September 7th - UK's great heritage railways
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 7 September 2022
⏱️ 5 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
My travel podcast is rather different today, I'm on the West Somerset Railway, travelling from Watchet to Dunster – one of the UK's many great heritage railways.
A vintage steam locomotive is hauling British Rail carriages from the 1960s, all very retro and scenic, but I am using it to get from A to B – so much more relaxing than the bus.
I hope that the tantalising gap of a few miles between the Great Western main line at Taunton and the start of the WSR at Bishops Lydeard can be closed – allowing Minehead and the north west Somerset coast to be reconnected with the national railway. Meanwhile, do check out if there's a heritage railway that can help you with part of your next adventure.
Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me Simon Calder. |
| 0:06.0 | Well, as is quite often the case, I am on a form of transport at the moment, but this is one which I have not reported from before. |
| 0:17.0 | I am, if you can maybe hear in the background, I'm on a steam hauled train. |
| 0:24.6 | I am travelling through beautiful Somerset on the West Somerset Railway. |
| 0:32.6 | There we are, just to prove it, that was the whistle from the locomotive that is hauling this |
| 0:38.5 | beautiful train now I was going to say a secret for you not really a secret but I'm |
| 0:45.6 | not a huge historic railway enthusiast by which I mean oh hang on and I'm |
| 0:54.0 | going to buy my ticket now. |
| 0:56.0 | Excuse me, I may be some time. |
| 0:58.0 | I think it is absolutely tremendous. |
| 1:01.0 | There's a lot of very dedicated men and women who want to keep the railways alive. |
| 1:08.0 | But rather than just being particularly interested in this one I guess |
| 1:12.6 | 1960s not British Rail carriage that I am currently travelling along journey of I'm |
| 1:18.6 | gonna say we're generously ten miles I think it's slightly less than that so paying |
| 1:25.3 | £11 is a premium price but it's of course a premium experience. |
| 1:31.0 | Not very often you can actually travel from A to B, which is exactly what I wanted to do today. |
| 1:36.9 | Getting from Beautiful Watch It, if you've not been there in Somerset, then I'm going to write about it and maybe even broadcast about it. |
| 1:45.5 | Then you can, ah, watch it. I'm here all week, unfortunately. |
| 1:50.7 | Anyway, I do want to get along to Dunster. There is a bus, of course, every hour or so, number 28, |
| 1:56.7 | but how much better to keep the railways alive. And that is what I think the future of Heritage Railways is, |
| 2:05.6 | because these provide essential connectivity. |
| 2:10.6 | And it's a very hard thing to see that GWR, Great Western Railway, |
... |
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