Current activity – Wimborne and East Dorset Railways

What’s happening?

We’re devoting most of this website to undertaking historical research and presenting findings, but on this ‘launch’ page we highlight what have we been up to recently, what stage our research has reached, which fresh directions and ventures are in the pipeline, and where we may need readers’ help. Short headline announcements and introductions will link to research outlines, progress reports and, when we’ve assembled sufficient evidence, in-depth ‘occasional papers’ elsewhere on the website.

Updates

We’ll aim to keep readers informed as promptly as possible, but postings may be irregular, so please don’t expect constant news updates. Our research is usually making progress on several fronts simultaneously, sometimes by sustained effort, sometimes more spluttering where blockages in information occur. While we are making systematic, in-depth progress on some key themes, other sub-plots pop up sometimes unexpectedly, and we enjoy an occasional diversion or distraction!

Reporting

We may also lurch from the macro to the micro – from the broad historical sweep of railway development in East Dorset that frames everything else, through to local engineering or operational details that are absorbing us. Some of our sub-studies have been long-running, either reaching significant conclusions and being written up and occasionally published elsewhere, or are rolling on gathering more information continually. Others are more recent and perhaps just setting out on investigation. All are ultimately inter-connected in the wider story.

Where to find material

Remember that a simple topic or locational enquiry in the search field (small magnifying glass symbol at the head of each page) should lead directly to any work that we have presented so far, whether ongoing or archived to other pages after a while of appearing in outline on this page. Search on a topic, keyword, location, etc. to find what you want.

Scope

Generic categories of newsworthy material on this page should include:
• Current ongoing study activities and upcoming sub-projects
• Reports on emerging research findings and one-off historical discoveries
• Mysteries – fresh or longer-running
• Recent enquiries and inputs from readers
• Photographic finds and searches
• Publications – old and new
• Exhibitions and presentations
• Modelling developments
• Whatever’s grabbing our attention or distracting us. The studies outlined here appear roughly in order of how far advanced they are, from completed to emerging.

**New Poole Junction (later Broadstone)**. This station didn’t exist until 1872 when the new drop line opened to New Poole Station. This is the earliest photograph found to date, taken around 1884-85, as the light scar of the earthworks for the cut-off to Corfe Mullen can be seen to the left of the signal box, between the central waiting room and the shelter, and at Sand Cutting (above the shelter).The station name changed six times during its life, which may or may not help date the photo. It looks like the running-in board to the left is anticipating the next change by having a separate ‘Broadstone’ section above the main face. However, running-in boards didn’t always keep abreast of, or always match, official name changes. Broadstone as a settlement barely existed at this date, but from this point development would have started outwards from the station. Although it’s not evident here, the signal box may be double its original size in anticipation of the cut-off opening. Another dating indicator, the shrub beds, look established but might have been ‘instant’ root-ball plantings from a local nursery – perhaps Stewart’s of Ferndown? Photographer unknown; courtesy and © *Andrew Hawkes, Poole History Collection.*

**North of Broadstone.** Occasionally a rare photo comes to light where we are unsure of the location. The one above appeared on the internet as showing a train near Alderbury Junction, east of Salisbury, where the West Moors line turns off. Our eagle-eyed team likes to be as correct and precise as possible, and one member – Paul Carpenter – recognised the setting and the ornate high wall to the extreme right, which is still in situ nowadays alongside the Castleman Trailway. The Broadstone location is immediately north of the golfer’s footbridge that connected the original club house on the east side with the start of the course on the west side. We particularly like the Salisbury Bournemouth train, headed by an Adams T3 4-4-0 No.558. The date is during or before 1931 when this loco was scrapped. Introducing us to one of our mysteries, the golf club historian informed us of the existence of a halt serving the golfers between the early 1900s and 1922. It was called ‘Wimborne’s Halt’ after Lord Wimborne, the landowner. So far, we have found no mapped or photographic evidence to support this, but the most likely location was beside the footbridge, from the ramp of which this photo was probably taken. Unknown photographer: courtesy John Law

ADVANCED STUDIES

In this section we outline work that is largely complete, well advanced or well in-hand.

