76-479: Haynes Motor Museum at Sparkford near Yeovil in Somerset , England, contains over 400 cars and motorcycles and a collection of other automobilia . The museum was established in 1985 by John Harold Haynes OBE (1938–2019). It is a registered charity under English law. The museum is divided into fifteen exhibitions: The museum also has an outdoor children's play area. The museum featured in an episode of
152-706: A parish council which has responsibility for some local issues. The village was part of Wincanton Rural District 1894 to 1974, and South Somerset from 1974 to 2023, for which it was part of the Camelot electoral ward. It is also part of the Glastonbury and Somerton constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . The present main roads have been important for many years. The bridge
228-507: A boat train route, and carrying flows from Bristol to Southampton and Portsmouth . Much of the network is in operation today, but the Devizes and Radstock branches have closed. The Great Western Railway (GWR) had opened its main line from London to Bristol in 1841, and the London and Southampton Railway had opened in 1840; and its successor the London and South Western Railway (LSWR)
304-614: A branch line connection. The branch was worked by the GWR. The following year Shepton Mallet gained its railway connection: the East Somerset Railway opened its line from Witham on 9 November 1858. This was extended to Wells on 1 March 1862. Eventually this branch was able to connect through to Yatton at the beginning of 1878. The 1846 act of Parliament authorising the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway had included powers to connect to
380-473: A centre for milk distribution. There is a well known sawmill which makes sheds and many other things. There is a caravan and camping park, Long Hazel Park, which is a convenient base to visit Somerset, as well as being a place from which to explore local attractions such as Cadbury Castle , and the Fleet Air Arm Museum , and nearby towns including Castle Cary and Bruton. Long Hazel Park was established on
456-612: A coal branch to Radstock . In the same session, authorising acts were passed for the Berks and Hants Railway ( Reading to Hungerford and Basingstoke , sponsored by the GWR) and the Taunton to Yeovil branch of the B&;ER. The routes of the line had been designed in some haste, and after passage of the act a number of modifications were decided upon; the initially planned GWR route for connecting Bath to
532-499: A day towards Yeovil and six times a day towards Shepton Mallet , except on Sundays. When the railway was built through Sparkford in 1877, there was a rearrangement of the roads, but the lines of the old ones can still be seen. The track was part of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (later Great Western Railway ) and ran from Thingley Junction in Wiltshire to Weymouth . There was
608-513: A footnote on the same page that "In fact the [west] curve at Thingley [near Chippenham] was specifically authorised (but not built) to give connection between Bath and Trowbridge ." At this period the Board of Trade determined the relative merits of competing proposals, and the huge stakes meant that it was crucial to secure their approval; it was reported in the London Gazette on 31 Dec 1844 that
684-432: A full locomotive, they saved time at terminals by not needing to run round. They were equipped with retractable steps and were able to make calls at places with no platform, or only a very low one. They were operated between Dorchester and Weymouth, and new halts were opened for them at Upwey Wishing Well , Came Bridge and Radipole . Upwey Wishing Well was opened on 28 May 1905, and the other two on 1 July 1905. Came Bridge
760-501: A new terminus at Fisherton Street . At this time the LSWR was still using its Milford terminus, on the other edge of the city. The original impetus for a Salisbury line was access to Southampton over the LSWR, but relations with that company were no longer amicable. Frome to Yeovil opened on 1 September 1856, and Colonel Yolland inspected the Yeovil to Weymouth section on 15 January 1857. There
836-480: A possible extension to Exeter along the coast. These riches never materialised and the line simply ran from Upwey Junction to Abbotsbury . It was worked by the GWR. In 1895 the north curve at Bradford Junction was opened, allowing through running from the Limpley Stoke direction towards Melksham . Exceptionally severe frost had caused damage to the lining of Box Tunnel and the extensive repair work necessitated
