WC&P Railway

[AJR]

Ref.: thisisbristol - 4 August 2007

Link to online source

http://www.epost.co.uk/displayNode.jsp? ... eId=144922

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FASCINATING TALE OF THE HIDDEN RAILWAY

A group of railway enthusiasts are about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the completion of a little known train service that once ran between Weston, Clevedon and Portishead. JOHN THOMPSON reports.

It was a quaint and colourful light railway which rattled through the countryside between the three coastal towns, often leaving a long plume of smoke trailing behind it.

But the service was always short of money and was run on a shoestring budget from the start, with the locomotives and other rolling stock being bought second-hand.

It took 20 years to complete and during its peak carried more than 220,000 passengers a year until it was forced to close due to mounting debts during World War II.

But left in its wake is a catalogue of fascinating stories including tales of how drivers stopped to allow passengers to pick strawberries - and mushrooms, which they would give the fireman to cook on a shovel.

Members of Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway Group are planning to mark the 100th anniversary of its completion on Tuesday.

They are making arrangements for a peal of bells to ring out merrily from all the churches that line the twisting 14-mile route.

The steam trains were typical of the era and used to take an hour to complete the journey from Weston to Portishead.

This was because there were 19 halts in villages along the way - one every three-quarters of a mile - which meant the train stopped every couple of minutes.

It was first proposed to build the railway in 1884. At that time, each of the three towns had railway connections, but there was no direct link between them.

Work on the first section between Ashcombe Road, Weston, and The Triangle, Clevedon, started in 1887 and took 10 years to complete.

The laying of the track took so long that some of the wooden sleepers started to rot and had to be replaced.

The trains, rather unusually, ran through the centre of Clevedon on lines set in the road, with a flagman leading the way for safety reasons.

It took another 10 years to build the final stage to Portishead and the first train to operate on the completed route ran on August 7, 1907, in front of a large crowd.

The railway peaked a year later when it carried a record 220,000 passengers, which helped pay off some of its mounting debts.

But the journey was agonisingly slow because of numerous stops at the little halts which had tiny wooden huts for shelter and no platforms.

Passengers used steps attached to the carriages to climb down to ground level.

The trains also carried milk churns from local farms and stone from Conygar, Black Rock and Nightingale quarries in the Gordano Valley.

A spur ran off the main line to a little wharf near Wick St Lawrence to pick up coal which was delivered by boat from South Wales.

The Railway Group's secretary Paul Gregory said the service continually faced financial problems and passenger numbers gradually dwindled to 86,000 in 1938.

He said: "A year later, World War II started and that was the last straw. The line was forced to close in 1940 and was dismantled three years later.

"There are still a few signs of the railway's existence today including the remains of a steel bridge, hidden in a clump of trees, just off Wyndham Way, in Portishead.

"There is also an archway next to the White Lion pub which passengers used as a shortcut to get to the station where the Co-Op store now exists.

"Other parts of the line can still be walked near Conygar Quarry in Clevedon and steel support pillars for a bridge that crossed the River Yeo can still be seen."

Mr Gregory said lots of fascinating tales have been told over the years about the railway.

He said: "Notices in the carriages warned passengers not to pick strawberries while the train was moving, but the drivers used to stop so they could collect them.

"Staff on the train would also pick mushrooms for the firemen to fry on a shovel at the end of a journey.

"Apparently there was a bank manager living at Wick St Lawrence who travelled on the train daily to his branch in Clevedon.

"But if he was not waiting at the village halt when it arrived, someone ran to his house to hurry him up, often to find him still shaving."

Mr Gregory became interested in the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway three years ago and launched a website to find out more about it.

Since then he has had more than 100,000 hits and recruited 30 rail enthusiasts who are now members of the railway group.

He said: "We are trying to ensure that as much as possible of the remains of the railway is preserved.

"We hope to record and conserve the remaining physical elements and also the memories of people who used the railway.

"The group ultimately wants to install some replica elements and mark it out with markers or plaques.

"The centenary on August 7 will be a historic moment and we are hoping for a peal of bells from all the churches along the route to make it a special occasion."

For more details of the railway, visit the group's website at www.wcandpr.org.uk or phone 01275 847139.

[Agency_Scum]

Lush website! Have a go on the " then and now " section.

[jolly47roger]

I wish whoever wrote this would check their sources!. Picking strawverries from a moving train sounds impossible - what they did pick were blackberries. Indeed, special trains were laid on just for this purpose. And, apart from the bit round Clevedon the route was as near straight as you can imagine. There is a picture of the river Yeo wharf at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/73638

[Agency_Scum]

Trains booked specially to stop and pick up blackberries. FIND ME A TARDIS.....NOW!!

[MKC]

Great website and very interesting - u learn something new everyday!