Bishops Lydeard is the southern terminus of the West Somerset Railway. Approximately 70,000 passengers each year join the WSR at Bishops Lydeard. Enhanced facilities at Bishops Lydeard, as well as the inherent advantages each will bring, will have three significant beneficial effects.

• Firstly, they will improve the experience for those visitors who would have already come and so encourage them to return.
• Secondly, for a holidaymaker at Minehead or one of the other nine stations along the line, the question ‘What is there to do at Bishops Lydeard?’ can have a stronger, more confident answer. The improved facilities will provide more encouragement for a trip on the WSR to be made at all and also the holidaymaker will be more likely to stay at Bishops Lydeard for longer and so use and support other village facilities.
• Thirdly, a casual caller at Bishops Lydeard who has a while to wait until the next scheduled departure will be more likely to leave their car in the car park and enjoy the facilities until the next train, so taking another car off the A358. This advantage applies in particular in the ‘shoulders’ of the WSR season from March to May and September and October where there is room for growth in visitor numbers.

The West Somerset Railway, as one of Britain’s premier heritage steam railways, has a gap in its facilities in that it does not have a major museum commensurate with its status and visitor numbers. The existing museums at Blue Anchor (in a former waiting room) and Bishops Lydeard Goods Shed (known as the ‘Gauge Museum’) do their best in their limited accommodation. (Honourable mention should also be made of the Somerset & Dorset Trust museum at Washford station.)

Existing Museum Building at Bishop’s Lydeard ‘The Gauge Museum’

None of the existing museums have the space or facilities to perform a proper 21st Century museum role, telling the relevant railway stories through appropriate themed displays, for Somerset’s residents and visitors.

Tales that could be told include:

• The coming of railways to Somerset
• Agricultural produce by rail
• Holidays by rail
• Railways in Wartime
• The run down of railways during the 1960’s
• The resurgence of rail travel on privatisation

Taking the penultimate example from the list above. “The run down of the railways in the 1960’s”: using the space that the new Museum would provide, the choice faced by a family in the 1960’s, travelling to Somerset for a family holiday, might be illustrated with a display including both the car (their first car, perhaps?) and the rail vehicle which was their alternative for travel.

It is also intended that the Museum / Visitor Centre will incorporate a film / lecture theatre facility and an educational archive, so that papers and artefacts which have come into the railway’s possession or have been lent to it can be conserved and made available to the public.

There is no museum of this type in Somerset. It has received strong support from Somerset County Council’s Museum Service. Provision of these facilities will provide a museum of which Somerset (and Taunton Deane in particular) can be proud. It will be a mainstay of any visit to the WSR and will materially and substantially contribute to the local tourist economy and educational provision. Contact is well-established between the WSR and local schools and the WSR would work to ensure that the Museum supports the appropriate parts of the national curriculum.

A Bristol & Exeter Railway train at Watchet in the 1860’s and GWR tickets from 1900 to the 1940’s

The West Somerset Railway’s connection to the national railway network at Norton Fitzwarren was upgraded in 2006. The upgrade was sponsored by Somerset County Council with significant contributions from Taunton Deane and West Somerset District Councils. Since then the number of trains running onto the West Somerset Railway has increased considerably. These have included rail excursions from London and other parts of the country, through trains from Taunton on WSR Gala weekends and the Minehead Bristol through service run during the summer.

West Somerset Railway internal services have also grown in recent years with more services now starting from Bishops Lydeard than in the past. Carriages and locomotives now have to be kept at Bishops Lydeard for those services.

There is therefore an acute shortage of siding space at Bishops Lydeard and further sidings are required to relieve the pressure on the existing facilities.

June 2007– London Paddington to Minehead train arrives at Bishops Lydeard

2007 Summer Minehead to Bristol service leaves Minehead © Tony Down

The existing café, like the museum, is the best that can be achieved in the space presently available. It is not commensurate for the terminus of a major tourist attraction such as the WSR. The proposed café, which it is intended would be operated by the WSR, would provide suitable, modern facilities in an appropriate location and design.

The location, across a courtyard from the station buildings and museum, with picnic area and play area included, will provide a suitable and safe area for visitors, families in particular.

The other facilities in the ‘Tourist Facility’ include a cycle hire shop and a micro-brewery. These are both highly complementary to different segments of the WSR’s tourist traffic. Sustainable, non-polluting access to the countryside, either by cyclists starting from Bishops Lydeard, or those taking their cycles onto the train, have obvious advantages. Holiday accommodation close to the railway is often in high demand and would no doubt be popular.

Existing café at Bishop’s Lydeard – Christmas 2007

This has been designed as an integral part of the Museum. It will house the Trust’s collection of heritage railway carriages, many of which are intended for use on the WSR.

These are sumptuous carriages spanning the period from the 1890’s to the 1940’s and represent travel to and from Somerset in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Sleeping Car 9038 from the 1890’s in service on the WSR to celebrate its restoration - 2006

Artist’s impression of train of 1920’s ‘toplight’ coaches running on the WSR

However, unlike the all-steel carriages used in normal service on the WSR which date from the 1950’s and 1960’s, these older carriages are built on a wooden frame and must be protected from the weather when restored. The Trust’s exciting project to produce two trains of such carriages cannot progress without a site for secure, weatherproof accommodation for the vehicles, in a location where they can easily be brought into service on the WSR and retired for protection at the end of their days of service. Equally, they must be available for public access when not in service. Bishops Lydeard as a location fulfils those objectives perfectly.

The Trust has made great strides with the project to bring these historic vehicles to the Somerset (including returning one Great Western Railway carriage from the USA!) but needs to have the appropriate site for these vehicles to be protected and conserved

Great Western Railway carriage 6705 built in 1938 being offloaded at Newport Dock on its return from the USA on 26 March 2007

Great Western Railway Carriage 6705 in the USA shortly after being taken there in 1967

Being able to offer travel in authentic railway carriages from these earlier periods will clearly be a significant boost to the WSR’s tourist offering.

The junction of the A358 and Station Road is used by virtually all of the WSR’s road-borne visitors to Bishops Lydeard Station. With the speed of the main road and the two staggered junctions it has been the subject of a number of serious accidents over the years. Conversion of this junction to a roundabout will benefit local people, WSR staff and visitors alike.

The station road bridge is narrow for a two-way road and does not have a pavement on the southern side which links the two sets of steps from the station platforms and where visitors like to stand. The proposals include wide pavements on both sides of the road over the bridge and traffic lights set back from the bridge to ensure a one-way traffic flow across the bridge. This arrangement will also be of significant benefit to all concerned with no effect on the heritage of this location.

The houses, inn / restaurant and office building to the west of the site.

The enabling development itself brings benefits to the WSR.

• It brings with it the much-needed improvement of the A358 junction with station road.
• It also brings the traffic calming scheme and pavement over the station railway bridge which will bring safety improvements for local residents, road users and railway visitors alike.
• Services (water, electricity and sewerage) will also be laid into the site, the costs of which would be prohibitive for the railway alone.
• It also brings a community close to the station, which is the best protection against unwanted nocturnal visitors.
• The Inn / Restaurant is plainly consistent with the intended use for the land