Bridge 77 at Canford Manor

Here’s an example of a focused study published earlier. It originated mainly from enquiries into the involvement of the owners of the Canford Estate (the Guests) in securing gains from the railway in return for sale of land. These were especially in respect of the western entries and approaches to the estate from the Wimborne-Poole turnpike road. The issues included potential bridges, level crossings, a private siding, and even the proposed siting of Wimborne’s station south of the River Stour. One well-known feature completed was L&SWR Bridge 77 on the Southampton & Dorchester line – an ornate, highly-decorated structure carrying the railway over Canford Park’s western carriage drive. Erroneously named ‘Lady Wimborne’s Bridge’ in relatively recent times (1990s), it makes an intriguing case of how an influential landowner (and director of the railway) could extract or demand personal benefits way beyond the ‘ordinary’ engineering requirements of getting the railway built and operational. Colin Divall unravelled the story and had it published in Back Track magazine [Vol.33/4 April 2019, pp.232-7], and in shorter form in Dorset Life [Dec. 2019]. A slightly revised version of the former may be read on the History page.

**Canford Manor.** There are many modern views of ‘Bridge 77’ that once carried the L&SWR and Dorset Central lines, especially since its 1990s restoration, but far fewer from earlier years. Here’s one showing the eastern facade of the bridge on the western drive to the House. From 1863, the then newly-established Wimborne Junction existed a few yards south (left) of the bridge, and a junction signal stood immediately to its north. The car appears to be a Morgan three-wheeler ‘Runabout’, dating the photo as post-1909. It might have been taking part in a race or time-trial, judging by the on-lookers. Unknown photographer; courtesy Gareth Bristow, via Memories of Wimborne website. The study is trying to establish exactly when this structure replaced the original timber bridge, probably in the early 1850s. After the Guests bought the property in 1846, they employed the renowned architect Charles Barry, who had designed the current Houses of Parliament. He redesigned and enlarged the house and almost certainly designed this bridge as part of the work. The 1990s restoration was mainly by a volunteer group. An interpretation board was provided, but has since disappeared. *Unknown photographer; courtesy Gareth Bristow*

Opening the Southampton & Dorchester Railway

Here’s a conundrum that has exercised our minds considerably, but has drawn few firm conclusions. The Illustrated London News published this artist’s impression of Wimborne Station on the opening day of 1st June 1847. It has since appeared elsewhere many times, but this shows the original page. How accurate is the picture and how much is artist’s licence? Given the dawn of photography at this period, it’s the only illustration we have and therefore potentially an important source of historical information on the infrastructure existing at the outset. We’ve been exploring the details and mysteries of this illustration and will present our findings on the History pages (see History page). Many questions arise. Is the river bridge a fair representation of the original timber structure? The history of this bridge and its early replacement between 1855 and 1864 has become a subject of study for us in its own right (see below).To what degree is the train realistic and was it actually posed in place or later superimposed in stylistic form? The main station building gives a reasonable impression of the initial architectural style adopted along the line, but what about the somewhat sketchy profiles of the sheds to the left and right? We believe the former is the first goods shed, similar to those at Ringwood and Wareham, but did it really look like this and how did it work operationally, with the rail and road accesses apparently at different levels. The saga of Wimborne’s three successive goods sheds has also emerged as a separate story. The smaller, open-fronted shed to the right is often said to be a shelter on the Down platform. It is more likely to be a shed for storing locomotive coke.

**Wimborne Station, June 1847.** The original artist’s impression shows the view northwards across the River Stour, with the trestle bridge at right and a train about to cross it. The train does not appear to be to proportionate scale, so might have been added. The main station building is at centre left, with what seems to correspond to the first goods warehouse to its left, with the high-arched entrances. The platform on the west (Up) side is just visible at embankment level, but not a corresponding one on the opposite (Down) side, despite what appears to be a shelter. A tall disc signal stands on or close to the Up platform. The long, narrow shed on the Down side near the centre of the photo may be a locomotive coke shed, while that on the Up side may be a carriage/engine shed. Such are the uncertainties. The Illustrated London News; courtesy Colin Divall

The River Stour Bridge (Bridge 76)

This was the name used on the railway’s bridge listings in later years – somewhat generic as it also applied to the Dorset Central Railway bridges at Blandford and Sturminster Newton. Otherwise, it was known as Bridge 76. The original structure was a timber trestle viaduct, probably similar to that appearing in The Illustrated London News impression shown earlier. It was built for double track, anticipating the requirement in the Southampton & Dorchester Railway’s Act of 1845 to double the line when traffic reached sufficient levels. Within a few years, it seems that more frequent and heavier trains put pressure on (literally) for rebuilding the bridge in stronger materials. That resulted in the wrought iron and brick structure that was familiar down to the last years, with its two central piers and flood arches on both banks, which also permitted livestock movements. The short brick parapets topping the piers at girder level were removed in later years during strengthening works on the girders. In either form, this was the largest railway engineering structure in our study area. An updated version of a paper published in the South Western Circular is available on the History page.

