Richard Sims

Me at Ashcott and Meare station site today

Ashcott and Meare station

25”OS map showing station site in 1886

At Ham Wall the branch trackbed runs alongside the Glastonbury Canal

Spent the afternoon at RSPB Ham Wall where the trackbed of the #S&DJR’s Highbridge branch is now a footpath. The site of Ashcott and Meare station is seen in these photos, with me standing where I passed 60 years before & one running alongside the Glastonbury canal.

We are off to Ashcott and Ham Wall at present, with a lunch at The Wharf, Langport

At college in Portsmouth probably caught early train and then the mails back but I cannot really remember that bit.

Cover of itinerary

Route map

Timing sheet

Timing sheet

This is the itinerary, diversions via Staines and Alton due to engineering work and at Mangotsfield to allow D7006 to haul us into Bath so that 34013 faced the right way for Templecombe and attaching 34057. The sound of these two up to Masbury still echoes!

Photos of tour at Blandford and passing Templecombe

Photos of tour at Broadstone

Photos of tour at Templecombe, Highbridge(2) and Bath Green Park

Cover of itinerary

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the closing of the #S&DJR. Two railtours ran that day, the RCTS who covered the main line and Highbridge branch and the SLS who ran a return trip on the mainline. These are the photos From the former tour. Double headed pacifics over Masbury!

It was the RCTS tour - Waterloo, Poole, Evercreech, Highbridge, Bristol, Mangotsfield, Bath, Templecombe to Waterloo.

www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk

Yes, I was on that railtour. The sound of double headed Bulleid Pacifics on the climb to Masbury was incredible.
We used to travel from Crewkerne to Bournemouth in the late 50s early 60s via Templcombe.
I was going to post it and others on the 6th!

March 6 1966 Stephenson Loco Soc railtour of S&DJR

Hambledon Hill from Gold Hill farm kitchen

Took a trip for lunch at Gold Hill Farm Kitchen at Child Okeford. Excellent lunch, the more so with the backdrop of Hambledon Hill
#HillfortsWednesday

The primary school in Beaminster, Dorset had bollards in the shape of large(3ft) pencils

Allister heath headline generator: Allister Heath The catastrophic reality of manchester losing another plumber is finally dawning on the British public

OMG, we hit 50,000 WISHLISTS!

This has never happened to us before.

Huge thanks to everyone who has wishlisted it, streamed it, and who has kept sharing our posts to help reach a wider audience. Much appreciated.

store.steampowered.com/app/3414580/...

#steamnextfest

The more one researches Blekinsop & Murrays locomotive, the less we in fact know about them. Every C20th and C21st model or depiction is derived from a model made in 1910 by the Science Museum in London, based on French drawings published in English in that year. But the English copies are wrong!

Illegal migrant in small boat stopped from entering sovereign territory without a permit.

West Bay harbour entrance at high spring tide, showing the boat clearing the sand by injecting air.

West Bay harbour entrance at high spring tide this morning. The grab crane is having a rest while the boat injects air into the submerged sand bank. The sand so disturbed is taken away by the flow of water as the tide ebbs. As the flow reduces the grab crane takes over again.

I went down them in the early 70s when they were being excavated. I had been asked to look at soil pollen assemblages.
It was fascinating and the exhibition at the BM had an antler pick with puddled clay showing a thumbprint!

We have a landline plugged into the router. This no longer uses the traditional line but the fibre to cabinet system in our village.
The drawback is that it drops out if the power goes out. It only costs us if we call out, so we use mobiles as standard but you can include out calls in your plan

💀👍

Getting Ready for October: The Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe Manor Bettiscombe is a small village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated in the Marshwood Vale 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Beaminster. Dorset County Council’s 2012 mid-year estimate of …

reginajeffers.blog/2015/09/30/t...

Pilsden Hillfort from the Broadwindsor road

#HillfortsWednesday
Taking a trip to see the snowdrops at Forde Abbey we came across this view of Pilsden Pen from the east.
We do not normally drive this way, preferring to go cross country via Bettiscombe(of the screaming skull). However the amount of rain masking potholes led to this route

Cover of Brian Jackson’s book on the Railways of Portland

This is well worth a read concerning their history

The old mineral railways of the northern part of the island are worth exploring. You can walk the 1825 Merchant’s Railway from the harbour to them.
Then there is the Admiralty Railway which took stone down to the breakwater where the rails took the trucks onto it for forming the walls
NLS map

a tweet reply from Northumberland County Council reading: "The platform numbering won't be changing at Northumberland Park as it's two separate systems and there's a similar situation with the rail and Metro interchange at Heworth where both systems have platforms 1 & 2 on each station"

How long before both Northumberland Park and Heworth stations have their platform numbering corrected to create a single coherent interchange at each?

If we can get this tweet viral I'd say we can get it done in a month.

'Mini Switzerland' plan for Peak District transport network The idea would see buses arriving before trains pull into stations to improve connectivity.

Fantastic to see my Mini Switzerland idea covered by the BBC.

It captures so many people’s imaginations because it’s both obvious, simple and yet - from where we are today - unspeakably radical.

Please share!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

So disappointing.
Archaeology and history belong to us all, not just the wealthy.
Has it been studied? Conserved properly? Published?
Just depriving the rest of us of knowledge and understanding.

East Cliff and Beach, West Bay

Bridport Harbour, renamed West Bay in 1884, between Lyme Regis and the Chesil Beach, Dorset.

Professor finds Iron Age coin hoard near Bury St Edmunds Tom Licence says he feels a personal connection to the coins, which are to be auctioned.

@tessmachling.bsky.social
From the BBC website

The coins are the largest known find from the reign of Iron Age king Dubnovellaunos

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sand bar at mouth if West Bay harbour

The SE gales brought 1000’s of tons of sand to form a bar at the mouth of West Bay harbour

The result of the S E gales, 1000s of tons of sand deposited in Bridport harbour

The grab crane brought in to help remove the sand

@seasideferry.bsky.social West Bay has a new beach after the recent S E gales. Over 1m depth and some 1000s of tons in weight. The grab crane can take 1 ton per lift.