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#1732855228970912-429: A single broad-gauge track, laid on transverse sleepers, apparently adopted by Brunel as an experiment. This section joined the original WS&WR main line at Bradford Junction, a little north of Trowbridge; Bradford itself was north of Bradford Junction, that is, on the new section of route. Finally, on 1 July 1857 the Devizes branch was opened, from Holt , north of Trowbridge. The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth network
988-529: A station , which served a wide district, and later a siding for milk trains for the milk factory, but both are now decommissioned. However, the track is still in use. Sparkford Vale Cooperative Dairy Society had a factory by the railway from 1918 until 1938. Water for its use was taken from the River Cam . This factory was taken over by the Haynes Publishing Company (renowned for its car manuals ) in
1064-516: Is an independent preparatory school for King's School, Bruton . In early 2011 the village hall once more became utilised for the purpose of a local playgroup. The Galhampton Pre-school re-located to Sparkford due to structural problems with Galhampton village hall. After a few years being located at Sparkford in Sept 2016 the Galhampton Pre-school closed its doors due to dwindling numbers applying to
1140-582: The Taunton Courier recorded that a deputation of merchants and traders of Bristol had gone to the Great Western Board; they were not warmly received, and They did obtain that Board's direct admission ... that it was neither expected nor intended that the line to Thingley was to be used as a Communication between Bath and Bradford, but that the intercourse between those two places would be continued as heretofore by coaches and canal. Hadfield adds in
1216-565: The A359 from Frome to Yeovil . In 1986 a bypass was built to take the main traffic on the A303 around the north of the village. The population is 617 mostly living along the old A303 and Church Road, which runs down to the former water mill and the church. There is evidence for continuous occupation from Roman to Saxon times. The village is listed in the Domesday Book for Somerset as Spercheforde. It
1292-483: The Abbotsbury branch opened in 1885, its junction was south of Upwey and faced Weymouth; on 19 April 1886 an Upwey Junction station was opened to serve it, and the earlier Upwey station was closed. In 1905 the GWR introduced its steam railmotors as a response to the rising threat of motor bus competition. These were single passenger coaches incorporating a small steam locomotive within the body at one end; cheaper than
1368-542: The London, Newbury and Bath Direct Railway . It may have been a startling scheme, but it passed its second reading in Parliament in the 1846 session, when the Berks and Hants Railway Bill was thrown out. However the Kennet and Avon company was evidently bought off by the GWR, for they dropped their scheme; their minutes of 9 September 1846 record the first instalment of £5,000 having been received in payment. Having deliberated,
1444-765: The Second Boer War flared up. The War Office increased the training facilities on Salisbury Plain , in many places alongside the Salisbury line. After the Boer War was settled, tension in Europe developed, leading to the First World War , and special facilities were provided on the line: additional siding accommodation was needed and goods loops, as well as branch lines from Heytesbury to Sutton Veny Camp, and from Codford to Codford Camp . Most of these facilities were removed at
1520-546: The Southampton and Dorchester Railway , friendly to the LSWR, had reached Dorchester (on 1 June 1847). The line had been independently promoted, and it had wooed both the GWR and the LSWR at times, and its loss to the narrow gauge camp was a blow to the GWR. That company had always intended that the WS&;WR should be part of a through main line to Exeter , and was now considering how that might be created; as its construction would put
1596-473: The 1960s and has since greatly expanded. The village school was erected in 1849 and enlarged in 1892. It was for 80 children with an average attendance of 61, with a master and mistress. It is now closed and has become the village hall. The village's primary age children now generally go to Countess Gytha Primary School in Queen Camel . Just to the north of Sparkford is Hazlegrove Preparatory School , which
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#17328552289701672-471: The B&ER announced that it had decided to alter the route of its Weymouth branch, running from Durston much further south through Bridport , with a branch to Yeovil. The Yeovil to Weymouth section would not be built, so the WS&WR added that to their own scheme: the capital cost was now to be £1.5 million. The cities of Bath and Bristol felt left out of these connections to the South Coast, and
