Welcome to Williton Station, Somerset.
- 1961 – Ex GWR Class 5101 2-6-2T No. 4157 leaving Wiliton Station in March. ©Ian Bennett on behalf of M E J Deane.
The Williton Station Web Site is continually updated to provide you with news about events taking place at the station and on the West Somerset Railway.
The site contains a pictorial history of the station within the Gallery with images obtained from many sources. We are actively seeking images particularly from the 1990′s but if you have any from any year we can use please e-mail willitonpix@gmail.com . Please include a caption for the photograph, the date it was taken and your name. We are also in contact with several photographers and the owners of photographic collections to receive their permission to include their archive photos.
Please browse through the pages and advise us if there are any errors and let us know your views on the site – again use the contact form found on the Contact Us page. Thank you for visiting the site.
Latest News
10/04/12
Work Starts on Williton Footbridge Roof
Work started today on preparatory work for the fitting of the footbridge roof. The Williton Station Maintenance started priming the 7”x2” fascia boards which the guttering and dagger boards will be attached to. This is the first job to be undertaken in the new maintenance hut which now has power and lighting installed. On Monday 16 April the scaffolding will be erected and be completed on 17 April when work on site will start. The main contract is being undertaken by John Farley, who as well owning a building company in West Wales, is also a steam engine driver on the West Somerset Railway. The electric work is being undertaken by Stuart Freeman a Williton based electrician, steelwork is in the hands of West Somerset Restorations and RAMs are producing and painting the dagger boards together with some miscellaneous work. The contract is programmed for completion in 4/5 weeks.
10/04/12
Williton Station 150th Anniversary Mural
- 2012 – Williton Station Mural to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the opening of the Station in 1862 seen on 31 March. This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. ©Martin Hope
During meetings to discuss the Watchet 150 celebrations Martin Hope, Williton’s Station Master, came up with a proposal to paint a mural on the wall of the station shop facing out onto the car park. Whilst other stations proposed grand celebrations on just one day he considered that the mural could be in place for at least twelve months and give enjoyment to passengers joining the train at Williton during the whole of the 2012 summer/autumn season.
He approached Tad Mandziej a local artist and wood carver who agreed to assist and he started working on Martin’s rough design for the mural. Many meetings, e-mails and hours taken to select the appropriate photographs resulted in the design being firmed up by Tad. It was now time for Brenda, Tad’s wife to get invoved , a talented artist she worked for many hours producing the mural assisted by Tad and several local artists.
The result can be seen on the right – a fantasic mural which definately has the wow factor.
The mural was unveiled at a ceremony held during the morning of 31 March.
Our thanks go to Tad and Brenda and the other artists involved.
15/03/12
Williton Maintenance Hut
- 2012 – Williton Station Maintenance Hut seen on 14 March. This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. ©Martin Hope
To enable work to start on lengthening the Williton Loop the Ex-SR Wagon presently used as
a Mess Room and workshop has to be moved. On Tuesday 13 March a new Maintenence Hut was delivered and erected on the base of the former water tower. Work is now proceeding on insulating the hut and preparing the building for use.
27/02/12
Spring Gala Update
We have been informed today that due to operational reasons “Driver for a fiver” rides at Williton will not take place during the Spring Steam Gala.
Also to clarify the Swindon Shed will only be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday on both weekends.
22/02/12
Williton Loop
Another question the station staff are being asked is “When is the work on the loop going to start?” The answer to this is – work has started and has been undertaken since early last Autumn. Before the loop can be put in the bridge over the culvert has to be reinstated to accommodate double track and to enable this the black ex-SR wagon used by the station’s Maintenace Team has to be moved. A new Maintenance Hut is to be built on the base of the former water tower. When this area was cleared the cast iron pipes which were used to feed the tower were uncovered (pictures in Gallery 15 2011). Permission has been granted to build a temporary wooden structure over the top of the pipework in case it is needed in the future if the water tower was to be reinstated.
- 2012 – Base of the New Williton Station Maintenance Shed completed. Seen on 23 February. This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. ©Martin Hope
The base of the shed is now complete and the shed will be delivered and erected during March. Once the shed is completed and all the Manitenance Team’s work benches and tools etc. have been relocated to their new home the wagon can be lifted out. This operation could take place before the last non running day in May. If this is not possible the wagon will be moved in November. Once the wagon is moved the site will be cleared and levelled to allow work to commence on the construction of the new bridge over the culvert. This will then be followed by the installation of the new point further up the line.
As with any large project such as this, the availability of finance plays a major part and in this uncertain economic climate at least a start has been made on extending the Williton Loop.
21/02/12
Site Update
Four photographs have been added to Gallery 3 1960 – 1969. These are from the MEJ Deane collection and our thanks go to Ian Bennett for sending them and giving permission for them to be included in the web site.
20/02/12
Williton Footbridge
The question station staff at Williton are asked every day is “When are you going to put the roof on the footbridge?” Since the footbridge returned from refurbishment on 16 March last year we have been actively seeking funding for the project as well as continuing to raise funds on the station. In the Autumn we received approval for financial assistance from the West Somerset Railway Associations and the West Somerset Railway PLC. With these pledges of financial support we were able to seek quotations to complete the project, however we have had great difficulty in obtaining quotations. We finally received a quote from a company which specialises in this type of heritage railway work, however it was above the budget available to us.
We then decided to explore other ways to complete the footbridge which culminated in a meeting last week when two proposals and costings were discussed. At this point in time we are firming up the proposals and completing the necessary paperwork.
So sorry, no firm date for completion yet – but watch this space!!
20/02/12
Site Update
Gallery 16 – 2012 has been added, three photographs from 1914 have been added to Gallery 1 and four photographs from 1976 have been added to Gallery 4. Our thanks go to Geoff Clatworthy for supplying us with the 1914 photographs.
19/02/12
Spring Steam Gala
During this year’s Spring Steam Gala the Swindon Shed will be open to the public and it is hoped that a display of classic cars will take place. Trade stands/stalls will be in the shed and the station staff will be providing teas, coffees annd snacks. The Rolls Royce Sentinel diesel shunter DH16 will be giving “Driver for a fiver” rides along the new track from the South Yard to the headshunt in the North Yard.
The DEPG will also have their Heritage Centre and sheds open to the public during the Gala.
19/02/12
Site Update
Some updates have been made to the site today which include the 2012 Train Fares from Williton and the 2012 Events. The Links page has been updated and the videos have been removed from the Videos Page for maintenance purposes but a link is available to Admiralscorner’s YouTube site.
The “News Archive” can be found here.
www.willitonstation.org.uk is an unofficial website featuring news, pictures and information about Williton Station © Martin Hope 2011
These pages are independent of, and are not officially supported by, the West Somerset Railway Plc or any of the affiliated organisations, unless specifically mentioned on the appropriate page. All information is believed correct but this web site or the West Somerset Railway Plc or any of the affiliated organisations cannot be held responsible for any errors.
All photographs, drawings, diagrams and text are copyright of the respective photographers, artists and authors. If you wish to re-use any material, please contact us first by email.
Creative Common Licence Images on this site are licenced under a Creative Common Licence.  |
