoniously handed over at the June meeting by the current owner. We do still have to raise the money though! Expect a much bigger push in both the railway media and the local press over the next few months. Once a server problem has been sorted out our brand new website should be up and running within days - this should also help considerably with the Midford push.
It's amazing the progress that the New S&D has made in just a few months - hopefully this dynamic process will continue as we grow!
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Saturday, May 09, 2009

a giant leap for mankind


Things are moving quickly. We met up with David Bailey today who has agreed to get the website up and running. This is a really big step for us and we should soon have a very professional and modern website. He's offering his skills and time free of charge to us which is a real coup.

It also appears to be time to call the first meeting of the New S&D, as there is a lot to discuss. I'm more than happy to hold it here at home in Bristol. We'll lay on a nice meal and you'll have access to our impressive wine selection! As we're still small could you all contact me with some idea of when you are free and, of course, if you're willing to make the trip up to Bristol. We really need to get a committee up and running.

I envisage that meetings will take place up and down the S&D so that we all do a share of the travelling over the next year or so.

Also to counterbalance the Midford station project we should also set something up in the south of the line when the right location becomes available. We mustn't forget the branches either!
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Monday, May 14, 2007

networking



What better than on a wet day browsing the web for all those S&D-related sites?

As well as our blog we've got a superb website, a myspace, a bebo, message board and also a petition to sign. Then there are all those other S&D sites out there ...
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Monday, January 15, 2007

premier league website now on line!



Just gone live today - the all new S&D website! Thanks to Julian for his really hard work on this. Over the next few months the site will be developed to make it one of the best on the web, with superb functionality, loads of information, extensive sales pages, news features etc etc. In tandem with the S&D Telegraph this should give us one of the highest profiles amongst heritage and community railways in the future, bringing the new S&D to the attention of thousands.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

2007 - the last easy year!

2007 is likely to be the last easy year at Midsomer Norton -not that we mind! At the moment everything is development, from 2008 and the opening to the public it will be development and operation.

Operating a working line will need a whole new tranche of volunteers - guards, station masters and mistresses, signalmen and women, engine drivers etc.

There will also be the need to open on extra days - to this end the shop is likely to be open 4 or 5 days a week from this month, we'll also be opening the catering coach on more days each week as the year passes. We're also planning occasional evening openings of the catering coach with special meals and patio discos. This will all give us a higher presence locally and, importantly, increased revenue.

With the receipt of the HLF funds for the museum there will be the need for museum staff, this will also bring many more visitors to the site.

Other developments in 2007 will include the launch of our new website, a glossy sales list and, of course, extension of the line southwards towards Chilcompton.