1748-515: The Bennett family of North Cadbury . The village appears formerly to have been situated south of the church, rather than to the north of it as at present. There are still signs of earthworks in the field that used to be called Lickhill. Some archaeological investigations have recently been carried out but the results are not yet known. Sparkford is part of Castle Cary electoral division , which elects two councillors to Somerset Council . It also has
1824-604: The Board of Trade announced their decision: they found in favour of the WS&WR scheme, rejecting the LSWR's Swindon line. The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway obtained its authorising act of Parliament , the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. liii), on 30 June 1845. It was to be on the same broad gauge as the GWR network, and to run from near Chippenham to Salisbury , with branches to Weymouth, Dorset , Sherborne , Devizes and Bradford-on-Avon , and
1900-488: The Board of Trade were supportive of the WS&WR scheme, provided the GWR sought to construct a connecting line from Bath to join the WS&WR. The GWR immediately undertook to apply for an act of Parliament giving authority for such a line in the 1846 session. However the frenzy of projecting railways at this time was such that the Kennet and Avon Canal proposed laying broad gauge tracks on each side of their canal; this would be
1976-528: The LSWR Yeovil Junction station. The exchange station, called Clifton Maybank, was needed because of the gauge difference : goods had to be shifted from wagons of one gauge to wagons of the other. It opened on 13 June 1864. The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway had been built to be part of the Great Western Railway system, and as such used broad-gauge track. In 1874 the GWR decided that it
2052-455: The LSWR and the GWR. The standard-gauge Salisbury and Yeovil Railway opened to Yeovil on 1 June 1860; although this was an independent company, the line was part of the LSWR's strategy of reaching the West of England, and on 19 July 1860 the LSWR continuation from Yeovil towards Exeter opened. The GWR built a branch from near their Yeovil station to a goods exchange station at Clifton Maybank , near
2128-412: The LSWR camp, and also opposition from the otherwise friendly B&ER. Starting from the junction at Thingley , a couple of miles southwest of Chippenham, the line was constructed via Melksham and Trowbridge as far as Westbury . It was inspected by the Board of Trade inspector on 26 August 1848 and approved for opening. After a trial trip for the directors on 2 September, this section was opened to
2204-460: The LSWR £16,309, and it is likely that the broad gauge rail was never used. The Bristol and Exeter Railway had opened its line to Yeovil (from Taunton ) on 1 October 1853, but its station was at Hendford , on the west side of the town; on 2 February 1857 they opened a connecting line from Hendford to the WS&WR Yeovil station. The GWR pressed ahead with the Bradford to Bathampton section; forming
2280-598: The Pre-school. It has now joined to the North Cadbury Primary School. The Church of St Mary Magdalene is still as described in 1868, but the parish is now part of a Benefice known as Cam Vale which includes Queen Camel, West Camel, Corton Denham, Weston Bampfield and Sutton Montis. The building dates from the 14th century with the nave built in 1824 by Thomas Ellis of local grey lias stone cut and squared, with Hamstone dressings. The first known incumbent of
2356-581: The Remembrance Sunday Parade. There is also a thriving young farmers' club. Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dorset . It opened the first part of
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2432-512: The Somerset coalfield, was started too, but then difficulties with getting possession of the necessary land delayed things so much that the branch was put in abeyance. To generate much-needed capital to complete the line, the GWR created a Frome, Yeovil and Weymouth Railway company which was authorised by an act of Parliament of 30 June 1852 to complete that route: its capital was to be £550,000 with borrowing powers of £183,000. The intention evidently
2508-512: The WS&WR had been from the Radstock branch to Twerton , west of Bath, but on 7 October 1845 Isambard Kingdom Brunel , engineer to the GWR and the WS&WR, reported that a better route was through the Avon valley from Bradford to Bathampton , east of Bath. The course of the WS&WR between Frome and Bruton was modified to make it more suited to main line running; this change, and an extension to