**The River Stour Bridge.** This 1892 view was captured by the leader of a group on a boating and camping trip, just as the members set out from Wimborne to Mudeford. At this date, the bridge was about 30 years old. Notable are the lamps extending partway along the deck, probably for safety reasons when the staff were overseeing shunting in poor light, and possibly walking between the station and Wimborne Junction and the locomotive depot. Photo: E. J. Brett; courtesy Roger Guttridge

‘Leigh Arch’ (Bridge 75)

Wimborne’s narrow Leigh Arch was a notoriously dangerous bridge for pedestrians and cyclists on the A31 trunk road. Many local people sighed with relief when it was demolished in the mid 1970s. Colin Divall has been looking at why the bridge was built to such tight dimensions, and how some mid-19th century legislation finally led to its demise. When it was built, Leigh Arch crossed the turnpike road to Ringwood and Winchester, and so by law should have been 35 feet wide – in fact the span was just 20 feet! It wasn’t high enough either. This didn’t matter too much in the 19th-century, when road traffic was slow and light. But problems mounted as motor traffic appeared and Wimborne grew to the east, especially with the council housing built on Leigh Park after the first world war. By the 1950s the situation was almost intolerable, but there was no money to do anything. Finally the council used the 19th-century laws to force the issue: the railway closed and the bridge came down. We’ll present more of the story soon on the History page.

Closure Procedures

Most people of a certain age (and many younger) are aware of the infamous Beeching Report of 1963 that led to the closure of many railway lines considered not to be remunerative. These included most of the lines in our study area, which closed to passengers between 1964 and 1966. The Wimborne Junction to Corfe Mullen Junction line had already lost its passenger trains during economies in the early 1920s (exact dates vary according to different sources). In most cases, the services didn’t simply cease at the will of British Railways, but were subject to legal closure procedures. Local people, organisations and councils could make representations to appointed committees before a decision was reached. These were often argued to be little more than a sop and the outcomes were largely predictable. Colin Divall has looked at the surviving files and the arguments made in the case of the local 1960s closures and we will be posting a summary of his findings on the History pages. While the conclusions are not surprising, there are interesting claims along the way and there is one notable exception to the norms – that the Broadstone Junction to Hamworthy Junction was never legally closed, somehow not being included with either the Old Road closure or the Somerset & Dorset line closure. [See Journal of The Railway & Canal Historical Society, No.226, July 2016, pp.486-9]

**Hillbourne, Broadstone.** While taken marginally outside our study area, this southward view about a half-mile south of Broadstone shows the Broadstone-Poole lines on the left and the Broadstone-Hamworthy Junction lines at the higher level on the right. The former were closed to passenger services from 7th March 1966, at the same time as the rest of the remaining Somerset & Dorset Railway network. The latter were not formally closed from 4th May 1964, at the same time as the Old Road, apparently simply being unnoticed. The route had been singled as an economy in 1932 and passenger services largely reduced to some through trains bypassing Bournemouth, or from Salisbury, en route to Weymouth or Swanage, operating until 1964. Unknown photographer; postcard (ref: S.14611), courtesy T. Legg Collection, via Mark Woolley

Level crossings, big and small

One of our associates, Philip Brown, made a special study of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway’s numerous level crossings, published as a monograph by the South Western Circle under the title Many and Great Inconveniences: The Level Crossings and Gatekeepers’ Cottages of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway (South Western Circle Monograph No.2, 2003). As of 2021-22, this is out-of-print and Philip is preparing a revised edition with updates, additions, corrections and fresh illustrations, with some help from us and others. The staffed public crossings and unstaffed minor crossings on our route section between the Avon at Ringwood and Broadstone Station have raised many issues, such as why and when some were abolished (Stape Hill), when bridge replacements were built (Ashley, Leigh Lane), changes in status (Ashley), variations in official and unofficial names (Dolman’s/ Ameysford), existence of a few two-storey gatekeepers’ lodges (West Moors, Dolman’s, Uddens) when most were single-storey, and so on. We’ll look at individual examples, sometimes in the context of wider studies of particular locations.

