I love this, I grew up in shepton mallet walliking through the tunnels at ham woods telling ghost stories, I worked at the cranmore train station at the attached cafe and ador3d working on the train services. This makes me feel very special to have such a connection with all of these sights so long after the line ended
Back when the BBC made documentaries we wanted to watch and weren't bias towards old fashioned values, how far has the BBC fallen. Loved the film and made me recall my first book I got way back in 1980 from my local library in North London by Ivo Peters about the S&D which went on to spawn my love of steam, wonderful stuff to watch ;-)
@Novak Ingood Hey no worries. Ivo was before my time but his books and films are what drew me to the subject in detail other than my father placing me infront of his stereo at age 2 to listen to Peter Handford recordings of steam and watch me mesmerised by the sounds, happy times.
@Novak Ingood Oh yes indeed they are, if good, the builders of a sturdy base upon which a child's mind can grow through shared experience and love for common likes. Pity these days and not to get to political but men are derided especially as fathers. Still time is a circle and one day will return to the fold... we can but hope.
Today the BBC are an utter she to what was once a Great Britain. Ok, I needed some intense orchestral music for that line, but my point remains. The BBC used to be something that British folk could be proud of. Now they are a national embarrassment and utterly shameful.
Looking at that fantastic old Gentleman's eyes come alive, and the way he simply got right down to it as if it were only the day before that he had retired was very moving. Like the Miners, when the Railways were emasculated a whole way of life, traditions, and skills vanished for good.
From 1985...and the narrator is Mike Arlett, he is quite superb. He has provided commentary on several commercial DVD's of especially 1960's steam railways. If you ever treat yourself to one such DVD, then buy ''Branch Line to Burnham''..Mike narrating. Cost..£19-99. Should be able to buy it on-line. It is my all-time favourite, vividly takes you back to a bygone era.
Ivo Peter's films are far better and more pleasing to watch than today's digital camera clips where people can't keep still or quiet at all when filming trains.
Magnificent memories, superbly presented by the legendary Mike Arlett. Mike is undoubtedly the best ever narrator of steam railway films. Old film brilliantly brought to vivid life by a very skilful commentator.
The look in the old drivers eyes had to be one of the most beautiful looks I've ever seen, it was as if he was seeing an old girlfriend he hadn't seen in many years and the way he just climbed up into the cab and sat down in the driver's seat and literally the driving the engine as if nothing had changed
The "modern" Intercity locomotives we see in some shots in this documentary are older now than the steam locomotives Ivo Peters was filming were when he was filming them. They're the new vintage trains now. It's strange to think that at the time this documentary was made these men were reminiscing about an older time now gone. Because watching this I'm reminiscing about the time at which it was filmed, back when we had a rail network that served the public good instead of merely serving private profit.
Having grown up in Wincanton I've always wondered how much easier my life could've been had the SDJR stayed open, I'm currently gathering information on the route so I can try and trace what little of it is still publicly accessible.
Return and All Change are superb documentaries I well remember at the time of broadcast.Wonderful Donald Beale and Peter Smith.Great men from a time long gone...
So good to see these programs again. My great grandfather was a driver on the S&D based at Highbridge(for Burnham on Sea). I can clearly remember the branch being used for milk trains to Basonbridge right up to the early 70s.
It doesn't matter how many times I watch this (first saw it in 1986 on tv.,) it still gets to me. I am reminded of Houseman's poem: "Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows; What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again."
Back then the guys treated their jobs as vocations... they loved what they did and were proud of it. Now it seems railway workers are in it for what they can get out of it. Traveling by train is the most enjoyable way of getting around, unfortunately now you are restricted by the unions as to when you can use the service.
