West Somerset Railway to Minehead

I don't know about you, but, I'm a sucker for anything steam-powered: boats, cars, farm machinery, but, especially trains. So, when we learned of the close-by West Somerset Railway, well, we just had to visit the longest (twenty miles) steam heritage railway in England. The train runs between the village of Bishops Lydeard and Minehead. There are eight additional stations along the route, all renovated to the period.

It's mostly a volunteer-run organization and you could tell it's a labour of love by the effort put into keeping the various locomotives polished and painted until they gleamed.

Coal-fired (you can just see the fire's glow in front of the engineer below) we chugged away from the station in a cloud of smoke. We sat in the car directly behind the locomotive to be sure we got the full physical effects of the steam powered motion and sound. It was 'interesting' to feel the train lean significantly when the track curved, no modern leveling devices on these trains.

Our journey was a return trip to and from the seaside town of Minehead. The two hour stopover in the town was an added bonus. It was a cold day with a biting wind, but, it's never too cold to have a fish and chip feed on the seafront, although we skipped the traditional whipped ice cream cone crowned with a Cadbury Flake. We had to leave room for the cream tea included as part of our ticket for the return journey.

After the fish and chips, we wandered around the town and were interested to note that it's the start of the South West Coast Path, 700 miles from Minehead to Poole, maybe someday...

Today, we only completed the first 1/4 mile!

The lifeboat station was a fantastic building, but, a very long way from the water.

We wondered how this pub got its name...

...and enjoyed the old houses with October gardens still in bloom.

Back on the train for the return trip, the afternoon cream tea was very generous and tasty, but, unfortunately not very elegantly presented, no white linens and china cups/saucers on this trip. Tea in a paper cup just doesn't taste the same does it? It was still lovely though and made us remember when we used to travel weekly on the Art Deco 'Brighton Belle' Pullman train back in 1971, London to Brighton in one hour. It was a bit rough around the edges then, just a year before it was retired (built 1932, retired 1972), but, what an experience it was for two teenagers! It seemed the height of luxury with white tablecloths, a little lamp on the table and impeccable food service all enjoyed along with the passing scenery. Apparently, there is a project underway to restore the Brighton Belle, not a steam train, but, all-electric and fabulous, let's hope it happens. It will be a train journey not to be missed.