**Dolman’s Crossing Lodge.** A rare view, looking SW on 9th September 1964, of one of the few two-storey lodge cottages along the East Dorset section of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway, others being at West Moors and Uddens. The crossing protected what was, at the time of opening, one of the more important north-south tracks over the heath, at a fording point of Uddens Water known as Ameysford. After the railway arrived, the track was superseded in status by Station Road through West Moors. Dolman’s was the name of a nearby farm that had its own occupation crossing slightly further east, so it’s a bit surprising that the public crossing (seen at left) was not called Ameysford after the adjacent hamlet, to avoid confusion – one of those minor mysteries yet to be solved. Photo: The late Len Tavender; © Historical Model Railway Society; courtesy Philip Brown

Carter’s Siding – a dead end

Messrs. Carter operated several clay pits and potteries in the Poole area and one source of quality clay lay at Candy’s Lane, between old Corfe Mullen and Lake Gates, beside the Somerset & Dorset line from Corfe Mullen Junction to Wimborne Junction. In 1902, Carter’s reached an agreement with the railway for installation of a private siding. The firm built a platform and transhipment shed alongside, also served by a narrow gauge portable tramway to and from the pit. When the railway planned to close the whole of the Wimborne loop in the 1920s (through working ceased in 1933), Carter’s protested that the firm wished to continue sending its products by train, mainly to Hamworthy potteries. After the railway backed down, then initially proposed to serve the siding via a stub from the Wimborne Junction end, it reversed this decision and retained a shorter stub from Corfe Mullen Junction. Clay traffic continued until Summer 1959, and storage of condemned wagons until about 1965, the overgrown track remaining in situ until its lifting in Summer 1968. Prior to the end of the clay traffic in 1959, a Templecombe to Poole Down goods train served the siding both to extract full wagons and return empties. Peter Russell compiled the story of the siding and its operation, with help from former footplate staff, for a feature in The S&D Telegraph (Issue 42, September 2013, pp.36-38. We’ll be posting this article in full on the History page.

**Carter’s Siding:** In this view looking westwards, the former running line is straight ahead and the single siding runs to the left alongside the slatted timber transhipment shed on its raised platform. The clay pits lay in the left background, connected to the shed by a tramway that passed over Candy’s Lane (no photos of which have come to light so far). Clay traffic ceased in 1959. Beside the BR boundary gate is a wooden, red-and-white warning sign saying: Engines Must Not Pass This Notice. The siding’s point and track work hereabouts presented chairs from a wide range of pre-grouping and post-grouping railway companies, probably recycled during the latter days of passenger services, as little maintenance would have occurred subsequently Photo: The late Colin Caddy; courtesy the late Graham Kelsey

ONGOING STUDIES

Railway staff database, 1840s to 1970s

Here’s a special study that started several years ago and is, by its nature, being added to on a continual basis, perhaps never being finally complete. It’s perhaps a cliché that the railways are as much about the people who built and operated them as about the infrastructure and trains. Who were the promoters, influencers, surveyors, engineers, contractors, financiers, lawyers and other agents in the early days? They were crucial, but the men and women who staffed the operating railway were far less known outside their local communities. Some, such as station masters were prominent figures in the local communities. Between the first railway in the district in 1847 and the final closure in 1977, hundreds of staff came and stayed or moved on. For the 2014 exhibition in Wimborne, Kay and Peter Russell traced as many staff identities, personal and career details as were readily available from standard sources – company staff registers, census, local knowledge, etc. This formed a searchable public database, now held by the Museum of East Dorset and the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society. It was far from complete and we continue adding to it. We’ll be highlighting some individuals and their stories – some fairly ordinary, some exciting and some even tragic. This is particularly where relatives and descendants of former staff can help us. Readers wanting to investigate family members who worked on the district’s railways can also explore the database, which indicates dates, career paths and other information.

**A ‘permanent way’ gang, 1920s:** We believe this track gang worked on the Wimborne Junction to Corfe Mullen Junction section of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. We reckon the men are standing beside their section of line, facing the Wimborne locomotive depot at Oakley. We know the character with the flag at left was the ganger (leader), John (“Jack’) Everett. We know no other names for certain as yet, but it’s possible one of the men was ‘Bigbar’ Burt – a name that suggests the strength to wield some heavy metal on track work! The gang included members of the Everett, Guy and Burt families, some of whom were related and who lived around the Corfe Mullen area and whose descendants still live locally. These include Derek Burt, the Chair (as of 2022) of the East Dorset Heritage Trust, based at the former Castleman family home at Allendale House in Wimborne. Unknown photographer; courtesy and © David McGhie Collection

‘Leonard’s Bridge Siding’