Hello My Friends To my way of thinking it's absolutely heartbreaking that this magnificent railway is gone. We are fortunate that Ivo had the foresight to capture it on film. His wonderful films bring into focus what once was, and also, what we have lost. Jack
The death of this wonderful railway always brings tears to my eyes. If only Beeching had never been born or SOMEONE had the foresight to preserve this line for todays generation of steam locos. So lamented the dear old S&DJR. The destruction of our beloved railways began the slow demise of Britain, today our loco factories are no more, no more British cars, steel, coal, you name it. All thanks to BEECHING! Think about it.......... :...(
Keyboard Krazy The irony is with traffic congestion, pollution, and overuse of Petrol and prices that the railway would thrive today. Yes they would use Electric and Diesel but the rail line would be thriving today. Over here in the USA the railway is a major part of moving goods from one part of the country to the other but is behind in people transportation compared to Europe. I used to live in Spetisbury next to this wonderful line. Great film.
Imagine if that line were open now. Imagine the tourism traffic. It would be like the canals now, which have more traffic on them than every before. The Midford Signal Box on its own should have been a Grade 1 listed building. A piece of social history destroyed. It's tragic.
Even worse, it was Tory Transport minister Ernest Marples who paid a massive sum (bribed) the then B.R chairman Beeching, to take responsibility for the subsequent butchery of our Public network.....Marples had fingers in various pies, Builders of the New Motorways and emerging bus companies etc....He was totally corrupt and eventually escaped prosecution for Tax evasion.....running off to France. To my mind it was criminal what They did....As a youngster born in the 50's on the South coast, with just my Saturday job, I could afford to travel quite a way on days out with my mates! Need a Bank loan now to take some journeys in UK......And We Sorely need MORE Railways routes now......
Theres a Lane at Worrhy Farm of famous Glastonbury which was the old trackbed of the S&D talking to one the farm workers Worthy Farm had its own milk dock siding when the line was running.
Absolute classic. Wonderful memories of the S&DJR brought to life and everyone's to keep. This is an object lesson in social destruction. The railway was for many the sole means of communication in this stunningly beautiful but savage landscape, terminated like so many things railway years before it's time. A much loved friend lost for ever to the god of car parks and Tesco. (Other supermarkets are widely available - unfortunately) Most of them built on derelict branch lines or disused engine shed sites. Nostalgia? you bet!
Bath Green Park station has a vintage market on I think the first Sunday of the month (might be the last) but most of the time, it's just a Sainsbury's car park, what a shame
The ex driver Ray, with the thin moustache, was filmed on the footplate, in the BBC 1963 John Betjeman film, "A Branch Line Railway", which features the old S&D branch , from Evercreech Junction, to Burnham On Sea..
Yes, I regularly watch ''Branch line''......it's a wonderful, evocative film of a golden age of Olde England. Mike Arlett, narrating here, also commentates on my favourite ever steam DVD, ''Branch Line to Burnham''. Get a copy if you can, it is a gem, an absolute classic.
wonderful, I actually walked across Midford viaduct in September 2015. to think in 1963 Sir John Betjimin made Branchline railway and he said how hellish the roads would be in 10 years. Well 53 years later Britian is totally ruined by cars and the vain attempt to keep building more roads. it is simply criminal that so much victorian engineering was destroyed by short sighted pollies like Beeching. its funny Britain ripped up so many lines, when you go to France they seem to have kept them
And the majority of the lines on the Beeching Report, were closed under the auspices of Barbara Castle, despite a broken promise, in the 1964 Labour manifesto, to at least review said act.
***** miney corrupts. So many people in politics do this. I think many lines had to shut as they never made money. The tragic thing is not closing the line bur selling the rail corridor. So many lines would now be viable.
***** if you check out my TH-cam channel I am building in O gauge in the garden a model of West Green station on the old Seven Sisters to Palace Gate branch. It closed 7th Jan 63 and had been going downhill since the Piccadilly line was extended to Cockfosters. Crossrail two has a planned link between WoodGreen and Seven Sisters which is the route of the old line
@@StormBlazePegasus However not from Taunton. Have to bus the first part. Hope they don't cut the bus service or I won't be able to get to the line at all.
Can we please stop blaming Dr Beeching for the railway closures, he only wrote the report. The final decision on any line closure was the Minister of Transport, one Ernest Marples, whose construction company was actively bidding for road & motorway government contracts.