2584-497: The WS&WR network, so that by 1906 the express trains ran over the Westbury to Castle Cary section. In 1933 further improvements were made, and that part of the line was established as part of the "holiday line" to Devon and Cornwall . The network was already a major trunk route for coal from South Wales coalfields to southern England, and for Channel Islands farm produce imported through Weymouth Harbour , as well as providing
2660-468: The WS&WR promoters decided to add a branch to their own line from Frome to Yeovil to meet the B&ER line there, forming a large triangle and making (with the GWR line) a direct route from London to Weymouth. In September 1844 the Board of Trade assented to this addition; this added £350,000 to the capital required: it would now cost £1 million. A month later, at a meeting in Frome on 23 October 1844,
2736-524: The Westbury junction, diverging before reaching the Frome station, so a west-to-north curve was laid in, and when it was ready, passenger trains operated from Frome to Bristol via Radstock from 5 July 1875. The line between Thingley Junction and Frome was already double track, and the Yeovil Pen Mill to Evershot section had been doubled in 1858, but the rest was single. The Dorchester to Weymouth section
2812-502: The arrival of railways in their town, the Borough of Weymouth changed from local solar time to railway time on 1 January 1852, a move that was rather premature. At last the mineral branch from Frome to Radstock, just over 8 miles long, was opened on 14 November 1854. The 19 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (31 km) of the Salisbury branch from Warminster was at last opened on 30 June 1856, to
2888-639: The church was in 1297 and the monumental inscriptions date back to Johes Clyke, who died in 1513. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building . The former rectory, which was used by the Navy in World War II and then used as an egg packing station, is now used for private housing. The former glebe land was also sold off for housing. The Church of the Holy Cross in Weston Bampfylde
2964-544: The cut-off line, from Reading to Taunton via Westbury, was opened, it ran through Westbury and Frome stations. Westbury was not originally aligned for an east–west main line, and Frome station was on an awkward curve; there was a 30 mph (48 km/h) speed restriction at both places for West of England and Weymouth trains, and at Westbury they conflicted with the heavy coal traffic from the Trowbridge line towards Salisbury. The Developments (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929
3040-513: The directors took the decision to start work. This was to be a trunk main line, and the first task was to double the line east of Patney, which had been built as the Berks and Hants Extension Railway , and to build a new line from Patney to meet the WS&WR line at Westbury, the Stert and Westbury cut-off . This was started in 1895, and goods traffic first ran on the route on 29 July 1900, followed by local passenger trains on 1 October. This shortened
3116-516: The distance from Paddington to Westbury, and therefore to Yeovil and Weymouth, by over 14 miles (23 km). As part of the work, Westbury station was much extended, as its status as a junction station becoming more important. The next phase of work was to construct the Langport cut-off , which ran west from Castle Cary to join the Bristol and Exeter line northeast of Taunton. This was opened in stages: it
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3192-458: The edge of the Somerset coalfield, was such a place, and the line was built there from Westbury. Captain R. W. Lufman of the Board of Trade inspected the section from Westbury to Frome, and approved it, and it opened to the public on 7 October 1850. Warminster , a thriving market town on the future Salisbury line, was also an objective, and the section from Westbury opened on 9 September 1851. The branch line from Frome to Radstock, centre then of
3268-487: The end of the war. The railmotors were successful, but they had the limitation that they were unable to cope with peaks of traffic, or to run longer distances, and by 1922 the fleet was substantially reduced, and many were withdrawn in 1935. There was a continuing need to respond to local passenger traffic, heightened as improved roads made motor buses more efficient, and in the 1930s a number of halts were opened south of Yeovil, and also Strap Lane Halt near Bruton . When
3344-468: The first meeting of the nascent GWR company on 9 July 1844, Charles Alexander Saunders, secretary of the GWR, suggested that the necessary sum of £650,000 could be secured on a GWR guarantee; the GWR would be the lessee of the line, and would directly subscribe half of the capital. The Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER), a broad gauge line friendly to the GWR, was proposing a line to Weymouth from its own main line at Durston , west of Bridgwater , and