We enjoy a mystery location and this one has intrigued us for a while. Local readers may well be familiar with St. Leonard’s, east of Ferndown on the A31 trunk road, and even with St. Leonard’s Bridge carrying said road over the Moors River. What possible link could there be with the Southampton & Dorchester Railway nearly two miles to the north? The name Leonard’s Bridge Siding appears in the railway’s authorising Act of 1845 and the Board of Trade inspector’s 1847 report, prior to the railway being approved for opening. Its exact location is not specified, other than in later sources as being at a specific mileage point between Ringwood and Wimborne, roughly where West Moors Station later came into being. No such siding is identified on later railway maps. The name also appears in an 1850 list of carriage rates for goods, indicating public rather than just private use of the facility. What traffic might the siding have dealt with in what was then a remote heathland area with scattered settlement and no major indigenous traffic sources? Where would it logically be sited and is there any locational evidence and track plan? As noted above, Philip Brown, author of Many and Great Inconveniences: The Level Crossings and Gatekeepers’ Cottages of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway is preparing a second edition and will be including the story of Leonard’s Bridge Siding in an appendix, so we hope to bring this sub-story to the History Page during 2022.

Detailed Railway Mapping

As a lover of maps and map-making since childhood, Peter Russell has spent years gathering and interpreting information on railway alignments and infrastructure features. One aim for East Dorset is creating a definitive map pitched somewhere between a simple, small-scale atlas of lines and stations (plenty already published) and a large-scale civil engineer’s or surveyor’s plan of all track layouts and significant structures (too large for easy reproduction here). The latter often remain difficult to access, even if surviving, but we’ll use the larger scales in studies of particular stations, junction, sidings, etc. in order to show more detail. Other railway historians have also published diagrammatic track plans showing how layouts formed and altered over a line’s life. We will be referring to these and checking their accuracy as far as possible. Accuracy is often elusive. There are many primary sources for mapping but research needs to be persistent to dig out the full story. The maps provided on the Study page represent the knowledge we had gathered up to 2014, but there are always gaps and queries. Apart from the official sources, there will undoubtedly be colloquial knowledge out there about key locations where readers can offer personal inputs. The subject is considered sufficiently deep and fascinating to warrant its own Mapping page on this website, which we’ll be developing in months to come. We’ve added some introductory material to the Mapping page.

**Wimborne:** This is an extract from what was probably the last full station layout plan, issued prior to closure to scheduled passenger services. Although dated October 1961, some of the information was probably a bit older. BR(SR) might also have made revisions as the remaining good services declined and infrastructure was rationalised. In the late 1960s, Peter Russell added to his copy (somewhat amateurishly!) town planning colour washes for the various black-and-white features on the plan, for greater clarity – green for earthworks, brown for buildings, grey for platforms. Such plans were often the ultimate sources for locating detail of railway infrastructure. Source: British Railways Southern Region, Waterloo; via Peter Russell

Uddens as a railway place

Certain railway locations in East Dorset invite attention by virtue of their quirky history, unusual layouts, special types of traffic, singular operating arrangements, and even peculiar place names. Such is Uddens. Apart from its level crossing over Uddens Drive, we know it as once having two specialist sidings: a private one that might have existed from the outset in 1847 for the owners of Uddens House, and a 1943 one leading into a World War Two food concentration depot, later used for dealing with longer-distance cattle traffic at an abattoir. In that war, the western part of Uddens Park became a large fuel store for D-Day, but we have yet to find out if the railway was involved in receiving and despatching supplies. The level crossing also had a decorative gatekeeper’s lodge, but there is much more. The Uddens story has begun to reveal itself and come together in recent years, but much remains to be discovered, not least of the installations and trains serving them, photos of which seem particularly elusive. We’ll be posting a paper on the History page.

**Uddens Crossing:** In this westward view towards Wimborne from 1964, we see the crossing and parts of the two sidings, the private Uddens Estate Siding in the right foreground, and at bottom left the lead off the Down running line into the Uddens Abattoir Siding. The small signal cabin could be switched in as required during busy times as an extra block post between West Moors and Wimborne. The ornamented gatekeeper’s lodge is to the left. Unknown photographer; courtesy Pamlin Prints

IN THE PIPELINE…

The following give a flavour of the other subjects recently or currently under investigation, which we plan to cover in some depth.

Train crew lodgings at Oakley:

Readers familiar with the modern road junction of the Poole road and Oakley Lane, south of Wimborne, may have noticed some unusual brick buildings squeezed between the lane and Wimborne Bypass. These are former railway premises, nowadays private houses. The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, through the initiative of its Locomotive Superintendent, Alfred Whitaker, built lodging accommodation for its footplate staff who ended duty turns at Wimborne overnight. Previously, they had to find their own lodgings in and around town. The work was authorised in 1882 but only cottages to house support staff appeared initially. Strangely, the main lodging building or hostel was not completed until 1902 and only remained in its intended use until 1923. Thereafter the premises accommodated Southern Railway and even British Railways (Southern Region) staff until becoming vacant and derelict in the 1950s. They later passed into private hands and re-emerged as private housing, with the hostel divided into two units, all units remaining occupied as we write. We’ll be telling more of this story on the History page.

