The Friends of Honiton Sta on Newsle er 2 – May 2020
Welcome to the second lockdown newsle er from The Friends of Honiton Sta on. I hope that you find something to interest you in the latest issue.
History of Honiton Sta on
Thanks to the generous support of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, 500 copies of a free booklet celebra ng the 160th anniversary of the East Devon Line in July have been printed. We hope that these will be available from the sta on and from Honiton’s Allhallows Museum later in the year.
To whet your appe te, here are 12 facts about the line and the sta on.
• The original route proposed would have seen trains running through Dorchester, Bridport and Charmouth, before entering Exeter from Topsham.
• Honiton would not originally have been on the main line at all, and would only have been served by a branch line.
• Honiton Tunnel cost £70,000 to build, and was lined with eleven million bricks.
• As the first train reached Honiton on July 18th 1860, there was a par al eclipse of the sun. • The line was only open for 11 days before the first accident, when a train was par ally derailed between Honiton and Feniton, causing damage to an embankment.
• Although ini ally a single track, the line was doubled for almost its en re length within a year.
• Honiton’s sta on building was designed by William Tite, who was also responsible for London’s Royal Exchange. He was M.P. for Bath at the me.
• The first footbridge at the sta on cost £210 and was built in 1885, using girders from an old railway viaduct at Hamworthy.
• The sta on once included a goods shed, goods yard and several sidings, which could accommodate 150 wagons.
• In the 1920s and early 1930s, 200 000 gallons of milk a year was being sent by train to the Ambrosia dairy at Lapford in North Devon.
• In the 1940s, as many as 22 people worked at the sta on.
• Much of the material used by George Wimpey to construct the WW2 Dunkeswell airbase was brought in by train.
(From the booklet: A Short History of Honiton Sta on 1860 – 2020)
Update from South Western Railway
The Managing Director of SWR, Mark Hopwood recently wrote to key stakeholders, upda ng them on the company’s response to the new Government guidelines announced during the Prime Minister’s broadcast on May 10th and his statement to Parliament the following day.
Here is an extract from his le er:
I wanted to write with the latest informa on about South Western Railway to keep people with an interest in our business updated and informed.
We are in the process of introducing measures to promote social distancing on our sta ons and trains, through posters and floor markings and vinyls, as well as through audio announcements and digital media.
While we will do everything we can to help passengers respect social distancing; as the Government itself acknowledges, there may be some points on a journey where it is just not possible, such as when boarding or aligh ng trains. We’re also encouraging our customers to follow the advice of Government and only travel on our services for essen al journeys where other modes of transport are not available. Where customers do need to travel, we are asking them to plan ahead, follow social distancing guidance where possible, follow Government advice on face coverings, and to purchase their cket online to reduce interac on with our colleagues.
I also wanted to keep you updated on the progress we are making with tackling the huge number of refund requests we have had. We have now received around 29,000 requests for refunds, and through their hard work, our refund team have processed more than half of those requests. We are con nuing to look at how we can speed up this process to deliver passengers their refunds quicker, as we know many of them will have seen drama c changes to their personal circumstances since lockdown began.
Community Rail Network
The latest newsle er from CRN focused on two areas: suppor ng mental health and plans for rebuilding the railway.
The week beginning May 18th is Mental Health Awareness Week, focusing around the theme of kindness. CRN is encouraging everyone to think about how we can be as kind as possible to ourselves and each other, especially during these challenging mes.
The main message for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is that #KindnessMa ers, and being kind is good for those around us, our communi es and ourselves. Community rail is of course about suppor ng our communi es and building a sense of togetherness, but CRN is encouraging its members also consider how they can look a er themselves.
Community Rail Network is considering the role and importance of community rail in rela on to our communi es and railways not only rebuilding, but "building back be er."
Recent announcements make it clear that we should all con nue to avoid public transport. However, CRN believes that community rail will play a vitally important role in the coming months and years.
CRN has said: “Building on discussions we’re having, and the DfT’s Community Rail Development Strategy, we will be drawing up a broad offer of the main ways we think community rail can contribute to recovery, especially to help us ‘build back be er’. We hope this will be something we can use to champion community rail at na onal and devolved level, and which you can draw on and make your own at a local level: we appreciate that every community rail partnership and sta on group is different.” Rail Partnership News
On Wednesday 13 May, seven Community Rail Partnerships from across the SWR network came together virtually with the operator to share projects undertaken since lockdown, and to discuss ideas for con nuing to support communi es and the industry in the weeks and months ahead.