3420-479: The friendly B&ER at a disadvantage, the GWR proposed purchasing the B&ER, an offer that was rejected. The GWR now actively planned its line to the west: it would infill the Hungerford (Berks and Hants) to Devizes (WS&WR) section, and build a new line from Yeovil (WS&WR) to Exeter via Axminster . This latter line was not built by the GWR, but its development as a scheme provoked renewed hostility from
3496-568: The harbour at Weymouth, but any such branch extension was forgotten. A local company, the Weymouth and Portland Railway was authorised to build a branch onto the Isle of Portland , with a street tramway from Weymouth station to the Channel Islands quay. The line was opened on 18 October 1865; locomotives were prohibited on the tramway to the quay, and horse traction was used; the line was leased jointly to
3572-402: The line under Dundas Aqueduct for the Kennet and Avon Canal proved particularly difficult. Yolland visited for an inspection on 16 January 1857. He found numerous shortcomings with the track, signalling and buildings and he refused opening. However he reinspected a fortnight later, and the faults had evidently been rectified, for he approved the opening: it took place on 2 February 1857. It was
3648-410: The narrow gauge Bristol and North Somerset Railway , which had reached Radstock in 1873. It too had seen coal traffic as it main purpose, but it was a passenger railway too. Now that the break of gauge had been eliminated (by the conversion of the Frome to Radstock branch), the two lines could be worked together, and a passenger service was started from Frome. The original mineral line had a junction from
3724-474: The network but found it impossible to raise further money and sold its line to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1850. The GWR took over the construction and undertook to build an adjacent connecting line; the network was complete in 1857. In the early years of the 20th century the GWR wanted to shorten its route from London to the West of England and built "cut-off" lines in succession to link part of
3800-554: The night-time and Sunday diversion of London–Bristol trains, involving reversal at Westbury or Trowbridge. The new curve was hastily laid in on the earthworks of the original 1857 Devizes branch, and it opened on 11 March 1895. The GWR, the Bristol and Exeter Railway and the South Devon Railway had long since amalgamated, and there was an important through route from London Paddington to Taunton , Exeter and Plymouth . However
3876-500: The police drama McDonald & Dodds titled A Billion Beats as the headquarters of fictitious Formula 1 team Addingtons which included scenes shot in The Red Room . Sparkford Sparkford is a village and civil parish in Somerset , England . The parish includes the village of Weston Bampfylde . It is situated near the junction of the A303 from London to Exeter and
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#17328552289703952-447: The public on 5 September 1848. At this date, before the introduction of interlocking signalling, facing junctions on the main line were regarded as potentially dangerous, and therefore the junction at Thingley was laid out so that trains reversed into a siding before continuing on the Westbury line. At the same time the spur from Staverton , north of Trowbridge, to Bradford-on-Avon was physically completed, but rails were not laid and it
4028-510: The quay at Weymouth, were authorised by the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (Amendment) Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxiii) of 3 August 1846. Next, insurmountable difficulties were discovered over the hilly route between Dorchester and Weymouth, and a major deviation was needed there; this had to be authorised in the 1847 parliamentary session (on 25 June 1847) so that much time had been lost before construction could start there. By now
4104-519: The route was not direct: it ran via Bristol Temple Meads station, and the GWR was sometimes called the great way round . The LSWR had a significantly shorter route from London Waterloo to Exeter via Salisbury. The GWR had a line from Reading to Devizes, joining with the WS&WR lines there, and it was clear that filling in some gaps would create a coherent direct route between Reading and Taunton. The GWR had more than once obtained Parliamentary powers to build such lines but they had lapsed, when in 1895
4180-584: The same ground as the Sparkford Vale Co-Operative Dairy immediately after WW2 and used as urgent post-war housing. At one time Sparkford had three garages, but one has since been demolished after the bypass was built. Wakes Garage was the centre for a bus company for many years. 3rd Sparkford Scout Group (Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Young Explorers) meet in the Village Hall weekly during term time and are involved in local Parish events such as