**Oakley:** The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway lodging hostel for footplate staff was situated on the north side of Oakley Lane, close to the locomotive depot. Looking north-westwards, we see the building nearing completion in 1902, with a posed group of building workers, officials and two female serving staff. The east end of the cottages for the hostel staff are just visible to extreme left. A laundry existed behind these buildings. Unknown photographer (possibly Alfred Whitaker); courtesy and © David McGhie Collection

Signalling and track controls at Wimborne:

This has rapidly become a major piece of work on the focal point of our study, and will need much more primary research. We are collaborating in particular with two associate experts of the study – Graham Bowring and Chris Osment – to unravel the often obscure and complex development of track and signalling infrastructure around the station from the early days onwards. The period of rapid development between the 1860s and 1880s is proving a special challenge. This topic includes the operation of the signal boxes at Wimborne Station, Wimborne Junction and Wimborne S&D Loop and how they interacted.

Railway operations through Wimborne in 1960:

In the interest of building an accurate model of Wimborne Station, circa 1960, Colin Divall is gathering information on what operations would have been seen on a typical weekday for that year, including locomotives and rolling stock used. Official records of locomotive allocations and individual train duties can help, but sightings by enthusiast observers are also important. Readers of this website may well be able to assist in building the 1960 record and that for other periods.

**Wimborne Station:** We need little excuse to include another colour view taken on a sunny day. Looking northwards from the Down platform, we see what (judging by the headcode) was an odd-ball, mid-morning service from Brockenhurst to Bournemouth that got ‘stabled’ at Wimborne for an hour. It’s hauled by BR Standard Class 4MT 2-6-0 No.76025, one of a number of regular class examples rostered on this route in the 1950s and 1960s. Prominent features are (L-R): the ‘running-in board’ (station nameboard); the platform canopies, the tops of the station building and signal box, and the candy-twist, swan-neck lamp posts. The fresh brickwork at extreme right marks damage to the Down waiting room caused by a shunting over-run in Autumn 1963. 24th April 1964 Photo: A. F. H. Hudson; ©Colour-Rail, ref: 324690

Newspaper kiosks at Wimborne Station

A niche subject, but a curious one. We know that the station had a kiosk on the Down platform until some time in the 1950s. We were less sure that there was also one on the Up side, but oral evidence seems to have confirmed this, although it possibly closed between the wars as an economy. Both were probably operated by W. H. Smith under franchise. As well as newspapers and magazines, sweets and cigarettes were available.

… and refreshment rooms

As with the newspaper kiosks, little is currently known about the operation of the refreshment facility that existed at the southern end of the Up platform. Spiers & Pond, the company who had the general franchise for catering at L&SWR stations at one time, occupied about four rooms between as-yet-unknown dates. We suspect closure occurred either during the 1930s depression or just after World War 2 (when it should have been busy). This is currently a mystery subject for us. Does anyone out there know more?

**Wimborne Station – newsagent’s kiosk:** Finding any photo of either of the newspaper kiosks has proved difficult. In this circa early-1950s view looking southwards along the Up platform, the Down-side kiosk is visible at extreme left on the opposite platform. The timber-framed structure had been tucked in on the north end of the ladies’ waiting room, and had windows on the west and north sides. At the date of this photo, it might well have been out-of-use. Unknown photographer; courtesy and © R. Blencowe Collection

Incidents

There were many crashes and other incidents locally, particularly in the 19th century when control systems were embryonic and deaths and injuries more tolerated than today. We know about many through official inquiries and regional newspapers. We’ll show how such incidents sometimes led to improvements in train operating, infrastructure, and working practices. They can also give us an idea of how the reality of working on the railway differed from what the rule book said. We’re cataloguing all the incidents from fatal through to inconsequential. Take for example a minor collision in 1894, when a goods train ran into the rear of an early-morning passenger train at Wimborne. Fortunately no-one was killed, and injuries were comparatively slight. The subsequent inquiry found that the signaller hadn’t been following the regulations fully – but the L&SWR’s managers seem to have been comfortable about this! A court case for damages brought against the company revealed that the booking clerk was more inclined to sleep in than get to work in time to open up and sell just one or two tickets to passengers.