That is remarkable - thanks for sharing. So this government minister basically used his position to make loads of money for himself, at the expense of the country. terrible! And they're still at it...
Marples put his road construction company in his wifes name so no hidden agenda there. Some of the closures came long before Beeching. We have Beeching to thank for the Intercity service we have. I think what was wrong wasn't the closures but how it was done, they should have been mothballed not torn up
@@richardwestwell4902 that is correct...Beeching did indeed recommend some of the land be kept for possible re- use in the future but of course over time many of the routes have been built on😥
A bygone age when men used to dig their gardens and mow their lawns dressed in shirt and tie and on Sundays most streets were empty and the smell of a home cooked roast dinner drifted over rooftops......where is my steam punk time machine??!!
@@GreatBarrWolf Because that was the only day many people had free - it was quite often a 6 day or a 5 and a haf day week, especially for manual workers.
I only wish I could have met Donald Beal, a true gentleman. If only there were more people like him now, the world would be a far better place. A true gentleman of the iron road, sadly missed. Does anyone have any information about Peter Smith . When i worked on the railways in signal boxes and crossings a freind of mine was a train driver and one day he gave me a poster of a train coming out of Combdown
I have a Hardback DORLING KINDERSLEY DK EYEWITNESS GUIDES Book of TRAIN. Discover the story of railways - from the days of steam to the high - speed, sophisticated trains of today. In association with THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM.
I remember when this programme was transmitted. The technical quality of Ivo Peters' camerawork is remarkable. Dare I say it but it looks better than the modern footage shot for the programme 20 years later! To be fair it was a pretty grey day, though.
Don't tell the kids but their futuristic phones' electricity might be from nuclear power stations, but it's a steam engine that makes it. They'd implode if they knew!
Pity they didn't cover Radstock which is the start of the climb to top of Mendips and just further on the 5 arches viaduct! I occasionally traveled the line from Radstock to Bath to attend school in the 1950's when buses weren't running because of snow.
+microbusss None of it remains in "normal service". See the excellent Wikipedia article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_and_Dorset_Joint_Railway, which gives you an overall history of the line, including the various current restoration schemes. Very best of luck to the "New Somerset and Dorset Railway", www.somersetanddorsetrailway.co.uk/, which aims to restore the whole line, but I fear this is a forlorn hope.
I wish i was born in 49 not 59 😢 I HATE THIS MODERN WORLD and its terrorism and cruelty and global warming 🤷🏼♂️ REOPEN THE S&DJR! BLESS Dear Ivo Peters, without whom none of this footage would be preserved! RIP Donald Beale, luckily I managed to get a copy of his book which are sadly now all gone.
The road sin the area are all now gridlocked. I travel them regularly and have to sit in massive queues down past Sedgemoor etc the train flew past all this.@@lennylaa1686
I vaguely remember this documentary - in the days before the BBC became 'woke', biased etc - I've a few videos with MA looking a little older too. He's a great presenter and superbly knowledgeable. Can't help but remember better times in the past, not just nostalgia per se, just better times - bittersweet. Great documentary though. Beeching et al deliberately misused the Pareto Theory, with a fat pay cheque, links to the RHA, to pander to government policy. The S&D was treated in a slipshod under hand, fraudulent manner and cruelly with it too. And let us not forget that Beeeching killed off communities as well!
I can't understand why anyone should dislike any video. I have never pressed the dislike button. If I don't like the video then I simply stop watching it and switch to another. I hate the dislike button.
I love this, I grew up in shepton mallet walliking through the tunnels at ham woods telling ghost stories, I worked at the cranmore train station at the attached cafe and ador3d working on the train services. This makes me feel very special to have such a connection with all of these sights so long after the line ended
I was born in Dorset. What an amazing film, thank you.