4256-423: The time as "narrow gauge"), and they were anxious to ensure that any new independent railway should be on their own preferred track gauge; this rivalry is characterised as the " gauge wars ". The proposed LSWR line to Swindon, the heart of GWR territory, was met with furious opposition, and the GWR promoted two nominally independent lines, the Berks and Hants Railway and the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway. At
4332-436: The time of the original WS&WR act of 1846. Also, before the sale of the WS&WR, the GWR had undertaken to build a line from Bradford to Bath. The citizens of Bradford and Devizes now observed the rival towns of Trowbridge and Frome benefiting from their new rail connection, while they languished without an active railway. Matters escalated until they applied for a writ of mandamus , to compel opening to their towns. The GWR
4408-400: The two years.) Momentum had been lost—but a lot of money spent—since the original passage of the WS&WR Act of 1846, but there was no alternative to pressing on: the LSWR now had Weymouth in its sights via the Southampton and Dorchester Railway , and it was important to the GWR to secure primacy there. The long onward route from Frome to Weymouth now seemed unattractive. In anticipation of
4484-399: The west of the village. Sparkford Wood , to the north of the village, is privately owned and is a site of special scientific interest . It is generally opened to the public for charity at bluebell time. The Haynes International Motor Museum has over 340 cars and bikes and is continually growing. It is often used as a start/finish point for car and motorbike rallies. Sparkford is still
4560-454: Was a sharp curve connecting the LSWR to the WS&WR line at Dorchester, as the LSWR station had not been aligned for making this connection; Yolland required that LSWR trains on the connecting curve be restricted to 6 mph (10 km/h) and carry a travelling porter. The line to Weymouth opened 20 January 1857; all these lines were single track, broad gauge, except that double track mixed gauge
4636-421: Was able to state honestly that shortage of money was a problem and could not simply be overcome. Devizes lost, but the writ for Bradford was made absolute at the end of 1852, obliging the GWR to complete to Bathampton through Bradford, and forbidding payment of dividends after two years until they did so. (In fact the construction proved so difficult that the GWR applied for, and obtained, an extension of time beyond
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#17328552289704712-606: Was already mixed gauge, for the LSWR trains. After the gauge conversion, more sections were provided with double track: Frome to Witham in spring 1875; Witham to Castle Cary in 1880; Castle Cary to Yeovil Pen Mill in 1881; Evershot to Maiden Newton in 1882; Maiden Newton to Grimstone in 1884; and Grimstone to Dorchester in 1885. The Bathampton to Bradford section was doubled on 17 May 1885. The Abbotsbury Railway finally succeeded in opening its line after serious delays and difficulties, on 9 November 1885. The company prospectus had promised extensive mineral deposits, and
4788-472: Was built in the 13th century. The graveyard is also the burial site of the noted author and spiritual teacher J.G. Bennett (1897-1974) whose family were prominent in Sparkford in the 19th and earlier 20th centuries. Sparkford has a cricket field by the old A303 with a successful local team. There is a playing field for children off Church Road, run by a trust. Another trust looks after Sparkford Hill copse to
4864-476: Was complete at last. From the completion of the core network in 1857, a number of independent branches and other lines made connection. The first was the Bridport Railway , a branch line from Maiden Newton to Bridport , which opened 12 November 1857. Bridport was an important town, and had been on a number of projected main lines, but none of those came to being, and the town had to content itself with
4940-519: Was elevated to avoid the difficulty. From 2 July 1906 express trains and other through traffic was diverted on to the new line. The cut-off route saved a further 20 miles (32 km) compared with the former route. The GWR was anxious to develop local passenger traffic; the early distribution of stations was somewhat sparse. Local requests prompted the GWR to provide a station at Upwey, on the Dorchester to Weymouth section; it opened on 21 June 1871. When
5016-434: Was extending westwards. The advantage to communities connected to the new railways was immediately apparent; in contrast, places remote from these lines felt strongly the disadvantage at which they were placed. The areas of south-west Wiltshire were prosperous from sheep farming and wool manufacture, and quickly saw that they too needed a railway. The LSWR proposed a line from Basingstoke to Swindon , and at this time there
