I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride from Plymouth to Launceston, and stopping at each station. It’s been interesting to see all of the stations and what they look like today. Next on the line will be Yeovil to Taunton, and also Plymouth to Exeter – The Southernway.
Yeovil to Taunton
I initially started this video about 2 years ago, hoping to get more home movies of the line. Sadly, it’s been very hard to track down, so I’m going to rely on the the images I have. I contacted an author, Derek Philips, who said he was happy to use the images from his book, Working Yeovil to Taunton Steam. I also have a good collection from South Somerset Heritage Collection, which is based in Yeovil.
The Yeovil to Taunton line has little to chance of being reinstated these days. The main line running out of Yeovil, is now the main main road to the A303. This is a ‘then and now’ comparison of station at Montacute, just outside the town.
As you can see, the station master’s house is still there, but the station, the platform, and the trackbed, are all gone. There are some reminents left, but it’s very difficult to find them now, which is the case of a lot of closed stations.
Interestingly, after the line closed in 1964, they disassembled the platform and reassembled it at Doniford Halt, near Watchet in North Devon. It’s nice to know it’s not completely gone—just packed up and moved somewhere else.
My First Full Length Video
Dad passed away in 2001, and since then, I haven’t had the experience to make any videos on my own. The one thing I’m not great at is writing, however, I’ve been doing my best with the Pictorial History videos. I see that people have been enjoying them, and I have been enjoying making them.
Taking on the Yeovil to Taunton line seems like a big challenge, but there weren’t many stations on the line.
As I have said, I’m based in Yeovil now, so it also means I can get to the locations and film some modern day footage. I also plan on taking 360 photos to share, and do my own aerial views of the line.
Back in the day, dad would pay for a helicopter to fly the route of the old trackbed. On the video Images of the Culm Valley, I was a passenger in the plane, filming out of the window. It would cost us around £500 – 600 a time, but worth it for the final footage.
These days, I have a drone and can film it all myself. I have the drone insured, registered, and I have a permit to fly it. I do laugh to myself at times, as if dad was still alive, he would love to fly it, but I know I wouldn’t let him. It would end up in a tree or heading to France if he did. Bless.
Can You Help?
I know there is movie footage of the line, and I have some, but I’m always on the lookout for more. If you have any, or know anyone who might, please feel free to contact me and hopefully we can sort something out.
I can transfer 8mm movie footage personally, but I also know someone that can transfer 9.5mm and 16mm.
Over the years, I have updated the transfer system, and made leaps and bounds in the quality.
This image is a comparison of footage that dad and I transferred back in 1996, and the same footage transferred by me today. We did the best we could back in the day, but the technology is so much better today.
The video I have just remastered, Plymouth to Exeter – The Southernway, had about 80% newly transferred footage.
If you have any home movies you would like put on to digital or DVD, please see my Home Movie Transfer page. If you have anything of Yeovil, please let me know, and I could arrange to have it transferred for free.
Before I start posting about the Yeovil to Taunton line, I will be covering the stations on the The Southerway first.