Back when the BBC made documentaries we wanted to watch and weren't bias towards old fashioned values, how far has the BBC fallen. Loved the film and made me recall my first book I got way back in 1980 from my local library in North London by Ivo Peters about the S&D which went on to spawn my love of steam, wonderful stuff to watch ;-)
@Novak Ingood Ha ha ha ha.. ;-)
@Novak Ingood Hey no worries. Ivo was before my time but his books and films are what drew me to the subject in detail other than my father placing me infront of his stereo at age 2 to listen to Peter Handford recordings of steam and watch me mesmerised by the sounds, happy times.
@Novak Ingood Oh yes indeed they are, if good, the builders of a sturdy base upon which a child's mind can grow through shared experience and love for common likes. Pity these days and not to get to political but men are derided especially as fathers. Still time is a circle and one day will return to the fold... we can but hope.
Today the BBC are an utter she to what was once a Great Britain. Ok, I needed some intense orchestral music for that line, but my point remains. The BBC used to be something that British folk could be proud of. Now they are a national embarrassment and utterly shameful.
I disagree, the BBC are still a national asset. Don't let the Tories and their vested interests tell you otherwise.
What a film. The winter shots at the end are elegaic.
An absolute joy...thank you for giving us a chance to revel in part of our much-missed past...dgp
What a fantastic documentary. What gentlemen. And what mechanical marvels steam engines were.
A wonderful and historic programme, which should be preserved for future generations to show what we had and threw so carelessley away.
falconoilcompany Hear hear. Compulsive viewing for all those born after the post steam apocalypse.
You mean an impartial BBC?
This was an uneconomic line which needed to be closed and demolished.
@@PreservationEnthusiast demolishing is very short sighted, the alignment should always be kept for the future
Looking at that fantastic old Gentleman's eyes come alive, and the way he simply got right down to it as if it were only the day before that he had retired was very moving. Like the Miners, when the Railways were emasculated a whole way of life, traditions, and skills vanished for good.
First class comment.
Program was made in 1984. That is now longer ago than when the program was made and the line closed...
What a totally enjoyable half an hour. Thank you for posting this article. Beautiful but sad at the same time.
Omg!!! Love how old this is!!! Even by the BBC logo and the way the narrator talks!!!
From 1985...and the narrator is Mike Arlett, he is quite superb.
He has provided commentary on several commercial DVD's of especially 1960's steam railways.
If you ever treat yourself to one such DVD, then buy ''Branch Line to Burnham''..Mike narrating. Cost..£19-99.
Should be able to buy it on-line. It is my all-time favourite, vividly takes you back to a bygone era.
1984 judging by the date at the end of the programme.
What an incredible guy! The amazing collection he’s left behind & the legacy he’s created will be with us forever!
Ivo Peter's films are far better and more pleasing to watch than today's digital camera clips where people can't keep still or quiet at all when filming trains.
Magnificent memories, superbly presented by the legendary Mike Arlett.
Mike is undoubtedly the best ever narrator of steam railway films.
Old film brilliantly brought to vivid life by a very skilful commentator.
A full-on nostalgic look at this delightful railway - most interesting!
The look in the old drivers eyes had to be one of the most beautiful looks I've ever seen, it was as if he was seeing an old girlfriend he hadn't seen in many years and the way he just climbed up into the cab and sat down in the driver's seat and literally the driving the engine as if nothing had changed
The "modern" Intercity locomotives we see in some shots in this documentary are older now than the steam locomotives Ivo Peters was filming were when he was filming them. They're the new vintage trains now.
It's strange to think that at the time this documentary was made these men were reminiscing about an older time now gone. Because watching this I'm reminiscing about the time at which it was filmed, back when we had a rail network that served the public good instead of merely serving private profit.
Having grown up in Wincanton I've always wondered how much easier my life could've been had the SDJR stayed open, I'm currently gathering information on the route so I can try and trace what little of it is still publicly accessible.
Return and All Change are superb documentaries I well remember at the time of broadcast.Wonderful Donald Beale and Peter Smith.Great men from a time long gone...
So good to see these programs again. My great grandfather was a driver on the S&D based at Highbridge(for Burnham on Sea). I can clearly remember the branch being used for milk trains to Basonbridge right up to the early 70s.