5092-503: Was held in 1086 by Fulwin from Walter de Douai having been held by Alwakin before the Norman conquest . The parish was part of the hundred of Catsash . In about 1335 the manor was held by Nicholas de Hanyton, while by 1370 it was held by John Lovel of Titchmarsh . The next known owner is Sir Thomas Essex who held the manor in about 1554. Richard Newman acquired Sparkford manor in 1610 and this family held it until 1792. It then passed to
5168-471: Was intense rivalry between them and the GWR to control territory: the railway that was first to have a line in an area would have an enormous competitive advantage there, and could often use that line as a base to extend further. The GWR was building its lines on the 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge and the LSWR on what is now the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge (referred to at
5244-406: Was not presented for opening, so it lay unused for the time being. In this period, actually obtaining money that had been subscribed was proving exceptionally difficult, and the company was unable to fund continuing construction work. Only the large, established railway companies with an actual income could raise money, and as the pressure increased, the directors realised that the only way forward
5320-481: Was opened from Castle Cary to Charlton Mackrell on 1 July 1905. On 2 April 1906 part of the line was opened at the western end, from a new junction at Cogload , near Taunton, to Somerton . Finally the central section, and the entire route was opened on 20 May 1906. It followed part of a branch line from Yeovil towards Taunton ; the relevant section was upgraded to double track main line standards, and in an area where persistent flooding problems had been experienced, it
5396-499: Was provided from Dorchester to Weymouth for the use of LSWR trains, and the Dorchester curve was mixed gauge. The GWR had been forced to agree to lay rails for narrow gauge trains, and the LSWR could be charged 60% of gross receipts over that section. To ensure a strange sort of equity, the Board of Trade required that the LSWR should lay mixed gauge on its line for the same distance, about 8 miles (13 km), eastward from Dorchester, ending "abruptly in mid-country" near Wool . That cost
5472-670: Was renamed Monkton and Came Bridge (Golf Links) Halt on 1 October 1905. In the same year a similar railmotor service was started between Chippenham and Trowbridge, with new halts at Lacock , Beanacre , Broughton Gifford and Staverton . In 1910 the siding accommodation at Limpley Stoke was much enlarged to handle mineral traffic coming from the Camerton line ; it was remarshalled there for onward transit. Britain had been involved for some time in hostilities in South Africa, and in October 1899
5548-460: Was time to convert to what had become the standard gauge, and the whole of the WS&WR system were converted in a massive operation in June 1874. On 18 June the network was cleared of broad gauge rolling stock and the work of altering the gauge began, and the first standard gauge train ran on 22 June. The Radstock branch, built as a mineral railway, could now connect directly with its northerly neighbour,
5624-410: Was to arouse local interest—and money—but the latter was not forthcoming and the company was dissolved without achieving anything. The railway was now open from Thingley Junction, Chippenham, to Frome and Warminster. The authorised spur to Bradford-on-Avon had been built in 1848, before the sale to the GWR, but for reasons that are not clear, this section was not opened; Devizes was to have a branch from
5700-427: Was to sell their line to the GWR. That decision was taken by them in October 1849, and the transfer took place on 14 March 1850; it was confirmed by an act of Parliament on 3 July 1851, which dissolved the Wilts, Somerset & Weymouth company. Money was difficult to find even for the GWR, and attention was given to reaching places that might bring in extra traffic without great expenditure in getting there. Frome, on
5776-527: Was widened in 1815. The toll house for the turnpike to Wincanton still exists but is now a private house (The Octagon). The Sparkford Inn, dating from the 15th century, was an important coaching house and continues to be a popular hostelry. It used to be a meeting place for the local hunt but this is now combined with the Blackmore Vale one. Public transport provision is sparse; South West Coaches operates routes 1 and 1B through Sparkford, eight times
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