Synopsis: A trip out for Mum and me on West Somerset Railway. We travelled the full distance of the line between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead. Stormy start to the day but it turned out nice.
(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)Once again, it was Tesco who we have to thank for today’s trip on the West Somerset Railway. I had a number of Clubcard Days Out vouchers that would soon expire, and so I chose to use them on this trip out today, which of course helps to keep the cost down. Sounds miserly I know, but that’s me.
The weather forecast indicated that a bout of severe weather passing over the south west during the night would head eastwards through the morning. I was banking on this, as the weather I woke up to was nasty in the extreme. By the time we were parking the car at Bishops Lydeard the rain had stopped and breaks in the cloud were beginning to appear.
Bishops Lydeard railway station - ticket office, decorated for Christmas
Everything about the West Somerset Railway transports you back into an earlier time. The ticket office is just as it would have appeared in the 1940s. And many of the staff including the ticket salesman were dressed in period costume. The ticket office had been decorated for Christmas. The West Somerset Railway is largely a summer attraction, but during these few weeks in December it opens for the Christmas holidays.
Bishops Lydeard railway station - train that will take us to Minehead
Our train was waiting for us, steamed and primed for the journey to Minehead. I took a moment out to take a look at the engine. I then joined Mum in one of the carriages where we waited till the scheduled time for departure. The train started out punctually from Bishops Lydeard.
Watchet railway station
It was such a muggy days the windows were wet with rain outside and steamed up with condensation inside. We wiped down the inside of the windows as best we could with tissues so that we might get a clearer view of the beautiful countryside through which we passed. One of the highlights of this journey for me is the small country railway stations that we pass en route. I feel they are so emblematic of the age of steam. This is an image of one of the larger stations, that at Watchet, a photo I took through the window of the carriage door.
Chug, chugging along
Apparently the West Somerset Railway is deemed ‘the longest standard gauge heritage railway in the United Kingdom’. I think that makes it rather special, and perhaps not as well known as it should be. I clocked a leisurely 27 mph as the maximum speed the train achieved on our journey to Minehead today, with an average speed on the journey of 15 mph and an elapsed time of 1 hour 15 minutes. As the train ran along the north Somerset coast I watched through the open carriage window the wispy smoke trail spiral into oblivion.
Minehead - Stones Bar & Restaurant for lunch
On arriving at Minehead (11:40) we headed up The Avenue, the main road in the town, in search of somewhere to eat. I spotted a place named Stones Bar & Restaurant and as we stood outside perusing the menu it began to rain, so rather than dither we dashed inside. The placed looked welcoming so we sought out a table in one of the windows. A lunch of scampi and chips washed down with drinks was enjoyed by Mum and I. Refreshed and fed we resumed our stroll through Minehead.
I found this building on The Avenue intriguing, as I tried to determine what it was. It had decoration which indicated it was of the art deco period, but just what was it? At first I thought it was a church but around the front is a theatre ticket office, and that is precisely what it is, at least mostly so. Sadly the ground floor is given over to garish shop fronts which rather detract from the architecture of the building. It’s known as the Regal Theatre, and there’s a brief history on the official web site that states it was built as a 1,600 seat theatre and cinema in 1934. It apparently had a £300,000 refurbishment in 2012. Below left is the Regal Theatre as it looked in 1935, and below right is my photo of how the building looks today.
I then noticed a footpath and a sign which indicated that it lead to a park. Mum and I followed this footpath and discovered this took us to Blenheim Gardens. These are lovely gardens, a little oasis just off the main street. Walking through the gardens led us in the direction of the seafront, on which we emerged just short of the harbour. Below left is a photo showing how Blenheim Gardens looked in 1925, and below right is my photo showing how the gardens look today.
Minehead seafront - sculpture marking one end of the South West Coast Path
Minehead has only a very small breakwater providing an equally small harbour for just a few boats. As Mum tires easily we didn’t walk the full length down to the harbour-side. We stopped at a modern sculpture dedicated to the fact that Minehead is one end of the South West Coast Path, a long distance footpath that runs around the south-west peninsula from here to Poole.
We headed back to the railway station as we wanted to catch the 14:15 train. Our plan was to break our return journey at Watchet, which we could do if we caught this relatively early train.
Watchet - the quay - houseboat?
On arriving at Watchet (14:47) we walked through this small town to the harbour. There were a few fishermen on the harbour wall, but we found Watchet to be very sleepy on this winter’s day. It’s a very pretty place, occupying a lovely location. There’s a statue of the Ancient Mariner on the harbour side, complete with albatross. But what really caught my eye on our visit today was a boat in the harbour that looked very picturesque, which I take to be a houseboat.
Watchet - Hellikers Cafe for tea and cake
There were however few open cafés to be found, but eventually we settled upon one named Helikers, small and humid, but serving the basics of tea and cake. After this quick snack we made our way the short distance back to Watchet railway station. We couldn’t afford to miss our train (16:41), as it was the last train of the day.
Bishops Lydeard railway station
Dusk was upon us as we headed on our train out of Watchet. And nightfall was upon us as we passed through the picturesque station at Crowcombe. Travelling on this piece of transport history completing this last leg of our journey as night befell us conjured the atmosphere of a bygone time. There was a lovely illuminated Merry Christmas sign to greet us at our final stop of Bishops Lydeard (arriving at 17:22).
Please find below a video I shot of our outing today.
Large screen: Standard Def -:- High Def
I think it fair to say Mum and I thoroughly enjoyed our little excursion today. One of the most calming and relaxing ways possible to spend a day. I somehow doubt the car will ever match this quality of rail travel.
The photos from previous excursions of ours on West Somerset Railway can be found in 23a Summer 2006 - West Somerset Railway and 188 West Somerset Railway and Dunster Castle (NT) photo sets of mine on Flickr.
P.S. Has this whetted your appetite for the world of steam? Want to immerse yourself from the comfort of your armchair in smoke, soot and steam? If so, I’ve just discovered that the there is a collection of full-length BBC TV programmes compiled as Steam Railways in BBC 4 Collections. Apparently “… the channel's Service Licence has [from February 2011] been amended to allow it to curate and publish archive content permanently online, alongside and complementing its broadcast output.” (from: Archiving the Army with BBC Four [by Roly Keating, Friday 16 September 2011]). What this means is that: “The BBC for the first time has a clear, defined remit to start building a 'permanent collection' of some of its best programmes for free online access by anyone in the UK.” (BBC 4 Collections). So, sit back and enjoy a selection from this sample, and then, if you wish to experience the real thing, take a ride on the West Somerset Railway.
Trip Statistics (Bishops Lydeard to Minehead):
Total Distance: 20.0 miles
Moving Time: 1hrs 15min
Maximum Speed: 27mph
Average Speed: 15mph
Total Number of Stations: 10
Train: West Somerset Railway – (Day Rover tickets: Adult: £17.00 / Senior: £15.40)
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