**Broadstone Junction:** Relatively speaking, a minor accident with no-one hurt, but BR Standard Class 5MT 4-6-0 No.73049 lies derailed while shunting the goods yard, ending up straddling the Up (Poole) running line and the lead into the yard. Meanwhile, BR Standard Class 4MT 4-6-0 No.75073 passes the incident ‘wrong line’ with a train off the Somerset & Dorset line, headed for Bournemouth. Wednesday,17th October 1962. Photo: © the late G. A. Richardson; Peter Russell Collection

Redundant railway property

There was often unseemly haste to rid the railways of their property assets following final line closures, perhaps to prevent pressure for re-openings but more likely to relieve the railway of responsibility for maintenance of redundant assets, and even to fuel the development boom around the Bournemouth conurbation. This is a distinctly murky subject for investigation. British Railways Property Board sought to make early sales to raise revenue and rid itself of maintenance liabilities, ironically selling land more cheaply than if it had firstly secured development value. Local authorities were given first refusal on acquisition for public uses and might have protected railway corridors for their continuity and various future transport uses particularly through strong planning policy. In reality much land ended up on the property market and developers cherry-picked key sites such as stations for housing and other profitable uses. We shall be looking at some notable examples of disposal, destruction and redevelopment.

Highway developments affecting local railways

Among the earliest land disposals after line closures were those to support planned road schemes. Poole Borough Council and Dorset County Council (presumably with Ministry of Transport support) bought the Corfe Mullen Junction to Wimborne Junction trackbed between Lake Gates and Merley as early as the mid-1930s, anticipating the A31 Wimborne Bypass, which wouldn’t come to fruition until the early 1980s. The upgrading of the A31 west of Ringwood to dual carriageway partly wiped out the continuity of the Old Road at this point.

**Oakley Hill Bridge:** This bridge carried the Poole road over the former Somerset & Dorset single line from Wimborne Junction to Corfe Mullen Junction. The line had lost its passenger services in the early 1920s and finally closed in June 1933. The local highway authorities (presumably with Ministry of Transport support) had bought much of the trackbed in the mid-1930s in anticipation of the bypass. This eastward view shows clearance work in hand in 1980, opening out the overgrown and waterlogged site. The bypass would be built from bottom right slightly to the right of the arch under a new concrete bridge. Photo: © *Robert Ferguson; Peter Russell Collection*

West Moors army fuel depot

Peter Russell has had a fascination for this extensive facility since his teens, but inevitable military security has meant that little information has been published and few photographs seen. Revealing more is likely to need much delving into the Ministry of Defence archives. The depot, installed in 1942-43, boasted eight miles of standard-gauge sidings and connections, with underground fuel storage tanks, all spread across a wide area of heathland know as Gundry’s Enclosure. Beside the Southampton to Dorchester line were reception and exchange sidings with floodlights, and the MoD used its own diesel shunters. This traffic kept the Old Road open from Wimborne to West Moors until October 1974, although the last train is thought to have worked during that July.

Landowners and the local railways

The promotion and development of the local railways was heavily dependent on securing support from the landed gentry through whose land the lines passed, especially in such a rural area. Indeed, many were co-opted onto the initial Boards, or perhaps even insisted on high-level representation in order to secure their interests. Without their co-operation, the railway alignments might have been very different. They included the likes of de Mauley and Guest (Canford Manor), Greathed (Uddens Park), Hanham (Deans Court, Wimborne), Bankes (Kingston Lacy), Glyn (Gaunts House), Shaftesbury (Wimborne St. Giles). Uncovering their involvement is a long-term study, inevitably meaning the need to trace and seek access to family archives.

**West Moors army fuel depot:** Photos of the depot’s railway installation have proved elusive, perhaps for understandable security reasons between its construction in 1943 and the end of rail traffic in 1974. Glimpses of the reception/exchange sidings appear in photos of passing trains on the main line, but close-ups are extremely rare. We were pleased to discover this image taken by a crew member on the last train to serve the depot, probably in July1974. It shows the reception sidings ahead to the right and the exchange sidings ahead to the centre, with the line into the heart of the depot curving off to the left. Unknown photographer; courtesy Paul Carpenter

Hidden corners of the local railway

Much of the length of former railway routes and the infrastructure was familiar to local people, historians and enthusiasts, but some locations remained relatively well hidden, little recorded and barely if at all photographed. We’re making a special effort to seek information and photos of these obscurities. Our findings will tend to be presented on the Photos page, and examples of the locations are listed there.