What a treat to watch this film, well done.
Great documentary 👍👍. It’s such a shame that such a beautiful line closed down. Imagine if even a short section was rebuilt. Cheers from 🇦🇺
Excellent film made and first broadcast in 1984.
Really enjoyed this film,so good to see something from before the music pandemic and actually hear thing clearly.
yep, everything today has to have 'music' , usually thumping rubbish.
It doesn't matter how many times I watch this (first saw it in 1986 on tv.,) it still gets to me. I am reminded of Houseman's poem:
"Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows;
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again."
This film fills me with sadness on 2 counts 1. It should never have closed . 2. I was never lucky enough to visit the S and D
Bloody love the 9Fs. Loved watching them as wellas 8Fs as a tiny kid on goods trains in the late 1960s
Wwrittarooott tt
Back then the guys treated their jobs as vocations... they loved what they did and were proud of it.
Now it seems railway workers are in it for what they can get out of it.
Traveling by train is the most enjoyable way of getting around, unfortunately now you are restricted by the unions as to when you can use the service.
Hello My Friends
To my way of thinking it's absolutely heartbreaking that this magnificent railway is gone. We are fortunate that Ivo had the foresight to capture it on film. His wonderful films bring into focus what once was, and also, what we have lost.
Jack
The death of this wonderful railway always brings tears to my eyes. If only Beeching had never been born or SOMEONE had the foresight to preserve this line for todays generation of steam locos. So lamented the dear old S&DJR. The destruction of our beloved railways began the slow demise of Britain, today our loco factories are no more, no more British cars, steel, coal, you name it. All thanks to BEECHING! Think about it.......... :...(
Keyboard Krazy The irony is with traffic congestion, pollution, and overuse of Petrol and prices that the railway would thrive today. Yes they would use Electric and Diesel but the rail line would be thriving today. Over here in the USA the railway is a major part of moving goods from one part of the country to the other but is behind in people transportation compared to Europe. I used to live in Spetisbury next to this wonderful line. Great film.
Imagine if that line were open now. Imagine the tourism traffic. It would be like the canals now, which have more traffic on them than every before. The Midford Signal Box on its own should have been a Grade 1 listed building. A piece of social history destroyed. It's tragic.
Even worse, it was Tory Transport minister Ernest Marples who paid a massive sum (bribed) the then B.R chairman Beeching, to take responsibility for the subsequent butchery of our Public network.....Marples had fingers in various pies, Builders of the New Motorways and emerging bus companies etc....He was totally corrupt and eventually escaped prosecution for Tax evasion.....running off to France. To my mind it was criminal what They did....As a youngster born in the 50's on the South coast, with just my Saturday job, I could afford to travel quite a way on days out with my mates! Need a Bank loan now to take some journeys in UK......And We Sorely need MORE Railways routes now......
Theres a Lane at Worrhy Farm of famous Glastonbury which was the old trackbed of the S&D talking to one the farm workers Worthy Farm had its own milk dock siding when the line was running.
such a great joy to go to midsomer norton last weekend and ride on the s and d
16:36 was a blast from the past for me - Peter Cattermole was my Chemistry teacher at school!
Matt Thomas Snap ;)
Sadly, Peter Cattermole died in 2015 after a short illness, at the age of 65.
Absolute classic. Wonderful memories of the S&DJR brought to life and everyone's to keep. This is an object lesson in social destruction. The railway was for many the sole means of communication in this stunningly beautiful but savage landscape, terminated like so many things railway years before it's time. A much loved friend lost for ever to the god of car parks and Tesco. (Other supermarkets are widely available - unfortunately) Most of them built on derelict branch lines or disused engine shed sites.
Nostalgia? you bet!
by any chance do you know what trains were featured in this video?
Bath Green Park station has a vintage market on I think the first Sunday of the month (might be the last) but most of the time, it's just a Sainsbury's car park, what a shame
The ex driver Ray, with the thin moustache, was filmed on the footplate, in the BBC 1963 John Betjeman film, "A Branch Line Railway", which features the old S&D branch , from Evercreech Junction,
to Burnham On Sea..