Those involved heard about how the Isle of Wight and Lymington to Brockenhurst CRPs had diverted funding provided by SWR for their annual ‘Music on the Move’ performances to set up the ‘Food on the Move’ project, working with local chari es and suppliers on each line to organise meals for the most vulnerable.
The group also discussed what could be done in the future to support local a rac ons, and the challenge of how you promote the railway when the na onal advice is about using other methods of transport. The CRPs are now looking at online ideas, especially around ways to remind people that CRPs are s ll focused on suppor ng their local communi es.
During the online mee ng, Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership shared how they had been forced to adjust their Jurassic Coast promo on due to the lockdown. The project features a set of videos filmed by the team from All The Sta ons, Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe. (For more details, see below)
Commen ng on the mee ng on May 13th, Andy Harrowell, SWR’s Community Rail Manager, said: “Since lockdown started, all the CRPs we fund have con nued to work hard despite the na onal challenges, adap ng plans and doing what they can to support local volunteers.”
He went on to say: “This online get-together was a great opportunity to share examples of good prac ce, swap resources and remind us all that we’re a community ourselves. It was really nice to catch up and brainstorm thoughts and ideas together. This was a great example of collabora on from a distance and I thank everyone for ge ng so involved during the session.”
SERUG News
The Annual General Mee ng, due to be held in Yeovil on May 22nd, was postponed. The mee ng was due to be addressed by the new West Dorset M.P. Chris Loder, who used to work for SWR. It is hoped to rearrange an opportunity for Chris to speak to SERUG members at a later date.
The SERUG Commi ee is presently considering how best in the present circumstances to con nue its campaigns for:
• Track improvements, including the Whimple loop,
• Be er reliability and me-keeping,
• New services, including an 0816 Honiton to Exeter train,
• New rolling stock. The Jurassic Coast by Train and Bus
These videos by Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe are now available to view at: greatscenicrailways.co.uk/jurassic-coast-by-train/
The videos feature Seaton, Bridport and West Bay, Lyme Regis and Sidmouth, as des na ons that can usually be reached easily by train and bus. At present, the videos are not being promoted, as the tourist industry con nues to be closed down.
Part of the Sidmouth video was shot in Honiton, at the Allhallows Museum. The curator, Margaret Lewis, kindly arranged for one of the volunteers to demonstrate lace-making for Vicki and Geoff. She also gave Vicki a tour of the main lace exhibits.
Geoff and Vicki (below) spent a hec c morning filming in Honiton last summer, before con nuing their journey to Sidmouth.
They then travelled on to Exmouth where Geoff was due to enjoy another of his great passions, a 5k Parkrun.
Geoff has taken part in a Parkrun at places beginning with every le er of the alphabet except X (there isn’t one). He travelled all the way to Zary in Poland to complete the set.
As well as their “All The Sta ons” videos on YouTube, other series well worth a look are the videos of their trip to Ireland, Geoff’s visits to “Least Used Sta ons” and Vicki’s mini-travelogues called “Vicki Explores.”
To understand what fascinates them about railways, watch Geoff’s short video called “Choose Corrour”, which is also on YouTube.
This is the sta on they returned to for a More 4 TV documentary. They also spent their honeymoon there; there is a beau ful holiday home at the sta on.
In addi on to their Jurassic Coast videos, Geoff and Vicki made a series for the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership about the history of the Looe Valley Line.
During the lockdown, they have been hos ng a series of lived-streamed railway-themed quizzes and ac vity sessions for children. Decarbonising Transport
The Department for Transport has just published a report se ng out its inten ons to draw up a transport decarbonisa on plan. This includes the aspira on of making ‘public transport and ac ve travel…the natural first choice for our daily ac vi es’, reducing car use and ensuring public transport is ‘convenient, cost-effec ve and coherent’. It also states a commitment to engaging partners and communi es in drawing up the plan: a great opportunity for community rail to feed in its local experiences.
And finally…
Let’s end this month with a quiz. Can you solve these anagrams, to find the names of eight UK railway sta ons. (Clue: the first six are in our region).
Divested Extras
Warily Stab Pork
Poignant
Ensure Tapeworms
ET Snot
Frog Edges
Overripe Toilet Smell
Choirs Ignore Burps
Best wishes to you all. Please con nue to stay home whenever it is possible, to exercise locally whenever you can, and to avoid public transport unless it is absolutely necessary.