**Three Legged Cross Bridge:** This spot on the West Moors to Alderbury Junction line was not a particularly ‘hidden corner’ of the district’s railways, being beside the busy junction of the ‘B’ roads from Horton to Ringwood, and from Verwood to Ferndown. Yet it seems to have largely escaped the railway photographers, especially while trains were still operating. Hence we are left with this sad sight of a bulldozer preparing for demolition of the bridge, while the track lies severed, prior to lifting during 1965. The bridge was notoriously steeply humped, with steep climbs on either side presenting road vehicles with hazardous sighting, and making it a high priority for levelling. 30th July 1964. Photo: the late Brian Kohring; Peter Russell Collection

Update, early 2023

Firstly, apologies for the absence of any full update on our ‘current’ activities since our website first went live at the beginning of 2022. It’s taken longer than expected to assemble material, to edit it carefully, and to source illustrations and permissions to reproduce them. It’s a good job we didn’t call this the ‘News’ page and raise your expectations of frequent or regular news reports! We have in the meantime, however, been adding material to existing pages and creating new pages.

The main news is that the History page went live at the start of 2023 and contains several in-depth papers, many connected with the studies listed on this page. There are PDF links for each paper that allow you to open the full documents – some as published earlier elsewhere but with their own updates in the light of further research. A few date back as far as 2008 but have been left intact as published and simply extracted unaltered from the relevant journals.

We’ve recently added Colin Divall’s paper on the closure of the Somerset & Dorset line halts, first published in The S&D Telegraph in 2017, as well as Philip Brown’s paper on the mysterious Leonard’s Bridge goods station, which turned out to be the predecessor of West Moors Station from 1847 until the passenger station opening in 1867. This was first published as an Appendix to Philip’s revised and hugely enlarged edition (Autumn 2022) of his 2003 monograph for the South Western Circle, entitled Many and Great Inconveniences: The Level Crossings and Gatekeepers’ Cottages of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway.

We are deeply into some fresh historical studies that we should be publishing at intervals during 2023. These include looking at Wimborne Junction, 1859-1865, when there was rapid development of infrastructure and train services following the construction and opening of the Dorset Central Railway line to Blandford and, in 1863, connection with the emerging Somerset & Dorset Railway as far as Highbridge and Burnham. In particular, the locomotive depot at Wimborne Junction emerged during this period. Unravelling changes to its layout has proved intriguing and full of mysteries. This should be published initially in the Pines Express (journal of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust), before being added to our website.

A paper is also complete in March 2023 on the history of L&SWR Bridge 75 at Wimborne – passing over the Ringwood-Wimborne turnpike, later the A31 trunk road, and colloquially known as ‘Leigh Arch’. For many years the width and height restrictions were a significant hindrance to and safety issue for pedestrian and road traffic, until demolition in the mid-1970s. We expect this paper to appear in the South Western Circular in the summer, before being added to our History page.

Another paper to be re-published soon is Philip Brown’s study of the station building designs along the Southampton & Dorchester line through Wimborne, again updated partially and with a few new illustrations.

We are also uploading a series of three papers on the ‘Wimborne Cut-Off’ (Broadstone-Bailey Gate), published in recent issues of Pines Express, the magazine of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust. The first was written by Jonathan Edwards, and prompted two follow-up pieces by Peter Russell, using material gleaned from our researches.

The Home page is extending the menu at the top, with the addition of our second tranche of pages – History, Mapping, Operations, Photos, Modelling and Incidents. Only the History page is currently live, but work is advanced on starting material for Operations, Modelling and Photos, and these should be going live in Spring 2023. Given that these pages all contain historical material, they will appear in a drop-down sub-menu underneath History.

The Operations page kicks off with our efforts to assemble a typical weekday schedule of trains for Wimborne Station in 1960, i.e. ordinary passenger and goods services, but largely excluding holiday trains, excursions and other non-regular services that ran at weekends. This was, in its own right, a fascinating time in the railway’s life, albeit late on, but also a period that may form the basis of a new modelling venture.

The Photos page should be the next to go live, with an introduction to sources – national and local – and examples of images that are rare in terms of location, date, or subject matters. As a taster, we’ll include photo features on Wimborne and Broadstone stations in Summer 1969, when most infrastructure was still intact, as well as highlighting some much older rarities we’ve discovered that inform our research.

The Incidents page has yet to be started, although we’ve gathered considerable material on major accidents (including inspectors’ reports), derailments, minor incidents reported in regional newspapers, etc. There was plenty happening back then, especially in the early days when train controls were more primitive!

The Modelling page will feature efforts to model stations in our study area – so far all except Broadstone (unless someone out there is aware of such a model).