Yes, I regularly watch ''Branch line''......it's a wonderful, evocative film of a golden age of Olde England.
Mike Arlett, narrating here, also commentates on my favourite ever steam DVD, ''Branch Line to Burnham''.
Get a copy if you can, it is a gem, an absolute classic.
Another masterpiece of a film too Stephen
wonderful, I actually walked across Midford viaduct in September 2015.
to think in 1963 Sir John Betjimin made Branchline railway and he said how hellish the roads would be in 10 years. Well 53 years later Britian is totally ruined by cars and the vain attempt to keep building more roads.
it is simply criminal that so much victorian engineering was destroyed by short sighted pollies like Beeching.
its funny Britain ripped up so many lines, when you go to France they seem to have kept them
Ikr, same with us aussies.
And the majority of the lines on the Beeching Report, were closed under the auspices of Barbara Castle, despite a broken promise, in the 1964 Labour manifesto, to at least review said act.
***** miney corrupts.
So many people in politics do this.
I think many lines had to shut as they never made money.
The tragic thing is not closing the line bur selling the rail corridor.
So many lines would now be viable.
***** if you check out my TH-cam channel I am building in O gauge in the garden a model of West Green station on the old Seven Sisters to Palace Gate branch.
It closed 7th Jan 63 and had been going downhill since the Piccadilly line was extended to Cockfosters.
Crossrail two has a planned link between WoodGreen and Seven Sisters which is the route of the old line
fascinating
The railway from Taunton to Minehead needs reopening and also the line from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe too for holiday makers
Taunton to Minehead exists and has done for decades. Its the West Somerset Railway.
@@StormBlazePegasus However not from Taunton. Have to bus the first part. Hope they don't cut the bus service or I won't be able to get to the line at all.
Ivo Peters was my Mothers younger Brother.
Fantastic doco, thanks for uploading it
Bring back the line between Frome and radstock...it’s crying out to be reopened...
9F Evening star pulled the last pines Express in September 1962 over the S & DR
Can we please stop blaming Dr Beeching for the railway closures, he only wrote the report. The final decision on any line closure was the Minister of Transport, one Ernest Marples, whose construction company was actively bidding for road & motorway government contracts.
That is remarkable - thanks for sharing. So this government minister basically used his position to make loads of money for himself, at the expense of the country. terrible! And they're still at it...
Marples put his road construction company in his wifes name so no hidden agenda there. Some of the closures came long before Beeching. We have Beeching to thank for the Intercity service we have. I think what was wrong wasn't the closures but how it was done, they should have been mothballed not torn up
@@Japan-in-N I believe Beeching did want to mothball some lines but Marples would have none of it.
@@richardwestwell4902 Beeching made his recommendations in good faith based on economic realities though.
@@richardwestwell4902 that is correct...Beeching did indeed recommend some of the land be kept for possible re- use in the future but of course over time many of the routes have been built on😥
Most of the section between Bath and Radstock is now a cycle path, including through the two tunnels.
a good use indeed and clean...
If anyone has information on a Arthur Peters who lived near Shepton Mallet viaduct let me know. He drove trains
WONDERFUL.
What wonderful old gents
What a Godsend the S& D would be now..! I am a GWR Man by Birth..What a mess now..!
A bygone age when men used to dig their gardens and mow their lawns dressed in shirt and tie and on Sundays most streets were empty and the smell of a home cooked roast dinner drifted over rooftops......where is my steam punk time machine??!!
Most streets were empty? No, kids were outdoors a lot more
Sunday is a day of rest! Why would you want to do back breaking digging all day..
@@GreatBarrWolf Because that was the only day many people had free - it was quite often a 6 day or a 5 and a haf day week, especially for manual workers.
I only wish I could have met Donald Beal, a true gentleman. If only there were more people like him now, the world would be a far better place. A true gentleman of the iron road, sadly missed. Does anyone have any information about Peter Smith . When i worked on the railways in signal boxes and crossings a freind of mine was a train driver and one day he gave me a poster of a train coming out of Combdown
Sorry i lost my message. The poster was a train coming out of Chilcompton tunnel.
I have a Hardback DORLING KINDERSLEY DK EYEWITNESS GUIDES Book of TRAIN.
Discover the story of railways - from the days of steam to the high - speed, sophisticated trains of today.
In association with THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM.
Drivers of cars prefer a fully functioning railway, because it means open roads.
19:30 "what you are filming is doing the moving, you are not." Many TH-camrs could take note of that!
marvellous
You've burst your safety valve.
You can't pull the train anyone.
Tack me back i don,t belong in this age
I remember when this programme was transmitted. The technical quality of Ivo Peters' camerawork is remarkable. Dare I say it but it looks better than the modern footage shot for the programme 20 years later! To be fair it was a pretty grey day, though.
Ivo's footage was mainly kodachrome ll thus better resolution than any c 1980s 16mm filmstock except for k25, which I doubt TV companies would touch.
i like this video
Sweet,a joy.
Evercreech is an ancestral home going back to 1630.
The BBC used to make great comedies, dramas and documentaries. The modern BBC has become unwatchable.
Wow. Interesting.
Fascinating. Steam locomotion changed the world.
Don't tell the kids but their futuristic phones' electricity might be from nuclear power stations, but it's a steam engine that makes it.
They'd implode if they knew!
Can't even buy a lump of proper coal in England now. Thanks, Boris... What we've become...
Pity they didn't cover Radstock which is the start of the climb to top of Mendips and just further on the 5 arches viaduct! I occasionally traveled the line from Radstock to Bath to attend school in the 1950's when buses weren't running because of snow.
Needs a 2k remaster from original film elements.
Doesn't need anything doing with it. Just enjoy the original film.
A very big reason why everyone tortured dr beach
What a homage....
so how much of this railway exist now?
+microbusss None of it remains in "normal service". See the excellent Wikipedia article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_and_Dorset_Joint_Railway, which gives you an overall history of the line, including the various current restoration schemes. Very best of luck to the "New Somerset and Dorset Railway", www.somersetanddorsetrailway.co.uk/, which aims to restore the whole line, but I fear this is a forlorn hope.
+microbusss You can walk some parts of the old trackbed , but a lot has gone unfortunately
ivo the man
Quite a bit is a cycle path I believe.
I wish i was born in 49 not 59 😢 I HATE THIS MODERN WORLD and its terrorism and cruelty and global warming 🤷🏼♂️ REOPEN THE S&DJR!
BLESS Dear Ivo Peters, without whom none of this footage would be preserved!
RIP Donald Beale, luckily I managed to get a copy of his book which are sadly now all gone.
But would anyone use these trains? They didn't back then.
The road sin the area are all now gridlocked. I travel them regularly and have to sit in massive queues down past Sedgemoor etc the train flew past all this.@@lennylaa1686
I vaguely remember this documentary - in the days before the BBC became 'woke', biased etc - I've a few videos with MA looking a little older too. He's a great presenter and superbly knowledgeable. Can't help but remember better times in the past, not just nostalgia per se, just better times - bittersweet. Great documentary though.
Beeching et al deliberately misused the Pareto Theory, with a fat pay cheque, links to the RHA, to pander to government policy. The S&D was treated in a slipshod under hand, fraudulent manner and cruelly with it too. And let us not forget that Beeeching killed off communities as well!
Oo
Is it a model railway?
Bath the dampest overpriced dump in the whole of somerset.
why would 5 people dislike this????
I can't understand why anyone should dislike any video. I have never pressed the dislike button. If I don't like the video then I simply stop watching it and switch to another. I hate the dislike button.
exactly
Robots designed to get view count higher on other videos, it happens everywhere
They are probably car drivers! Or Dr. Beeching's grandchildren!
idiots ;0
1984 the film.
What an awful life
Ok
3@@@❤
For those who haven't heard of David Shepherd... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shepherd_(artist)